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A review by seshat59
The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog by Barbara Mertz, Elizabeth Peters
5.0
In which the indomitable Amelia Peabody conquers the amnesia trope.
I've always been a little--and quite unjustly--biased against The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog. Mostly, in my hasty youth, I was upset because both Ramses and Nefret are left in England, and thus the focus is primarily on Amelia and Emerson. But every time I reread it, it proves me wrong. It's really an excellent book, and I clearly remember having this same mental revelation whenever I last reread this, ten plus years ago. I love how MPM (Mertz-Peters-Michaels, for the uninitiated) takes traditional romance/sensational tropes and then dominates them. The amnesia trope is so overdone and usually so eye-roll-inducing, but as usual, MPM finesses it and uses the trope to help spice up Amelia and Emerson's romance.
The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog opens with the Nefret Issue. Having returned to England and her inherited society, how will--can she adapt? Well, being Nefret, she plans to immerse herself in her education so as to best adapt and camouflage her upbringing. She suggests that she remain back in England during that winter's archaeological season, and Ramses of course volunteers to remain with her -- entirely for educational purposes, of course. Thus, Amelia and Emerson are alone once again, but thirteen years into marriage, even their passion has dimmed with familiarity -- or else, it has for this book's plot device. In contrast to most other novels, Amelia is so focused on recreating the honeymoon feeling that she isn't the paranoid one, and it's Emerson who suspects there are Foul Things Afoot, especially after a masquerade party goes awry. Some Villain has put the pieces together about Lost Oasis and wants to kidnap an Emerson (in Egypt or England) to find his own way to this fabled City of Gold.
Emerson is the one to be captured, and a blow to the head robs him of his memory -- not only of the Lost Oasis but of Amelia herself and their relationship. With the rather shoddy advice of a vacationing psychotherapist, Amelia decides not to force her relationship and allow Emerson to heal on his own -- rather than "shocking" his psyche with the force of her ardor. Thus, they're allowed to recreate their argumentative courtship a la The Crocodile on the Sandbank. The previous portions of the novel have the couple excavating in Meidum and the Valley of the Kings, but once Emerson loses his memory, it's back to Amarna, just as when they first met.
This book also sees various characters from previous books return: Cyrus Vandergelt, Karl von Bork, Kevin O'Connell, and everyone's favorite Master Criminal. I LOVED Sethos's role in this book. I won't spoil it, but of course a criminal of his intelligence and imagination would be wooed by the tales of the Lost Oasis. When and how he turns up is just... maginifique.
Furthermore, the archaeology and the atmosphere both shine. Once again, the reader is fully transported to Egypt and a corresponding archaeological dig.
And don't be fooled by Ramses' absence. His correspondence is fantastic, and interspersed as it is throughout the book, it's wonderfully humorous. His absence is almost as great as his presence, at least through MPM's handling.
And finally, The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog marks the last book prior to the beginning of the Quartet, and I'm very excited to head into the books where Ramses matures, at last. Onwards!
And as usual, two enjoyable/miscellaneous quotes to conclude:
"Some scholars, I regret to say, concoct fantastic theories from inadequate evidence, but I have never been prone to this weakness..." I completely concur, Amelia. Things haven't changed much in Egyptology in 120 years -- especially as the quest for Nefertiti's tomb continues, from Amelia's fictitious adventures to this very day in Egyptological news.
"I had not expected [Nefret] would actively enjoy herself at first. Society takes a great deal of getting used." Amen.
I've always been a little--and quite unjustly--biased against The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog. Mostly, in my hasty youth, I was upset because both Ramses and Nefret are left in England, and thus the focus is primarily on Amelia and Emerson. But every time I reread it, it proves me wrong. It's really an excellent book, and I clearly remember having this same mental revelation whenever I last reread this, ten plus years ago. I love how MPM (Mertz-Peters-Michaels, for the uninitiated) takes traditional romance/sensational tropes and then dominates them. The amnesia trope is so overdone and usually so eye-roll-inducing, but as usual, MPM finesses it and uses the trope to help spice up Amelia and Emerson's romance.
The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog opens with the Nefret Issue. Having returned to England and her inherited society, how will--can she adapt? Well, being Nefret, she plans to immerse herself in her education so as to best adapt and camouflage her upbringing. She suggests that she remain back in England during that winter's archaeological season, and Ramses of course volunteers to remain with her -- entirely for educational purposes, of course. Thus, Amelia and Emerson are alone once again, but thirteen years into marriage, even their passion has dimmed with familiarity -- or else, it has for this book's plot device. In contrast to most other novels, Amelia is so focused on recreating the honeymoon feeling that she isn't the paranoid one, and it's Emerson who suspects there are Foul Things Afoot, especially after a masquerade party goes awry. Some Villain has put the pieces together about Lost Oasis and wants to kidnap an Emerson (in Egypt or England) to find his own way to this fabled City of Gold.
Emerson is the one to be captured, and a blow to the head robs him of his memory -- not only of the Lost Oasis but of Amelia herself and their relationship. With the rather shoddy advice of a vacationing psychotherapist, Amelia decides not to force her relationship and allow Emerson to heal on his own -- rather than "shocking" his psyche with the force of her ardor. Thus, they're allowed to recreate their argumentative courtship a la The Crocodile on the Sandbank. The previous portions of the novel have the couple excavating in Meidum and the Valley of the Kings, but once Emerson loses his memory, it's back to Amarna, just as when they first met.
This book also sees various characters from previous books return: Cyrus Vandergelt, Karl von Bork, Kevin O'Connell, and everyone's favorite Master Criminal. I LOVED Sethos's role in this book. I won't spoil it, but of course a criminal of his intelligence and imagination would be wooed by the tales of the Lost Oasis. When and how he turns up is just... maginifique.
Furthermore, the archaeology and the atmosphere both shine. Once again, the reader is fully transported to Egypt and a corresponding archaeological dig.
And don't be fooled by Ramses' absence. His correspondence is fantastic, and interspersed as it is throughout the book, it's wonderfully humorous. His absence is almost as great as his presence, at least through MPM's handling.
And finally, The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog marks the last book prior to the beginning of the Quartet, and I'm very excited to head into the books where Ramses matures, at last. Onwards!
And as usual, two enjoyable/miscellaneous quotes to conclude:
"Some scholars, I regret to say, concoct fantastic theories from inadequate evidence, but I have never been prone to this weakness..." I completely concur, Amelia. Things haven't changed much in Egyptology in 120 years -- especially as the quest for Nefertiti's tomb continues, from Amelia's fictitious adventures to this very day in Egyptological news.
"I had not expected [Nefret] would actively enjoy herself at first. Society takes a great deal of getting used." Amen.