An antiquities dealer is murdered in Cairo. His murder seems to be connected to a missing mummy case of a German baroness, and with a village torn between American missionaries and an ancient Coptic church. Emerson and Peabody begin to investigate, digging in an ancient tomb trying to find the answers. But it is their precocious 4-year-old son, Walter Peabody Emerson, (nicknamed Ramses) who solves the case before them. Ramses is an infant terrible -who knows Coptic, Arabic, German, French and modern methods of archaeology, an annoying but lovable child.

This is a reprint of an early Peabody adventure. It is interesting to look back on the beginnings of this hilarious family. We have seen Ramses grow from the infant terrible to the adolescent terrible. The romance between Radcliffe and Amelia is delightful and is only to grow. The character descriptions are vivid. The atmosphere of late 19th century Egypt and England is well depicted. The reader can picture himself on the streets of Cairo or in the digs of the Pyramids. The story is well written. The plot holds the readers attention continually.