Should you find yourself in need of a discreet investigation into any sort of mystery, call on Jesperson and Lane . . . 'Arthur Conan Doyle would have approved,' says George R.R. Martin

Miss Lane is puzzled by Jasper Jesperson's interest in what seems a very minor theft -possibly even a prank - from the storerooms at the British Museum. But London in the 1890s is rife with secret organisations, cults and individuals eager to acquire some of the legendary magic of ancient Egypt. The deeper the two detectives dig, the more hidden crimes they uncover, and the higher the death toll mounts. And at the centre of it all is the 'Mystery Mummy' recently acquired by the museum.