This time the story starts quite soon after the end of the previous book. The Emersons are coming back from the excavation from Darshoor when Amelia notices an article in the newspaper. Apparently a night watchman has died in the British Museum in front of a mummy exhibition and the journalists are calling it the curse of the mummy. That sort of writing makes Emerson furious and he forbids Amelia to investigate.

The Emersons arrive to London where they must stay for some time while Emerson tries to finish his book. Emerson’s brother and his wife are at the pier to welcome Amelia and her family to England but so is Amelia’s brother James whom Amelia hasn’t seen since her wedding. She suspects that James wants something and she’s correct: James is leaving because of business and her wife is ill so he wants the Emersons to look after his two children. Amelia agrees and James delivers them promptly to their London house.

The Emersons are practically molested by two intrepid reporters: an old acquaintance Kevin O’Connell and a new one, Miss Minton. Even though Amelia has some sisterly feelings toward her, despite her profession, Emerson is having a very difficult time working in this environment. The two children don’t get along with Ramses and Ramses ends up scuffling a lot with the boy Percy much to Amelia’s disappointment.

They spend a day at the British Museum and go to see the famous mummy case. They end up witnessing a bizarre incident where a man dressed up as an Egyptian Priest with a full face mask prays to the female mummy. Despite Emerson’s best efforts the priest escapes in the crowd. Soon, a man is found unquestionably murdered and in his hand is a note in Egyptian hieroglyphs so the press insists that the death is related to the death of the nigh watchman. Emerson is far from convinced but they start to investigate.

This is another book, much like the first in the series, where the mystery is playing a second fiddle to the relationships in the book. Amelia’s jealousy affects the investigation very much and so does Emerson’s behavior. The fights between the children, the personalities of the new (to us) servants and the other secondary characters provide most of the entertainment in the book. I don’t much care for jealousy-plots but I guess it had to be done. The London setting is interestingly different form the Egyptian one. All in all, another very entertaining read.