The second book in the Amelia Peabody series after Crocodile on the Sandbank, the opening finds Amelia and Emerson in England, both feeling confined and unfulfilled (Amelia in her role as house wife and mother, and Emerson in his as a university lecturer) and hoping for excitement. They watch with interest a story developing in Egypt about the death of Lord Baskerville, who was involved in the excavation of a tomb prior to his untimely death. The newspapers are reporting it as a natural death, however Amelia knows that it must be murder. Before too long, the widow of Lord Baskerville is at the door, asking Emerson to continue with the work that her husband had begun.Amelia and Emerson head off to Egypt (sans their son Ramses) and before too long they find murder and mayhem, along with numerous interesting archeological finds! In a mystery with more twists and turns than..well.. a very twisty, turny thing, there is danger and intrigue galore.
This is only the second book in the series I have read (there are currently 17 in the series), but I do enjoy them immensely! Amelia is such a forceful but still endearing character who knows far better than anyone else about just about everything! The only thing that really bothered me about this book was their willingness to leave their son behind, with nary a backwards glance. I know that in the future books in the series this doesn't happen, which will be a relief to me personally.
In this installment we also get to meet Bastet the cat, and I look forward to hearing more about its adventures in the next books!
Rating 4/5
The books in this series in order are:
The Crocodile on the Sandbank
The Curse of the Pharoahs
The Mummy Case
Lion in the Valley
Deeds of the Disturber
The Last Camel Died at Noon
The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog
The Hippopotamus Pool
Seeing a Large Cat
The Ape Who Guards the Balance
The Falcon at the Portal
He Shall Thunder in the Sky
Lord of the Silent
The Golden One
Children of the Storm
Guardian of the Horizon
Serpent on the Crown
Tomb of the Golden Bird
I *love* this series. I just reread "He Shall Thunder in the Sky", and apart from the wonderfully romantic scenes, I think it also conveys the strength of the relationship between Amelia/Emerson and Ramses.
ReplyDeleteWhen Amelia's the narrator, I think a lot of what she says is very tongue-in-cheek and purposefully restrained. I know what you mean about them leaving Ramses behind on this trip - but I'd like to think that she missed him horribly, but refused to jot down sentimental rubbish like that in her journals! :-)