Author: Elizabeth Peters
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Amelia Peabody (Book 18)
Publication: HarperAudio (March 23, 2006)
Length: 13 hours and 43 minutes
Description: Convinced that the tomb of the little-known King Tutankhamen lies somewhere in the Valley of the Kings, eminent Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson and his intrepid wife, Amelia Peabody, seem to have hit a wall. Having been banned forever from the East Valley, Emerson, against Amelia's advice, has tried desperately to persuade Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter to relinquish their digging rights. But Emerson's trickery has backfired, and his insistent interest in the site has made his rivals all the more determined to keep the Emerson clan away.
Powerless to intervene but determined to stay close to the unattainable tomb, the family returns to Luxor and prepares to continue their dig in the less promising West Valley, and to watch from the sidelines as Carter and Carnarvon "discover" the greatest Egyptian treasure of all time: King Tut's tomb. But before their own excavation can get underway, Emerson and his son, Ramses, find themselves lured into a trap by a strange group of villains ominously demanding, "Where is he?"
Driven by distress, and, of course, Amelia's insatiable curiosity, the Emersons embark on a quest to uncover who "he" is and why "he" must be found, only to discover that the answer is uncomfortably close to home. Now Amelia must find a way to protect her family, and perhaps even her would-be nemesis, from the sinister forces that will stop at nothing to succeed in the nefarious plot that threatens the peace of the entire region.
My Thoughts: The finale of the Amelia Peabody series takes place in 1922 and centers around the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen. An argument with Howard Carter leaves the Emersons on the outside looking in but we do see some of the activities around the discovery.
The Emersons are busy with problems of their own when Sethos shows up fighting a bout of malaria and trailing villains who want to recover an encrypted note that he stole. When David arrives from England, he gets involved in the same issues that he was involved with as a younger man: encouraging Egyptian independence from the British, it looks like both David and Sethos are dealing with different aspects of the same plot.
There are a series of threats but not murders in this episode ruining the Emerson's murder-a-season record. The threats seem rather half-hearted and include kidnapping and then releasing the Emerson's butler among other sorts of nuisance threats.
One plot point concerns whether or not Sethos has really reformed and also deals with his relationship with his wife Margaret. Ramses isn't at all sure that Sethos's reformation is real since he could easily have arranged the threats without breaking his word to Amelia to leave the family alone.
I will miss the Peabody/Emersons. I wish that I could watch the grandchildren grow up past the age of six. I greatly enjoyed this series which was filled with interesting archaeological details and characters who will live forever in my memory.
I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.
I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.
I like the archaeological bits and background too.
ReplyDelete