THE CURSE OF THE PHARAOHS
by Elizabeth Peters
Victorian maiden-lady archaeologist Amelia Peabody made a nice little debut in Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975)—but, now wed to scholar-colleague Radcliffe Emerson and the mother of formidable tot Ramses, she's in much better form, starring in a delicious mystery-adventure. The fun begins when Lady Baskerville begs the Emersons to re-open a dig near Luxor where Sir Henry B. died mysteriously—and then his assistant disappeared! So, joining a household near the Egyptian tomb-site, the Emersons size up suspects: hieroglyphics expert Karl Von Bock; US millionaire Cyrus Vandergelt (with designs on the widowed Lady B.); photographer Arthur Milverton (Sir Henry's secret heir); deranged Madame Berengaria, an unlovely lush (with her daughter Mary). And Amelia is scarcely settled in before watchman Hassan is killed, Milverton is attacked, the missing assistant turns up dead, and Madame B. gets hers too. Prolific Peters (a.k.a. Barbara Michaels, she of the occulty gothics) is at her giddy best here—complete with solid archaeological backgrounds, independent-spirited heroine, and inexhaustible high spirits. So, for mystery-comedy fans: an all-frills period charmer.