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...