Elizabeth Peters

Elizabeth Peters is the author of many charming and witty mysteries, and a very few that I didn't like as well. She has (at least) three main series, and a number of singletons.

Of the series, my favorite concerns Amelia Peabody. The books, which begin with Crocodile on the Sandbank, The Curse of the Pharaohs, and The Mummy Case take place in the world of Egyptology at the end of the 19th century. (Peters, herself an Egyptologist has written two nonfiction books about ancient Egypt under her real name: Red Land, Black Land and Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs, by Barbara Mertz). The series commences when the sharp-tongued Amelia, a woman of independent means and an ardent feminist (at a time when feminism was as much a battle for practical clothing as for equality), travels to Egypt on vacation. She is soon caught up with murder, intrigue, and Radcliffe Emerson, an equally sharped-tongued archaeologist. The series gets more preposterous with each book (Peters is a fan of H. Rider Haggard, and also has a wicked sense of humor), but no less enjoyable. Highly recommended.

I'm less fond of her other series, which concern Vicki Bliss and Jacqueline Kirby, though with the exception of the first two Kirby books (The Seventh Sinner and The Richard III Murders) I found them enjoyable enough.

Jane and I particularly enjoyed one of her standalone novels, The Camelot Caper, which we read aloud. Also highly recommended.

For what it's worth, Peters also writes suspense thrillers under the name Barbara Michaels, but we haven't read any of them.

Amelia Peabody

• Crocodile on the Sandbank

Reviews: 1 June 1997

• The Curse of the Pharaohs

Reviews: 1 June 1997

• The Mummy Case

Reviews: 1 June 1997

• Lion in the Valley

Reviews: 1 June 1997

• The Deeds of the Disturber

Reviews: 1 June 1997

• The Last Camel Died At Noon

Reviews: 1 June 1997

• The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog

Reviews: 1 June 1997

• The Hippopotamus Pool

Reviews: 1 June 1997

• Seeing a Large Cat

Reviews: 1 August 1998

• The Ape Who Guards The Balance

Reviews: 1 June 1999

• The Falcon at the Portal

Reviews: 1 June 2000

• He Shall Thunder In The Sky

Reviews: 1 May 2001

• Lord of the Silent

Reviews: 1 May 2002

• The Golden One

Reviews: 1 May 2002, 1 May 2003

• Children of the Storm

Reviews: 1 May 2004

Vicky Bliss

• Silhouette in Scarlet

Reviews: 1 August 1998

• Trojan Gold

Reviews: 1 August 1998

• Night Train to Memphis

Reviews: 1 August 1998

Other Books

• Summer of the Dragon

Reviews: 1 August 1998

• The Dead Sea Cipher

Reviews: 1 September 2001

• The Love Talker

Reviews: 1 June 2001

• The Jackal's Head

Reviews: 1 October 2002