The Mummy Case (1985)

 


Amelia Peabody #3

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Thanks to Emerson's poor relationship with the French Director of Antiquities, this seasons finds the Emersons relegated to the dullest excavation site in Egypt...Mazgunah. But, with their catastrophically precocious son Ramses along for his first foray into archaeology, a footman on hand with a propensity for falling in love with unsuitable maidens, a mummy case that appears and disappears with alarming regularity in their storage room, and a Master Criminal on the loose, this season is shaping up to be anything but!

The Emersons are back on the case! And what a delightfully puzzling case it is, with all manner of hilarious subplots and diversions.

Not to mention...oh, but I absolutely must...the first appearance of the one and only Master Criminal, whose identity will be revealed in later books as someone of great significance to the Emerson clan. But I get ahead of myself, and as little as I refrain from spoiling away on my own personal blog, this little secret I think I will wait to talk about until it's proper moment.

This marks the beginning of the semi-regular appearance of the Emerson books, too--one almost every year from now on. It's still one of the earlier ones, without the depth and breadth of supporting cast that comes to characterize the later ones. But as mentioned, the MC becomes a regular appearance, Abdullah and his son Selim are in full evidence, and footman John will make more cameos in later novels.

Rating: *****

*This book is set in 1894-5

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Here I Stay (1983)

Image
      A Total Eclipse of the Heart Andrea Torgesen is used to life being a battle. The death of their parents in an accident left her the sole guardian of her little brother Jimmie at nineteen. And now twelve years later, her much adored Jimmie has been in a life-altering near-death car wreck, which has left him almost catatonic with depression. The only thing that catches his interest is the prospect of turning an old house left to them by a distant relative into a bed-and-breakfast. As the house and grounds blossom under their hands and they find a place in the nearby community, it seems like a good decision. When Jimmie develops an overwhelming fascination with the private graveyard on their property and an obsession with the abandoned tower room, their long-term guest Martin starts to get alarmed, though. But Andy refuses to see anything ominous in the history of the old house, or believe it might be reaching long fingers out of the past to her brother...
Read more

Prince of Darkness (1969)

Image
Listening: Bad Moon Rising Mysterious Englishman Peter Stewart has arrived in Middleburg, Maryland to stalk the footsteps of the reclusive millionaire, folklorist Kate More. His intentions are as mysterious as his antecedents, but the further he probes, the more the simmering tensions under the smooth surface of the town become apparent. The racial divides that leave the local African-American population quiet and embittered...the previous owner of the More mansion who claimed to be a warlock and whose legacy casts a long shadow...and the accidental death of the charming young man who was her lover that seems to haunt Kate's worst nightmares... Spoilers Below
Read more

The Murders of Richard III (1974)

Image
Listening: Hooked on A Feeling Jake Kirby #2 Just like I'm hooked on you, Jake. Jake Kirby, academic librarian currently on holiday in England, gets dragged by a friend to a traditional country house where an amateur historian is holding a conference on Richard III before purportedly revealing a long-lost document that will reveal the maligned king's innocence. Skeptical, Jake nonetheless soon finds herself pulled into the undercurrents of the group, in which all the old fifteenth century conflicts seem reborn, if on a milder scale. As someone starts playing nasty pranks that reenact famous violent murders of that century, she starts sprinting for a solution before the pranks turn deadly.
Read more