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nickybee's review against another edition
2.0
A bit boring. The characters and story don't really come to life. I miss Barbara Mertz :(
lauraellis's review against another edition
4.0
All Amelia Peabody Emerson fans owe Joan Hess a debt of gratitude for taking up Barbara Mertz's unfinished story and letting us have one final adventure with the Emersons. I am usually suspicious of authors who try to pick up and continue other authors' series, but I am such a big fan that that I had to try this book. I've read a number of Joan Hess's Maggody series. Here she has managed to completely submerge her own authorial voice in favor of Barbara Mertz's. I kept waiting for the moment when I could tell that Barbara had laid down her (metaphorical) pen and Joan had picked it up. I never could. If you've been debating whether you should try this one or whether it would be a disappointment, I can tell you that Joan has given us one last round with Amelia and company. Savor it, and then go re-read some of the others!
elisabethshelby's review against another edition
3.0
Unlike other Elizabeth Peters novels, I struggled to finish this last book in the Amelia Peabody series. Not because of Joan Hess's prose. I've seen a few reviews rip her writing apart, and while I don't think it read as clearly as Elizabeth Peters' did, I can't fault her for making the best of an awkward situation of trying to finish someone else's manuscript. Where I did struggle was how this story related to the other stories in the series, and how little it held me glued to my seat, like Amelia Peabody books of the past.
First off - this book takes place between The Falcon at the Portal and He Shall Thunder in the Sky. The tension between Nefret and Ramses (both sexual and non-sexual) should be oozing from these pages. Knowing how the story for them turns out, I should be thrilled to find them here in this awkward no-man's-land, in love but unable to find the way to show that to each other.
And yet....they're barely in the book. This book is centered 99% around Amelia only, with only a few very brief Manuscript H narratives thrown in, almost as an afterthought. The book is so wrapped up in Amelia that they send Emerson away to Cairo for a large chunk of the narrative, having Amelia deal with villains and the missing bust of Nefertiti without her lovable other half.
I want to believe that Joan Hess decided to focus on Amelia's story, and not the others, because it made things easier for her - inheriting a family like the Emerson's 19 stories in is not an easy task for any author to try to breathe life into. However, by abandoning so many of the story lines to focus on Amelia's left the plot lacking in many spots. At times I felt the pacing was too off - too quickly resolved in some areas, and too dragged out in others.
I am thankful for the last story Elizabeth was able to give us, and won't criticize this book the way others have (hello, Amazon reviews). But in my own mind, the story felt incomplete. I would've liked a final story about the entire Emerson family. As it stands, this was a final story about Amelia, and while a nice read, it feels anti-climatic for this wonderful family I've come to adore over the years.
First off - this book takes place between The Falcon at the Portal and He Shall Thunder in the Sky. The tension between Nefret and Ramses (both sexual and non-sexual) should be oozing from these pages. Knowing how the story for them turns out, I should be thrilled to find them here in this awkward no-man's-land, in love but unable to find the way to show that to each other.
And yet....they're barely in the book. This book is centered 99% around Amelia only, with only a few very brief Manuscript H narratives thrown in, almost as an afterthought. The book is so wrapped up in Amelia that they send Emerson away to Cairo for a large chunk of the narrative, having Amelia deal with villains and the missing bust of Nefertiti without her lovable other half.
I want to believe that Joan Hess decided to focus on Amelia's story, and not the others, because it made things easier for her - inheriting a family like the Emerson's 19 stories in is not an easy task for any author to try to breathe life into. However, by abandoning so many of the story lines to focus on Amelia's left the plot lacking in many spots. At times I felt the pacing was too off - too quickly resolved in some areas, and too dragged out in others.
I am thankful for the last story Elizabeth was able to give us, and won't criticize this book the way others have (hello, Amazon reviews). But in my own mind, the story felt incomplete. I would've liked a final story about the entire Emerson family. As it stands, this was a final story about Amelia, and while a nice read, it feels anti-climatic for this wonderful family I've come to adore over the years.
eeb123's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first book I have read in the Amelia Peabody series, and I found myself wondering if I would have been more engaged if I knew the characters better. As it was, while I did enjoy aspects of the book (particularly the historical aspects), I found the plot plodding and the attempts at humor not that humorous. I did liked Amelia Peabody as a character, and the plot was interesting (though could have been shortened by a few hundred pages), so I wonder if my complaints are peculiar to this book (the last in the series and not written solely by Elizabeth Peters) or are signs that I am not the target audience (despite my enjoyment of most mystery sub-genres).
(Thank you William Morrow and Goodreads for the advance copy.)
(Thank you William Morrow and Goodreads for the advance copy.)
lootsfoz's review against another edition
4.0
Bittersweet to bid Amelia goodbye. Will have to eventually reread the series.
allisoncc's review
3.0
There are some continuity errors in this book. But that’s bound to happen, I suppose, when a second author steps in to finish an incomplete manuscript when the original author has died.
I certainly could feel that this wasn’t entirely a Barbara Mertz (pen name Elizabeth Peters) book. The characters didn’t quite have the same gleam to them that they have in the other 19 books of the series. That being said, another adventure and an send off to such a prolific author is a wonderful attachment to the series.
Also Sennia just doesn’t exist in this book, and like— she should at least get mentioned given that this sits between Falcon and Thunder in the timeline. Also Ramses and his father have some characteristics of each other that they shouldn’t.
I certainly could feel that this wasn’t entirely a Barbara Mertz (pen name Elizabeth Peters) book. The characters didn’t quite have the same gleam to them that they have in the other 19 books of the series. That being said, another adventure and an send off to such a prolific author is a wonderful attachment to the series.
Also Sennia just doesn’t exist in this book, and like— she should at least get mentioned given that this sits between Falcon and Thunder in the timeline. Also Ramses and his father have some characteristics of each other that they shouldn’t.
iceangel9's review against another edition
4.0
The final installment in the Amelia Peabody series of mysteries. This unfinished manuscript was completed by Ms. Hess after the death of Ms. Peters. Fans of this series of historical fiction mysteries set in Egypt will be sad the end has come. Amelia and Emerson are trying to track the down the original bust of Queen Nefertiti which has been stolen and is being copied by forgers, while being chased by a family of assassins. Another day in the life of the Emerson family. I love this series and am so sad to see it end. Amelia's snarky humor and the adventures of the Father of Curses, Sitt Hakim, the Brother of Demons and Nur Misur will be missed.
amandawillimott's review against another edition
2.0
After Elizabeth Peters passed away, Joan Hess took over The Painted Queen. This Amelia Peabody adventure takes us back to 1912 during a season in Amarna where Amelia takes on a family of assassins while the family searches for the missing bust of Nefertiti and it’s many forgeries.
It’s sad that this is the last Amelia Peabody story because it’s sorely lacking in almost everything that made the series so special. The characters are flat versions of themselves, displaying few of the quirks we have come to love about them, and introducing new quirks instead - since when was Amelia so obsessed with food? Emerson is hardly present, his bold and overbearing personality reduced to a few statements. Nefret could easily have been replaced by a table lamp. And as for Ramses and David, they were indistinguishable.
At times I found the story hard to follow because a character would make a dramatic exclamation and it was followed by little to no explanation of anything dramatic. The whole book was fragmented and lacked the joy of the previous books.
It’s sad that this is the last Amelia Peabody story because it’s sorely lacking in almost everything that made the series so special. The characters are flat versions of themselves, displaying few of the quirks we have come to love about them, and introducing new quirks instead - since when was Amelia so obsessed with food? Emerson is hardly present, his bold and overbearing personality reduced to a few statements. Nefret could easily have been replaced by a table lamp. And as for Ramses and David, they were indistinguishable.
At times I found the story hard to follow because a character would make a dramatic exclamation and it was followed by little to no explanation of anything dramatic. The whole book was fragmented and lacked the joy of the previous books.
metta's review against another edition
3.0
2-3 stars because it didn't ring true* to me although I appreciate the effort. Also, I just didn't feel that same joie de vivre or the verve (for lack of better words) that was present in the other books in this series.
*Although it's been seven long years since I last read a Peabody mystery, my beloved characters didn't seem like themselves ... and there were a few times where I had to re-read some sentences as they just didn't seem to flow.
Another thing: no explanation of the name "Flitworthy" was given....
*Although it's been seven long years since I last read a Peabody mystery, my beloved characters didn't seem like themselves ... and there were a few times where I had to re-read some sentences as they just didn't seem to flow.
bookwormmichelle's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, this is killing me. It's bad enough that Elizabeth Peters is dead. This alone is traumatic. I'm heartbroken that this is the last Amelia Peabody book. Although I have to admit I am so thankful that the estate does not plan on pulling a Tom Clancy here. Whew. Thank you. :-) I wanted to love this desperately, for this to take me back to how much I love these books. And . . . as a mystery book it really wasn't that bad. It's not that I didn't enjoy it. I did. It's just . . . I'm sorry. I don't know much about the author that finished this book, but . . . she certainly was not Elizabeth Peters. The farther I got into the book, the more the dialogue grew stilted and awkward. All the women sounded like Amelia on steroids, and all the men sounded like the Professor on steroids (terrifying thought.) I mean, I'm sorry. Nefret does not talk just like Amelia, and Ramses does not talk just like his father. It just didn't work. I'm glad the book got finished, and I'm glad I read it, and now I'm going to go in a corner and cry for the ending of my most favoritest mystery series ever.