A review by elliot_dw
The Painted Queen by Elizabeth Peters, Joan Hess

2.0

Honestly, a bummer that this is how the Amelia Peabody series ends. It can’t have been easy for Joan Hess to come in and write this novel from Peters’ notes, but it really doesn’t work. Most of the characters don’t sound or act like themselves. (Since when is Emerson so obsessed with his morning coffee? Why doesn’t Amelia ever DO anything? Why is Daoud such a racist caricature [more than usual]?). And the plot is convoluted, unbelievable, and doesn’t ever quite hang together.

(Why are Ramses and David so committed to getting all the forgeries in Cairo? Since when can Amelia hypnotize people? Why doesn’t Amelia take the MDMA-laced schnapps from Morgenstern when she figures it out? Why did no one at any point suspect that Buddle is one of the Godwin’s?)

As usual, Barbara Rosenblat’s narration made it fairly enjoyable to listen to, but it just really wasn’t a very good book.