Part of what makes me love this book--and the others in Peters' Amelia Peabody series--is that it's so delightfully uncategorizable. It's a mystery set in historical Egypt, but the time period is not, as one might expect, in the BC years; rather, the novel is set in the late 1800s. The main characters are a family of British Egyptologists (parents Radcliffe Emerson and Amelia Peabody Emerson and young son Ramses)--the parents of said family being based very loosely on historical figures (in Radcliffe's case, William Flinders Petrie and, I believe, in Amelia's case, Amelia Edwards).




Peters brings all kinds of historical characters into this series, intermingling them with her own characters and using them in her plots without shame. Into the series she brings names of real archaeologists, like William Petrie and Howard Carter. Seeing as how he's based on the guy, one might think that Radcliffe Emerson would, in the books, get along well with Petrie; in fact, Peters has made her character a rival with Petrie. The results are hilarious, with Peters shamelessly playing with real historical events, inserting her characters into those events, and creating her own version of real Egyptological events. She weaves tons and tons Egyptological facts in with her plots, and readers lap them up and ask for more, not even realising how much they must be learning about Egypt--not just ancient Egypt, but the political events and standing of Egypt in the last 1800s, and into the 20th century, including the role Egypt played in WWI.




This particular book in the series (book #3, in fact, in a series of 14) is a mystery set in the desert. The Emersons are excavating at Mazghunah, near Dahshoor (for those of you who know anything about Egypt!). Of course, they soon get tangled up in a wicked web of theft, murder, and scandal. Peters still manages to keep her plot and writing light and deft, though, as she weaves together history and fiction, and her writing and characters are side-splittingly funny. Dialogue is one of Peters' strong points, as evidenced by young Ramses' monologues and his parents' responses, and the fact that the adult Emersons claim to prefer cryptic speech, yet ramble as much as their son, when allowed.




Peters has written a hilarious and entertaining novel, a romp through history and Egypt, the writing deft and light, the plot rich, the characters unique and lively while still being hilarious paradies of steriotypical, stock characters.

The characters really draw me to this series. They age as the books go on, so Ramses grows up and becomes, ah, quite a heartthrob! It's crucial to read the series in order, though, and, though the first books lack some of the character development Peters shows in the later books in the series, they make up for it in sharp, clean, hilarious writing and, as I mentioned, side-splittingly funny dialogue. I love all the stuff I've learntm through reading these books, about Egypt and Egyptology.

The plot in this book bothered me a little bit, because it has a more-that-slight anti-Christian tone. Peters does not outright mock Christianity, but she, through her characters, come close, and that bothers me. The plot hinges on this questioning-Christianity theme. That bothers me, but I'm able to forgive Peters and read on, because the book is wonderful in all other aspects.

I wanted to be a member of the Emerson family! They are so real, the characters full of convincing personality traits--both negative and positive--that shape them and make them seem real. I find myself wishing so much that they were real, so I could know them, talk to them, be one of them!

After reading only one book in the series, you're going to be hooked. Before I started reading these books, I hated anything to do with Egypt and Egyptology (feeling that it was creepy, and, more importantly, boring!). Now, I love the subject, and I love these books. Peters reaches out her arms and draws you into their world.

This book, in particular, is not my favorite on the series, because of the anti-Christian tone I mentioned. However, it didn't bother me too much, so I wouldn't recommend skipping the book.

If you're interested in reading the series, I highly recommend that you read them in order, because it will be very confusing if you do not. The first 3 books in the series are:




1. Crocodile on the Sandbank


2. The Curse of the Pharaohs


3. The Mummy Case




Book #14 is due out on April 1st, titled The Golden One.

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Created Mar 06, 2002 at 1:16pm • Submit your own review...