New York Times best-selling Grand Master Elizabeth Peters is at her stylish and suspenseful best in a richly woven tale of greed, treachery, and murder set against the tumultuous backdrop of wartime intrigue.

A new year, 1917, is dawning, and the Great War that ravages the world shows no sign of abating. Answering the siren call of Egypt once more, Amelia Peabody and her family arrive at their home in Luxor to learn of a new royal tomb ransacked by thieves. Soon, a more disturbing outrage concerns the archaeologists: the freshly and savagely slain corpse of a thief defiling the ancient burial site.

Besieged by the British and defended by formidable Turkish and German forces, the fortified seaport of Gaza guards the gateway to the Holy Land. Answering a call he cannot refuse from British military intelligence, Amelia's son Ramses must journey to this ancient, fabled city to undertake a mission as personal as it is perilous. Death will surely be his lot if he is caught or exposed. Meanwhile, Ramses' wife, Nefret, guards a secret of her own.