The Cobra King of Kathmandu

infobox Book |
name = The Cobra King of Kathmandu
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = P.B. Kerr
illustrator = map by jim mcmahon, interior artwork by Leyah Jensen, cover illustration by David Wyatt
cover_artist = Petar Meseldzija
country = United States
language = English
series = Children of the Lamp
genre = Fantasy
publisher = Orchard Books
release_date = 2007
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 395 pp
isbn =
preceded_by = The Blue Djinn of Babylon
followed_by = The Day of the Djinn Warriors

"The Cobra King of Kathmandu" is the third novel in the "Children of the Lamp" trilogy by P. B. Kerr. It was released in late 2006/early 2007, in both the UK and USA.

Plot synopsis

In "The Cobra King of Kathmandu", the book starts off 12 years in the past. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has been possessed by a young girl Djinn, and Nimrod was called to perform the exorcism (of sorts). He does this by burning 7 cat's whiskers. Djinn cannot stand the smell of burning cat, so the possessing djinn is driven out, and the Prime Minister is freed. Then we are taken to present day to Dybbuk (just Buck) Sachertorte, friend of djinn twins John and Philippa Gaunt introduced in Book 2. For fun, he commits a theft for a friend's father, but discovers a treasure beyond his expectation. The friend and father wind up being murdered for this treasure, but Dybbuk escapes. In the meantime, John and Philippa Gaunt are celebrating their first Djinn birthday, and their mother introduces them to their soul mirror, where they can look into themselves (literally) and see their souls.

Escaping the members of the Nine Cobra cult, the deadly cult that seems to be responsible for the recent deaths as well as a break-in at the Gaunt home, Dybbuk flees for his life. Eventually getting in touch with the Gaunt twins, John and Philippa arrive to help Dybbuk, leaving clones of themselves behind to fool their parents. Together they all find themselves travelling to Kathmandu (via a few unexpected snowy regions) where they unravel the mystery of the Nine Cobras.

They meet a guru who takes some of their blood and puts it into his own body to become a djinn but ended up dying from it because he burst into flames(spontaneous combustion, as Nimrod calls it).

While solving this latest mystery, John and Philippa's mother left to become the Blue Djinn. Upon her departure she cast a Methusalah binding on their father causing him to grow 20 years older every day the twins are not home. This will ensure that the twins do not try to follow her and bring her home. In the end of the book their father is already much older, and they are forced to stay so he will return to his real age. Nimrod winds up moving in to stay with the kids... but a plot is already starting to form in his mind on how to free his sister from the responsibility of being the next Blue Djinn...