Actually, this is a review of 2 mysteries featuring Amelia Peabody Emerson and her convoluted family. It had been a while, and when I searched at Joseph-Beth, I found 2 wonderful works I hadn’t read: The Serpent on the Crown (2005) and Tomb of the Golden Bird (2006).
There are now 18 of these mysteries, beginning in the late 1890’s, with these current two just after the Great War, in 1920 and 1921.
The first deals with the finding of a golden statue that, after mayhem, escapes, searches, danger and humor, is deemed to be likely from the unfound tomb of King Tut. The second is the discovery of that tomb – by others, not the Emersons, and includes plots, subplots and counterplots.
There is always a lot of fun in these Elizabeth Peters mysteries, through the actions and activities of the extended Emerson clan. In both these books, 5-year-old grandson John David, tres precocious, provides much of it.
In the Golden Bird, there’s also a lot of work done by matchmaker Amelia, and a wonderfully detailed family Christmas from that post-Victorian time.
I like my mysteries with great characters, interesting settings, fun and very little blood. Amelia never fails to meet my criteria. And each can be read separately – you don’t need to read them all to have a great time disappearing into Egypt and the Valley of the Kings.