Autumn, 1922. On doctor's orders, Lady Wallette "Wally" Carrington, accompanied by her good friend Lady Wilhelmina "Willie" Dorsett, takes a Mediterranean cruise to Egypt for the coming winter season. They are joined on the island of Cypress by her cousin Lord Posthumous "Earnest" Remington and his companion, Willoughby. On their way they encounter disappearances, more smugglers and a gang of murderers. This only escalates on their Egyptian odyssey with the addition of sightseeing, abductions, Nile cruises, train journeys and snakes. Throw in a Russian Grand Duchess, a Texan family and gold Egyptian deity amulets and the quartet learns that throwing Tahitian black pearls before swine can lead to murder.