Victorian Amelia Peabody continues to journal her Egypt adventures, toddler Ramses left in England. Husband Radcliffe Emerson’s old friend Lady Baskerville fears a curse killed her husband Sir Henry, and soon engages the attentions of American Cyrus. The will funds continued excavation. But a lady dressed in white floats, flutters, spreads fear, and more death.

Curse of the Pharaohs (Amazon US) (Amazon UK) (Free with Audible Plus Membership) (AbeBooks Used Books)

I adore Amelia Peabody and her husband Radcliffe Emerson. There’s a lot of humor and exaggeration in their characters that makes them so lovable. My husband occasionally exclaims, “Good gad, Peabody,” because he’s heard me listen to this series so many times over the past 25 years.

It’s been four years since the happenings of Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1), and Amelia and Emerson have had a son, whom they legally named Junior but soon gained the nickname of Ramses, after the great Pharaoh. He’s a precocious little bugger, too smart for his own good, and a little terror. Amelia has a certain fondness for him, but she’s not naturally a nurturer, so she’s a rather distant mother. Emerson, however, is unconventionally for the times, a doting father who enjoys teaching the boy about Egyptology. The couple has not been back to Egypt since Ramses was born, but a situation arises where they feel they can leave him with Emerson’s brother Walter and wife Evelyn, who have several children by this time.

Lord Baskerville has died, and murder is suspected, so naturally Amelia wants to investigate. Emerson on one hand, chastises her for thinking herself a detective, yet gladly joins in as they gather clues and suspects. The mystery is secondary to the characterizations of the main players. We meet Cyrus Vandergelt for the first time, a wealthy American who quickly becomes friends with the Emersons as they try to figure out the solution to the mystery.

I highly recommend listening to the audiobook versions of the Amelia Peabody mysteries narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. She has such a feel for the characters and makes each voice unique.

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