Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Look, I'll be straight with you. I love this series, but this is my least favorite book in it so far. I should probably rate it lower, but I'm giving it three stars out of longstanding Emerson family solidarity.
This is what it has that I liked:
1) Ramses Emerson, my favorite character in the series. Someday, that boy will actually be allowed to finish a sentence.
2) Gargery the butler. That's it. That's the sentence.
This is what it had that I didn't like:
1) Marital suspicion and jealousy as plot devices. The villain's ability to maintain secrecy relies heavily on the fact that the main characters don't trust each other. It's lazy storytelling, and it doesn't even try to be convincing.
2) Horrid children being horrid. Amelia's niece and nephew come to stay for awhile in this one and it's the worst. I daresay that writing children is not a strong suit of Elizabeth Peters.' You're seriously telling me that a six-year-old is just going to say "Nasty! Dead!" over and over instead of speaking in sentences? Nah, fam.
3) A very convoluted plot involving sex magic, dead bodies, and a very poorly explained motive for anybody to be murdered. I still don't really understand what this book was about.
And it's not even set in Egypt!
I didn't like it very much. BUT I do like the series overall, so I'm going to keep on keeping on.
This is what it has that I liked:
1) Ramses Emerson, my favorite character in the series. Someday, that boy will actually be allowed to finish a sentence.
2) Gargery the butler. That's it. That's the sentence.
This is what it had that I didn't like:
1) Marital suspicion and jealousy as plot devices. The villain's ability to maintain secrecy relies heavily on the fact that the main characters don't trust each other. It's lazy storytelling, and it doesn't even try to be convincing.
2) Horrid children being horrid. Amelia's niece and nephew come to stay for awhile in this one and it's the worst. I daresay that writing children is not a strong suit of Elizabeth Peters.' You're seriously telling me that a six-year-old is just going to say "Nasty! Dead!" over and over instead of speaking in sentences? Nah, fam.
3) A very convoluted plot involving sex magic, dead bodies, and a very poorly explained motive for anybody to be murdered. I still don't really understand what this book was about.
And it's not even set in Egypt!
I didn't like it very much. BUT I do like the series overall, so I'm going to keep on keeping on.
The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters
Atheneum, 1988
289 pages
Mystery-Fifth Amelia Peabody book
4/5 stars
Read for Cozy Challenge
Source: Library
Although I read the first four Amelia Peabody books out of order, I was determined that I would read the rest as they were written. When I was last at the library, I remembered to look up what the fifth book was called and luckily it was on the shelves.
This book is different from the previous because the setting is London rather than Egypt. I really liked that change especially as I'm a bit of an Anglophile but not an Egyptologist. Still I enjoy following Amelia, her husband Emerson, and their startlingly precocious son 'Ramses.' Other recurring characters include Irish newsman Kevin O'Connell (who I quite adore), butler Wilkins, and Emerson's brother and wife. New characters also appear: newswoman Miss Minton, mysterious woman from Emerson's past Ayesha, new butler Gargery who is quite in raptures over Emerson, and Amelia's niece and nephew plus more people intimately involved in the mystery.
That mystery begins when a watchman dies before a "haunted" mummy case at the British Museum followed by another death and the appearance of a man dressed as an ancient Egyptian priest to terrify the observers. As always Emerson rails against Amelia involving herself but both set off on the track of the murderer with many amusing complications. While I usually love the tone of the books, I found it somewhat overwhelming. Amelia's writing, the story is supposed to be adapted from her journals, works best for me in small doses so I will wait awhile before I pick up the sixth book.
Cover: Um, it fits but I really don't like it. The mask doesn't make any sense until almost the very end.
Atheneum, 1988
289 pages
Mystery-Fifth Amelia Peabody book
4/5 stars
Read for Cozy Challenge
Source: Library
Although I read the first four Amelia Peabody books out of order, I was determined that I would read the rest as they were written. When I was last at the library, I remembered to look up what the fifth book was called and luckily it was on the shelves.
This book is different from the previous because the setting is London rather than Egypt. I really liked that change especially as I'm a bit of an Anglophile but not an Egyptologist. Still I enjoy following Amelia, her husband Emerson, and their startlingly precocious son 'Ramses.' Other recurring characters include Irish newsman Kevin O'Connell (who I quite adore), butler Wilkins, and Emerson's brother and wife. New characters also appear: newswoman Miss Minton, mysterious woman from Emerson's past Ayesha, new butler Gargery who is quite in raptures over Emerson, and Amelia's niece and nephew plus more people intimately involved in the mystery.
That mystery begins when a watchman dies before a "haunted" mummy case at the British Museum followed by another death and the appearance of a man dressed as an ancient Egyptian priest to terrify the observers. As always Emerson rails against Amelia involving herself but both set off on the track of the murderer with many amusing complications. While I usually love the tone of the books, I found it somewhat overwhelming. Amelia's writing, the story is supposed to be adapted from her journals, works best for me in small doses so I will wait awhile before I pick up the sixth book.
Cover: Um, it fits but I really don't like it. The mask doesn't make any sense until almost the very end.
I have to admit, Peters threw me in a loop, and just like Amelia and Emerson I had no clue about who the culprit might be. In fact, I gasped and I think I said "Nooo!" When the person was revealed. Otherwise, I was quite mad at Amelia for letting Ramses get bullied for as long as he'd been. Both Percy and Violet are despicable children. I hated both of them. Though I understand that they were too busy solving a crime, but still, you'd think they'd give poor Ramses a chance to say something.
I generally like this series but I found Amelia very irritating and silly in this book. She talks about how her brother tormented her when she was a child but is completely oblivious when Percy does the same thing to Ramses. Then she's taken in when Miss Minton starts spouting feminist propaganda. She even gives the woman, whom she barely knows, her newspaper advert and doesn't notice when Minton sneaks into their house to spy on them. She comes off as such an airhead it makes her snarky little comments on how women are so intelligent and men are so stupid even more ridiculous.
This was probably my least favorite that I've read (well, listened to) so far. Marital Suspicion is one of my least favorite tropes, and Percy and Violet made me want to strangle them. But the climax of this novel is so hilarious that it almost totally makes up for it, I absolutely adore Gargery, and Kevin O'Connell (one of my absolute favorites) is his usual delightful and dogged self. (Also I cannot explain why, but I am tickled that he calls her "Mrs. E." It kills me.)
Sometimes you just need a novel with a sassy Victorian lady detective/archaeologist.
For this and the rest of my reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com and subscribe to my updates via email.
There are a few differences in this volume of the Amelia Peabody Emerson Mystery series than the others. For one, the action takes place in London instead of spending their time in Egypt. For another, there’s an addition to the household with the butler, Gargery. He provided great comic relief and is a welcome addition to the series.
The basic plot is that dead bodies are starting to pop up around the British Museum and its mummy exhibit. There is no shortage of mysterious people, events, and suspects. There are colleagues from the archeological field, two journalists who become part of the repertoire of characters, a priest with supernatural powers, as well as members of the upper class, gypsies, janitors, you name it. It’s a hodge podge and Amelia Peabody has to sort out all the details, with the help of her husband, Emerson.
The enjoyment of these books is not the plot. Most times they are paper thin. The real reason one reads Amelia Peabody is because they enjoy Egyptology, witty banter, tongue-in-cheek opinions that make fun of the conventions of the day. Radcliffe and Amelia reflect the Victorian time period and the Imperialist views of the British at the time, yet in other ways they are surprisingly modern, such as Emerson’s acceptance of Amelia as an equal at work. Their son, Ramses, also provides comic relief, as he’s smart as a whip, and now that he’s a little older, he’s not nearly as precocious and obnoxious as previous volumes.
If you want to get the full effect of this fun cozy mystery series, listen to the unabridged audiobooks narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. She’s a consummate narrator and just nails the characterizations perfectly. Her work on these books is one of the reasons I embraced audiobooks in the first place.
There are a few differences in this volume of the Amelia Peabody Emerson Mystery series than the others. For one, the action takes place in London instead of spending their time in Egypt. For another, there’s an addition to the household with the butler, Gargery. He provided great comic relief and is a welcome addition to the series.
The basic plot is that dead bodies are starting to pop up around the British Museum and its mummy exhibit. There is no shortage of mysterious people, events, and suspects. There are colleagues from the archeological field, two journalists who become part of the repertoire of characters, a priest with supernatural powers, as well as members of the upper class, gypsies, janitors, you name it. It’s a hodge podge and Amelia Peabody has to sort out all the details, with the help of her husband, Emerson.
The enjoyment of these books is not the plot. Most times they are paper thin. The real reason one reads Amelia Peabody is because they enjoy Egyptology, witty banter, tongue-in-cheek opinions that make fun of the conventions of the day. Radcliffe and Amelia reflect the Victorian time period and the Imperialist views of the British at the time, yet in other ways they are surprisingly modern, such as Emerson’s acceptance of Amelia as an equal at work. Their son, Ramses, also provides comic relief, as he’s smart as a whip, and now that he’s a little older, he’s not nearly as precocious and obnoxious as previous volumes.
If you want to get the full effect of this fun cozy mystery series, listen to the unabridged audiobooks narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. She’s a consummate narrator and just nails the characterizations perfectly. Her work on these books is one of the reasons I embraced audiobooks in the first place.