August 1910. Amelia Peabody and her husband, Emerson, are relaxing at home in Kent. But adventure beckons when Major George Morley asks them to join an expedition to Palestine, where he is determined to unearth the legendary Ark of the Covenant. Always skeptical, Emerson refuses until requests from the War Office and Buckingham Palace persuade him to reconsider by insisting that Morley is a German agent intent on stirring up trouble. Amelia and Emerson follow Morley to Jerusalem and hope to reunite with their son, Ramses, working north of the holy city. But before they can meet, Ramses learns of a deadly plot, information he must pass on to his parents—if he can get to them alive.
