When Neb AmenHotep, a young official in the administration of kaKhem Nome, is unexpectedly summoned to the country house of immediate superior Chancellor Teti, he has no idea of the twisted chain of events about to unfold. Against the backdrop of the crumbling mansion, called "The Horizon of Joy," and the eccentric members of Chancellor Teti's unusual household, AmenHotep must not only deal with the Chancellor's original concern -a potential theft in the Nome administration- but much older secrets about his own family as well. AmenHotep must confront corruption, intrigue, magic, and murder involving both the living and the long dead, and leading ultimately to "Death on the Horizon of Joy."