"When the body of a man shot gangland style is found in the wreckage of a mid-air collision in the Alaskan wilderness, Kate Shugak, as the investigation reaches to the highest levels of the government, is determined to find the truth, risking her life and the lives of those she loves most."--

Alexandria, 47 BC. Cleopatra shares the throne with her brother Ptolemy under the auspices of Julius Caesar, by whom Cleopatra is heavily pregnant. A shipment of new coins meant to reset the shaky Egyptian economy has been stolen and the Queen's Eye has been murdered, so Queen Cleopatra turns to childhood friend Tetisheri to find the missing shipment and bring the murderer to justice.

"It is New Year's Eve, nearly six weeks into an off-and-on blizzard that has locked Alaska down, effectively cutting it off from the outside world. But now there are reports of a plane down in the Quilak mountains. With the National Transportation Safety Board unable to reach the crash site, ex-Trooper Jim Chopin is pulled out of retirement to try to identify the aircraft, collect the corpses, and determine why no flight has been reported missing....