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    The Serpent on the Crown
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    The Serpent on the Crown
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    The Serpent on the Crown
    Ebook432 pages7 hours

    The Serpent on the Crown

    By Elizabeth Peters

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    About this ebook

    The New York Times bestselling “Grande Dame of historical mystery” (Washington Post) returns with another thrilling tale of mystery,

    As the l921-22 season begins, the Emersons are enjoying a busy period of excavation in Egypt, when they hear a lurid description of a man’s mysterious death. His widow is convinced he died of a curse, and implores the Emersons to return the “deadly” little statue that killed him to the tomb from which it was stolen--before it adds her to its list of victims. Clearly, it would be a serious error for the Emersons to start chasing tomb robbers, just when they have finally received permission to return to the Valley of the Kings, from which they were barred several years earlier. But the family soon realizes that the curse may be more real than they ever imagined….and they may be the next victims.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061807251
    Author

    Elizabeth Peters

    Elizabeth Peters earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago’s famed Oriental Institute. During her fifty-year career, she wrote more than seventy novels and three nonfiction books on Egypt. She received numerous writing awards and, in 2012, was given the first Amelia Peabody Award, created in her honor. She died in 2013, leaving a partially completed manuscript of The Painted Queen.

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    Reviews for The Serpent on the Crown

    4/5

    20 ratings13 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I've read the whole series and have enjoyed them for an entertaining fast read. Unfortunately, this one fell flat. A friend loaned me the next one in the series so I'll give it a try and hope it's back to the level of the earlier books.
    • 4/5
      Gold statue, purported to be cursed, makes for trouble, as Ramses and David chase a brother and sister and Amelia is very badly hurt. Entertaining, though the kids (Ramses') are irritating.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful as ever - I love Amelia!
    • 5/5
      Its now 1921 and the extended Emerson-Peabody clan is once again excavating in Egypt. A woman gives Emerson a small golden statute because she is concerned that it is cursed, she subsequently disappears in strange circumstances. The usual shenanigans ensue and as family is inexorably drawn into investigating the disappearance. Amelia is on fine form, 'I instructed the driver of our hired carriage not to whip up the horses. We do not permit cruelty to animals. Besides, rapid motion raises a cloud of dust and I was wearing my second-best hat.' Superb.
    • 4/5
      This installment of the Amelia Peabody series brings us back into chronological order. The Emeraons are approached by a wealthy widow who is also a famous novelist. She appeals to them to accept a stunning golden statue which was bequeathed to her by her husband, and which she claims is cursed. She claims to believe that only Emerson can safely keep it, as his talents for escaping all kinds of danger and for excorcising evil spirits are well-known.Soon, the Emersons are thrust into the midst of a series of mysterious events involving dead bodies and black afrits. As they work to unravel the puzzle of who is behind these mysterious occurences, they never flinch from what may be the greatest danger they've ever faced.Of course I loved this! It was one of the most suspenseful in the series.
    • 4/5
      A very good addition to the Amelia Peabody mysteries. Recent books have covered the adventures of her son Ramses or backed up to cover some of the "missing years" but this one extends the story through 1922 - which, if you know something about Egypt, you might know was the eve of a very important event in Egyptology...
    • 4/5
      Enjoying a busy period of excavation in 1921, the Emersons learn of a mysterious death that has been attributed to a curse, a situation that enables Amelia and her family to enter the banned Valley of the Kings in order to return a stolen statue.
    • 2/5
      The story starts off with a woman bringing an ancient relic to the Peabody family for safekeeping. This relic is supposed to bring death to whoever holds it, including the woman’s family. To prevent this cycle from continuing, the relic has to be returned to its tomb. Naturally, Amelia and her family take on the woman’s request, which starts a winding adventure filled with murder and treachery. This novel contained the usual tomb excavations and journeys through treacherous areas that Elizabeth Peters brings to her novels.I found this novel a bit hard to get into. I thought the story was overwritten and long-winded. It also lacked believability. The characterization of almost all of the characters in the story was weak. The novel had a good bit of suspense as well as some twists and turns to keep it interesting, but for the most part it fell flat. The Egyptology in the novel is fairly well developed, but more often than not I wanted to put this novel down.Carl Alves – author of Blood Street
    • 4/5
      Amelia does it again! Great entertainment.
    • 4/5
      One of the things I like the best about these later books in the series is getting Ramses point of view and of the tenderness that shows up unexpectedly between family members. This mystery was a bit complicated because there was more than one going on. A satisfying read.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely love this series. I'd been letting the latest books pile up in my TBR pile for a while--kind of like... er, well, actually, it's exactly like hoarding treasure. Now I only have one left to be caught up.In this 17th book in the series, the Emerson clan is back in Egypt after WWI: Emerson, Amelia, Ramses, Nefret, and their twins: David John and Carla.Shortly after their arrival, a famous author of sensational novels arrives with a gold statue. She begs Emerson to take the statue and protect her from the curse she claims killed her husband. She seems genuinely frightened, but they're suspicious that it might just be a publicity stunt. Regardless of the existence of a curse or actual danger to the woman, the statue is genuine, and for the Emersons, the questions of where the statue came from--a lost tomb?!--is far more compelling.Things become complicated, of course, starting with the widow's stepchildren barging into the Emersons' home demanding the return of the statue at gunpoint. There are several sightings of a black-robed "demon," prompting one of Emerson's famous exorcisms; the appearance of Emerson's half-brother Sethos, always suspicious when there's treasure around; kidnapping, disappearances, and murder.As usual, the family adventure is just as important as the mystery--watching Peabody and Emerson growing older and Ramses and Nefret with the twins is like visiting with old friends.Also as usual, the characters are their distinct selves--Amelia's not-completely-reliable narrator is a delight, and the sections from Ramses's point of view demonstrates his character well. But because their characters are so vivid, you really have to like the characters to enjoy the books.
    • 4/5
      Even as she grows older, Amelia Peabody Emerson is unstoppable. Being presented with a valuable statuette which supposedly curses whoever is in possession of it, causes Emerson to try to trace its origin and its legal owner. A number of people are vying to buy the statuette, including Cyrus. The previous owner is murdered and this gives Amelia and Emerson ample opportunity to exercise their detective skills, the former ultimately revealing the culprit and the latter the statuette's origin.
    • 4/5
      A woman arrives in Cairo and gives Emerson a very expensive Egyptian artifact, asking him to remove the curse from it. The serpent on the artifact is missing, and the source of its find is a great mystery. The family of the woman are a bit of a puzzle as well and there are a number of new faces that seem to appear for odd reasons, causing the Luxor residence to build a guardhouse with a guard. The antics of the grandchildren play favorably in the story with many new relationships being built. Ramses and Emerson stage an exorcism of an afrit in trying to get rid of the curse, but is there a real afrit who has kidnapped the woman who owns the artifact? The family team does it again in ferreting out the many criminals and their motivations, but the fun comes from the finding of the serpent that goes in the crown of the artifact.