The darkest of the Peabody-Emerson family novels, The Falcon at the Portal takes place in 1911, and the political intrigue of Cairo is echoed by the romantic tension between Ramses and Nefret. David is accused of selling looted artifacts, and that's really only the surface of the problems, which include nationalism, racial tensions, Victorian sensibilities, and the black market for antiquities. This book (and the next, to a lesser extent) reminds me of Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond chronicles, with misunderstood heroes and complex intrigues.
The year is 1914 and World War I has begun, and the Emersons are (of course) in Egypt. The younger Emersons are hip-deep in the struggles between the nationalist Egyptian movement and the British expatriate community; while Peabody and Radcliffe are excavating at Giza and trying to stay out of it, but, of course, not succeeding. After the puzzle of Ramses and Nefret finally gets resolved, an old mystery of just who the Master Criminal is and why he keeps hanging around becomes a focus of the novel.
By 1915, the war is on-going and the Emersons fully intend to excavate in Egypt; this time trying to keep Ramses out of the hands of the War Office. Political intrigues continue, of course, Miss Minton reappears with a twist; and the Master Criminal joins the family in the drawing room.
It's 1917, World War I grinds on, and the Emersons are tussling with their clueless friend Cyrus Vandergelt over who gets to excavate which site at Luxor (ah, the good old days), when despite his best efforts and those of his family, Ramses is dragged into an espionage subplot. Sethos (can't we please get the poor man a name?) drops in and indecipherable hints as to which Emerson is related to John Smith of the Vicky Bliss novels are provided.
