June 5, 2006
Safer and probably a lot more fun than an actual trip to present-day Egypt, MWA Grand Master Peters's 18th entry in her bestselling Amelia Peabody historical mystery series is given solid and ironic life by veteran reader Rosenblat. With an upper-class British edge that might remind some listeners of current PBS Mystery
series host, Diana Rigg, Rosenblat is best at making Peabody the combination of wisdom, strength and occasional familial frustration that has endeared her to so many readers and listeners. But she is also adept at capturing the men in the family (Amelia's husband, the pompous Radcliffe Emerson; his not-to-be-trusted half-brother, Sethos; and the Emersons' smart and hunky son and heir, Ramses) and various other high-level Brits who propel the plot about the search for Tutankhamen's tomb. Rosenblat also does the Egyptians in grand style, rarely slipping into ethnic vocal clichés. Escapist adventure, to be sure—but the quality is as high as ever. Simultaneous release with the Morrow hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 13).
Starred review from February 13, 2006
The absorbing 18th entry in MWA Grand Master Peters's bestselling Amelia Peabody series (after 2005's The Serpent on the Crown
) centers on one of the great real-life discoveries in Egyptology—the opening of Tutankhamon's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. Amelia's husband, Radcliffe Emerson (aka "the Father of Curses"), has been wooing Lord Carnavon and Howard Carter to let him excavate in the Valley of the Kings where they have digging rights, leading his competitors to think there must be something worth unearthing in the area. The eventual uncovering of King Tut's burial chamber and its magnificent contents attracts a host of museum curators, antiquities specialists, government officials, reporters and thieves. The arrival of Emerson's shady half-brother, Sethos, desperately ill and carrying a secret document, further complicates a plot involving attacks on the Emerson family, Middle East politics, conspiracies and love affairs. Once again Peters delivers an irresistible mix of archeology, action, humor and a mystery that only the redoubtable Amelia can solve.