At the end of "The Season of the Hyaena", the previous book in this trilogy, Mahu had just been recalled to court because the young Pharaoh, Tutankhamun, was suffering from a serious mental illness.

The Year of the Cobra

At the end of "The Season of the Hyaena", the previous book in this trilogy, Mahu had just been recalled to court because the young Pharaoh, Tutankhamun, was suffering from a serious mental illness. "The Year of the Cobra" now resumes Mahu's tale: Tutankhamun is unwell, but there is no heir apparent. Egypt's enemies, the Hittites, are advancing through Canaan, and Ay - First Minister of Akenhaten, father of Nefertiti, brother of Queen Tiye - still plots, like the spider he is. The web is woven, the traps set...

The Year of the Cobra