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Summary: Amelia Peabody mystery/adventure set in ancient Thebes.
Review: Amelia Peabody mystery and adventure. Having excavated in many of the important sites in Egypt, Amelia, Emerson, and Ramses, their precocious son, now hope to go where to archeologist has ever gone before: the ruins of the ancient city of Napata in the heart of the Sudan. However, a war prevents them from their desired location. They end up in the arid Nubian desert where fourteen years previously the explorer Willoughby Forth and his new bride had disappeared. Through a series of mysterious and coincidental events, they end up on a search for these unfortunate souls.On this journey, the gallant Emerson-Peabodys find themselves in the most dangerous and extraordinary predicament of their lives. One of Peters' best fast-paced, suspenceful, educational mysteries.
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Summary: A mystery as timeless as human greed and revenge!
Review: An enigmatic message scrawled on papyrus and a cryptic map trigger a desperate expedition to find a lost couple who have been missing in the war-torn Sudan for more than ten years. Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, her husband Emerson, and her son Ramses, are in dire straits on the sun-scorched desert sands when their last camel dies as they are deep in Nubia's vast waste land. Their very survival depends on Amelia being able to solve a mystery as old as ancient Egypt and as timeless as human greed and revenge! The Last Camel Died At Noon is a superbly written mystery by Elizabeth Peters given a flawless narrative performance by Susan O'Malley, and a technically excellent eleven compact disc audiobook format from Blackstone Audiobooks. The Last Camel Died At Noon is also available in a nine 90 minute cassette audiobook format as well (...).
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Summary: The Best Before Seeing A Large Cat
Review: Elizabeth Peters really outdoes herself with this novel, which continues the Amelia series and has all the hallmarks readers have come to expect--Ramses doing his best to bring about his own premature death, Amelia and Emerson enjoying their passionate relationship, excavations, facts about Ancient Egypt, suspense, intrigue, and of course, a dead body or two. The final chapter is a bit convoluted and the reader who devoured the novel may have to go back and re-read certain portions, but that's hardly a punishment. This is the best of the series that occurs while Ramses is still a child.Readers who enjoy this book might also enjoy Peters' books written under the nom de plume Barbara Michaels.
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Summary: A wild jaunt through the desert with Amelia Peabody.
Review: I collect the Amelia Peabody books faithfully. Often I don't read them at once, but wait for a few to accumulate and settle down for an enjoyable interlude with Peabody, her redoubtable husband Emerson, and their son, Ramses. I've had this book for quite some time (four more have been published since its release), and was only sorry that I'd waited to read it. Surely this is the best Peabody yet. The book is a send up of the Haggard novels, King Solomon's Mine and SHE, complete with erudite and noble natives, riots, wars, ancient mysteries, improbable situations and the incomparable Amelia and her belt with things that she's sure that she'll need, attached, including a revolver, sewing kit, knife, compass, and mini-surgery kit. Peabody's companions are her husband, Emerson, who has a meteoric temper but considers himself a mild fellow (the natives call him the Father of Curses) and their son, called Ramses (who inherited this name because his young profile resembled that great Pharoah, complete with 'rather largish features'). In this installment, they're off to search for a missing Englishman and his bride, who have been missing for 14 years. Their camels mysteriously die and it looks as though they will, too, but then, things really get interesting. Nothing compares with the humor in this series and although you may find yourself thinking that the language is a little too like a Bronte novel to suit you, you'll more regularly find that you've awakened your sleeping spouse, again, by laughing too hard. All of the main characters are admirable, certainly people you'd like to meet - that luncheon engagement would surely be riotous. Run out now, buy this book, and settle in for several hours of pure fun.
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Summary: Action Packed
Review: I liked this book because there was never a dull moment. I really liked all the twists and turns admist the setting of the Nubian desert. Just when you think things couldn't get any worse for them they do! I really love Amelias' sense of humour. I highly recommend this book to everybody!
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Summary: Enter Nefret...
Review: In this engaging mystery Amelia Peabody Emerson, her husband Radcliffe, and their son "Ramses" journey once more to Egypt in search of artifacts and adventure, armed with a mysterious map and a commission from an English aristocrat to search for his long lost son and his wife. As in all Peabody mysteries, these goals intertwine with complexity and speed. Elizabeth Peters here gives a nod to the romantic adventure stories of the late nineteenth century (such as She, by Rider Haggard) when the Peabody-Emerson caravan begins to suffer from the mysterious deaths of their camels. When all looks dark and desperate, the group are rescued and whisked off to a fabulous Shangrila where the ancient rites of Egypt are still practiced. By the end the Emerson's have solved the mystery of the missing nobleman and his wife, have amassed quite a collection of artifacts for study, and Ramses is suffering from a bad case of puppy love for Nefret, who returns with them to England. This is the first story to feature Nefret, and fans of the later books will like to read how she enters the story. If you enjoyed Romancing the Stone (a similar tale with elements of late 19th century adventure) and have never tried the Amelia Peabody mysteries, this would be a great place to start!
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Summary: Enter Nefret...
Review: In this engaging mystery Amelia Peabody Emerson, her husband Radcliffe, and their son "Ramses" journey once more to Egypt in search of artifacts and adventure, armed with a mysterious map and a commission from an English aristocrat to search for his long lost son and his wife. As in all Peabody mysteries, these goals intertwine with complexity and speed. Elizabeth Peters here gives a nod to the romantic adventure stories of the late nineteenth century (such as She, by Rider Haggard) when the Peabody-Emerson caravan begins to suffer from the mysterious deaths of their camels. When all looks dark and desperate, the group are rescued and whisked off to a fabulous Shangrila where the ancient rites of Egypt are still practiced. By the end the Emerson's have solved the mystery of the missing nobleman and his wife, have amassed quite a collection of artifacts for study, and Ramses is suffering from a bad case of puppy love for Nefret, who returns with them to England. This is the first story to feature Nefret, and fans of the later books will like to read how she enters the story. If you enjoyed Romancing the Stone (a similar tale with elements of late 19th century adventure) and have never tried the Amelia Peabody mysteries, this would be a great place to start!
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Summary: Suspenseful Look at a Hidden Kingdom
Review: One of the great traditions of adventure novels has been to take "civilized" people into hidden places where primitive people live a different way. In the process, readers learn a lot about themselves and the ways that "civilization" needs to be improved. Lost Horizons is one of the most famous of such stories. In an earlier time, H. Rider Haggard wrote his remarkable book, She, in this genre which seems to have been a direct inspiration for The Last Camel Died at Noon based on comments by the author in the acknowledgments and the book's story. But if you know "She," you will not necessarily be able to anticipate what happens in this story. If you have read no other books in this series, I suggest that you move back to the beginning in The Crocodile on the Sandbank and read the four subsequent novels before reading this one. The books build on one another, and deserve sequential reading for the most pleasure and understanding. Amelia Peabody, her husband Emerson and their son Ramses are among the most distinctive and entertaining characters to ever populate a historical mystery novel, and they are as delightful as possible in playing their assigned roles in The Last Camel Died at Noon. The Emersons find themselves drawn to the Sudan in an unusual adventure. Progress by British troops has reopened such of the historical sites, and the Emersons race behind the sloppy Budge to record what they find there. While planning the trip, they are importuned to help search for the lost explorer, Willoughby Forth, and his new bride, who have not been seen since they left on a trip into the Sudan fourteen years earlier. While in the Sudan, the Emersons find evidence that perhaps it may be possible to find the Forths. After a relative of the Forths disappears into the desert where he is attacked by raiders, the Emersons resolve to follow. Soon, their last camel dies at noon. What will happen next? The story is quite intriguing and develops many aspects of archeology that I enjoyed. My only complaint was that the precocious Ramses was a little too precocious in the role that he played in this book. It just didn't ring true in places. The story, however, is a rich and interesting one. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Suspenseful Look at a Hidden Kingdom
Review: One of the great traditions of adventure novels has been to take "civilized" people into hidden places where primitive people live a different way. In the process, readers learn a lot about themselves and the ways that "civilization" needs to be improved. Lost Horizons is one of the most famous of such stories. In an earlier time, H. Rider Haggard wrote his remarkable book, She, in this genre which seems to have been a direct inspiration for The Last Camel Died at Noon based on comments by the author in the acknowledgments and the book's story. But if you know "She," you will not necessarily be able to anticipate what happens in this story. If you have read no other books in this series, I suggest that you move back to the beginning in The Crocodile on the Sandbank and read the four subsequent novels before reading this one. The books build on one another, and deserve sequential reading for the most pleasure and understanding. Amelia Peabody, her husband Emerson and their son Ramses are among the most distinctive and entertaining characters to ever populate a historical mystery novel, and they are as delightful as possible in playing their assigned roles in The Last Camel Died at Noon. The Emersons find themselves drawn to the Sudan in an unusual adventure. Progress by British troops has reopened such of the historical sites, and the Emersons race behind the sloppy Budge to record what they find there. While planning the trip, they are importuned to help search for the lost explorer, Willoughby Forth, and his new bride, who have not been seen since they left on a trip into the Sudan fourteen years earlier. While in the Sudan, the Emersons find evidence that perhaps it may be possible to find the Forths. After a relative of the Forths disappears into the desert where he is attacked by raiders, the Emersons resolve to follow. Soon, their last camel dies at noon. What will happen next? The story is quite intriguing and develops many aspects of archeology that I enjoyed. My only complaint was that the precocious Ramses was a little too precocious in the role that he played in this book. It just didn't ring true in places. The story, however, is a rich and interesting one. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Adventure in the Desert
Review: The Amelia Peabody series, of which this is the 6th, is one of my favorites in mystery fiction. By all means, if you haven't already done so, begin with the first book of the series, Crocodile on the Sandbank. This one, The Last Camel ..., is a little different from the previous five mysteries. This is an adventure story in the tradition of H. Rider Haggard, set in one of Earth's unexplored corners, the deserts of Sudan. Giving us a change of pace, as well as introducing a new character, who (I assume) will be important in succeeding volumes, this installment is not to be missed by Peabody fans. With regret, however, I felt that some of the touches that added to the delight of the previous volumes became a bit stale in this one, such as Amelia's admiration of Emerson's physique and her often repeated coy Victorian references to bedtime activities. At 10, Ramses seems hardly older than he was at a precocious seven. Even so, I can't wait to find out what happens next.
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