Lincoln Child

With Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta's assistance, Pendergast embarks on a quest to uncover the mystery of his wife's murder. As he probes more deeply into the riddle--the answer to which is revealed in a night of shocking violence, deep in the Louisiana bayou--he finds himself faced with an even greater question: who was the woman he married?

The Museum of Natural History receives back a pilfered gem collection, which has been ground to dust. To quell the PR nightmare the museum decides to reopen the Tomb of Senef; that's when the killings and talk of ancient curse start. FBI agent Pendergast is pitted against his brilliant, psychotic brother Diogenes.

While on a grand tour Pendergast and Constance learn that a rare and dangerous artifact the monks have been guarding for generations has been mysteriously stolen. Pendergast takes up the search which leads them to the maiden voyage of the Queen Victoria.

"A seemingly straightforward private case turns out to be much more complicated--and sinister--than Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast ever could have anticipated. Pendergast, together with his ward Constance Greene, travels to the quaint seaside village of Exmouth, Massachusetts, to investigate the theft of a priceless wine collection. But inside the wine cellar, they find something considerably more disturbing: a bricked-up niche that once held a crumbling...

"A bonding trip for Pendergast and his brother-in-law, Judson Esterhazy, turns violent. Before abandoning a mortally-wounded Pendergast, Esterhazy announces his sister, Pendergast's long-dead wife Helen, is alive"--Provided by publisher.