Emerson, Amelia, and Ramses have just returned from their dig at the pyramids of Dashoor. The press had a field day with their adventures while they were gone, and they come home to find that their old “friend,” Kevin O’Connell, has been concocting all manner of sensationalized stories about them and their future mystery-solving activities. It seems that a night guard at the museum has been found dead on the floor near an ancient mummy case, a look of fear on his face, and Kevin has assured his readers that Emerson and Amelia will solve the case. Emerson strongly feels there is no case to solve. The guard was elderly, and he had a terrible diet. It was a heart attack, pure and simple.
Amelia is almost inclined to agree, but there’s something about the way the guard was staring, almost as if something had frightened him to death. Kevin is convinced that fear can kill, and has been priming his readers for such a conclusion to the case. But are his stories based on facts, or is he just trying to steal a scoop on a reporter from a rival paper, the energetic and enterprising Miss Minton?
And just who is the man who keeps coming to the museum dressed in the garb of an ancient priest to commune with the mummy? With a leopard skin thrown over his white-robed shoulder, he almost looks authentic, and the newspapers have made him out to be dangerous. He did follow the Emersons home from the boat docks. But he did nothing more than walk past. If he had murder on his mind, wouldn’t he have at least tried something? That’s Amelia’s reasoning, and she decides that he’s nothing more than a man with a larger than usual interest in Egyptian relics.
Ramses, meanwhile, is busy conducting experiments on the remains of mummies that were unearthed in Egypt and carefully transported home. He hardly has time to be interrupted by his two unruly cousins, but they’re there nonetheless, dumped on Amelia by her brother while he goes abroad for a little while.
Cousins rampaging, murderers lurking, reporters spreading falsehoods, and Emerson flinging manuscript pages around the house like confetti – just another day in the life of Amelia. You can wager that by the end of it, all will be set to rights, and Emerson’s buttons will be sewn back on for him, too.
Previously reviewed books by Elizabeth Peters:
(This book was published in 1988 by Avon Books.)