Blurb
Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, now a wife and mother, returns in another Victorian-era mystery–to catch a murderer at an excavation of an ancient tomb.
It’s 1892, and Amelia and her now-husband Radcliffe Emerson have settled down in Victorian England after their escapade in Egypt. They’re raising their young son Ramses and everything seems normal–until they are approached by a damsel in distress. Lady Baskerville’s husband, Sir Henry, has died after uncovering what may have been royal tomb in Luxor.
Despite rumors of a curse haunting all those involved with the dig, Amelia and Radcliffe proceed to Egypt and realize that Sir Henry did not die a natural death. Accidents continue to plague the dig, and talk of a pharaoh’s curse runs rampant among the group. Amelia begins to suspect that these accidents are caused by a sinister human, but who?
My Review
I discovered Elizabeth Peters totally by accident, and have been charmed by her books ever since. Unsurprisingly, I have been reading her novels in no particular order, and the last one I read focused on her son Ramses, who was a grown man. In this book Ramses is just an obnoxious toddler, and is left behind while Emerson and Peabody go off on their adventure. The relationship between our audacious archaeologists is unchanged throught the series: loving, sexy, sarcastic, amusing—all thrown into one:
“I do not recall precisely what he said next. The comment was brief. He kissed me. I was determined not to kiss him back; but Emerson kisses very well. It was some time before I was able to speak. My suggestion that I call my maid to help me out of my frock was not well received. Emerson offered his services. I pointed out that his method of removing a garment often rendered that garment unserviceable thereafter. This comment was greeted with a wordless snort of derision and a vigorous attack upon the hooks and eyes. After all, much as I commend frankness in such matters there are areas in which an individual is entitled to privacy. I find myself forced to resort to a typographical euphemism.”
Priceless, I must say. Anyway, this expedition bears an interesting resemblance to the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb, complete with the mysterious death of the leader, the media frenzy, and of course conviction among the locals that the enterprise is cursed. Emerson is hired to take up the baton, so to speak, and more murders follow as our protagonists try to solve the mystery while digging through the rubble in the pyramid and trying to protect their work site. Emerson and Peabody keep up a kind of friendly rivalry, trying to outdo each other in identifying (or exposing) the murderer. Both come close to being dispatched, themselves. This one is very complicated with a lot of “red herrings”, and kept me guessing until the end.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Pharaohs-Amelia-Peabody/dp/1455572365
