I just finished the fourth book in the Amelia Peabody Mystery Series by Elizabeth Peters – Lion in the Valley. It is kind of a continuation of the third book – The Mummy Case – in that Amelia, Emerson, and Ramses are dealing with the “Master Criminal” in Dahshoor.
Here is a brief summary from the book cover:
The 1895-96 season promises to be an exceptional one for Amelia Peabody, her dashing Egyptologist husband Emerson, and their wild and precocious eight-year-old son Ramses. The much-coveted burial chamber of the Black Pyramid in Dahshoor is theirs for the digging. But there is a great evil in the wind that roils the hot sands sweeping through the bustling streets and marketplace of Cairo. The brazen moonlight abduction of Ramses — and an expedition subsequently cursed by misfortune and death — have alerted Amelia to the likely presence of her arch nemesis the Master Criminal, notorious looter of the living and the dead. But it is far more than ill-gotten riches that motivates the evil genius this time around. For now the most valuable and elusive prized of all is nearly in his grasp: the meddling lady archaeologist who has sworn to deliver him to justice . . . Amelia Peabody!
I like this series, but this book did not particularly grab me. I found it harder to get into the plot and the characters – this might be the book or me. The character development was as strong as Peters’ past books and the story seemed to be pretty solid. I cannot put my finger on it, but a few times I skimmed a few paragraphs because the dialogue was boring and impertinent to the story.
I still look forward to reading the fifth book – The Deeds of the Disturber.
