In Rome, Amelia meets Evelyn Barton-Forbes, a young Englishwoman of social standing who has run off with (and subsequently been abandoned by) her Italian lover, and the two make their way to Egypt.

Peabody and Emerson return to Egypt at least once without Ramses (The Curse of the Pharaohs) in 1892 before deciding to bring him along on their annual digs (The Mummy Case), beginning in the 1894-95 season.

The family encounters a hitherto unknown civilization in a remote wadi in the desert (The Last Camel Died at Noon), becomes embroiled in turbulent politics, and discovers Nefret Forth, the daughter of a long-presumed dead explorer.

Sennia is revealed to be the child of Amelia's nephew Percival, first seen in Deeds of the Disturber, who is reintroduced as an adult in a villainous role for several volumes beginning with The Falcon at the Portal.

The tension between Ramses and Nefret is finally resolved in He Shall Thunder in the Sky, with their marriage taking place at the end of that book and recounted in flashback sequences in the next.

Abdullah has several children, among them his youngest son, Selim, who, originally assigned as a bodyguard of sorts for Ramses (The Mummy Case), eventually replaces his father as reis (dig supervisor).

This is revealed in the Vicky Bliss series final installment The Laughter of Dead Kings, in which it is strongly hinted that Peters herself -- "She writes under three names"—is the journals' editor.

In earlier novels, Sir Evelyn Baring, Lord Cromer, the British consul general to Cairo and de facto ruler of the country at the time, makes occasional cameo appearances.

The series incorporates a number of prominent historical figures from the field of Egyptology as characters, including Howard Carter, William Flinders Petrie, Gaston Maspero, George A. Reisner, and E. A. Wallis Budge, whom Emerson considers an arch-rival (even if the feelings are not mutual).

Another recurring character is that of Cyrus Vandergelt, an American entrepreneur who finances a number of archaeological expeditions in the Valley of the Kings (with little success) and becomes a close friend and confidant of the Emerson clan.

The Vandergelt character is at least partly based on Theodore Davis, the American entrepreneur who first hired Howard Carter to dig in the Valley of the Kings, and who himself appears in The Ape Who Guards the Balance.

The Mahdist War in the Sudan forms much of the backdrop for The Last Camel Died at Noon, in which an eager Emerson ventures into unstable territory to satisfy a lifelong wish to dig among the Nubian pyramids.

The 1906 Dinshawai Incident is mentioned in historical context, and, as a result the character of David Todros (Abdullah's Coptic Christian grandson, who is fostered by the Emerson-Peabodys) becomes involved with the Egyptian nationalist movement.

As she grows into adulthood, the character of Nefret Forth Emerson is trained as a doctor, working among the poor, championing education and rights for Egyptian women, and eventually establishing a hospital in Cairo's red light district that primarily employs females (The Golden One).

Peters has indicated that the character of Radcliffe Emerson is based in part on Petrie, whose meticulous excavation habits were legendary and set a new standard for archaeological digs.

The manuscript was completed by Peters's friend, mystery writer Joan Hess, with assistance from Egyptologist Salma Ikram,[8] and was published in July 2017.