LION IN THE VALLEY by Elizabeth Peters
Constable & Robinson - 2001
ISBN 1841192163 - Paperback

Reviewed by Rachel Hyde, MyShelf.Com
Buy a US Copy
||  Buy a UK Copy

This is a welcome reprint of the fourth Amelia Peabody mystery and it takes us back to the 1895-96 Season in Egypt.  It holds out great promise as Amelia, her irascible husband Emerson and eight-year-old Ramses are going to excavate the fabled Black Pyramid in Dahshoor.  But somehow it isn’t going to be that simple as the Master Criminal Sethos is waiting in the wings along with murder, kidnapping, romance and some of Ramses most wild schemes to help out.

Elizabeth Peters’ earlier books were full of action, humor and adventure delivered at a fast pace and this is a parlicularly good example.  Her later novels have slowed the pace down somewhat and she has introduced a more somber note into their adventures as the war looms so reading this is harking back to happier times.  There are some fine descriptions of Egypt in the late 19th century and as usual plenty of wit and a plot that moves along at the pace of a racing camel replete with master criminals, sinister secrets, quite a bit about Egyptology and a sense of heightened enthusiasm that is hard to resist.  If you are yet to discover the delights of this much-loved series then plunge in – highly enjoyable fun.

©Copyright 1998-2001. MyShelf. All Rights Reserved.