On first meeting Adam Ellis, Kate Whitaker loathes him. As the spoiled daughter of an Edwardian Egyptologist, she enjoys humiliating her father's assistants on his desert digs and is looking forward to amusing herself with new prey. Adam, however, is made of sterner stuff. Has she finally met her match? Seven years later the pair meet again in London. Adam, now an archaeologist himself, accompanies Kate back to Egypt where her father is trying to find an ancient fabled statue known as the Scarlet Queen. And when Kate discovers that she has a rival for Adam's love, her troubles are only just beginning.