The First-Born of Egypt Books in Order

The christening of Lord Canteloupe's heir introduces a circle of complicated aristocratic relationships. Meanwhile, gifted but unruly schoolboy Marius Stern repeatedly risks expulsion, and his parents' unexplained kidnapping adds danger to the household's already precarious affairs.

Fielding Gray and Jeremy Morrison encounter a friar with connections to their past while returning through Venice. Back in Wiltshire, Lord Canteloupe faces disruptions involving inheritance, the visitor's arrival, and Gregory Stern's response to an attempted blackmail.

After his wife's death, Lord Canteloupe confronts competing claims on the family inheritance, including an illegitimate child in Italy. Meanwhile, Marius Stern and Tessa Malcolm become entangled in schemes involving Milo Hedley and his manipulative teacher.

Lord Canteloupe wants another heir to secure his dynasty, but his impotence complicates the plan. His wife Theodosia agrees to conceive with a suitable partner, leaving the household to arrange a candidate and the circumstances for conception.

The death of Lancaster College's provost triggers fresh complications among the Canteloupes and their associates. Young Marius Stern is warned against classics teacher Raisley Conyngham, whose powerful influence threatens to deepen the boy's fascination with cruelty and corruption.

Classics teacher Raisley Conyngham strengthens his influence over Marius Stern, but the young pupil possesses his own ruthless instincts. As others seek to exploit him, Marius must evade the tests and traps concealed within their competing demands.

A robed body with a split skull lies beside a discarded lute, raising the question of theatrical illusion or sinister omen. Raisley Conyngham, Marius Stern, and their associates face the unsettling implications in the saga's final volume.