Saturday, February 6, 2010

3-5, Amelia Peabody Mysteries

The Mummy Case
Amelia and Emerson bring their young son Ramses along in Egypt in 1894. Denied permission to dig at the lovely pyramids of Dashoor, they are assigned to the decrepit mounds of rubble that pass for the pyramids of Mazghunah. Nothing in this barren stretch of land seems of interest until an illegal antiquities dealer gets killed. Before long, mummy cases start appearing and disappearing, and a second murder complicates the mystery. When it becomes clear that a Master Criminal is behind these goings on, Amelia starts digging -- for facts.

The Curse of the Pharaohs
Published 1981 It's 1892, and Amelia and Emerson, who is now her husband, are back in England raising their young son Ramses, when 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. Amid rumors of a curse haunting all those involved with the dig, Amelia and Emerson proceed to Egypt and begin to suspect that Sir Henry did not die a natural death. The accidents plaguing the dig appear to be caused by a sinister human element, not a pharaoh's curse.

Crocodile on the Sandbank

Published 1975 Set in 1884, this is the first installment in what has become a beloved bestselling series. At thirty-two, strong-willed Amelia Peabody, a self-proclaimed spinster, decides to use her ample inheritance to indulge her passion, Egyptology. On her way to Egypt, Amelia encounters a young woman named Evelyn Barton-Forbes. The two become fast friends and travel on together, encountering mysteries, missing mummies, and Radcliffe Emerson, a dashing and opinionated archaeologist who doesn't need a woman's help -- or so he thinks.