Edition: Chivers, 1998 (Buy from Amazon)
Review number: 973
Each of the now lengthy list of Amelia Peabody novels is a light, enjoyable mystery set against the background of late nineteenth century archaeology in Egypt, memorable for the opinionated proto-feminist narrator. By this point, her son Ramses, for long the focal point of much of the series' humour, has nearly grown up (at sixteen), and her "memoirs" are now supplemented by excerpts from a "manuscript" by him, which gives a very different view of what is going on.
The plot bears some similarity to the story of the supposedly Persian mummy from Pakistan which turned out to be a modern body. Here, Peabody and her husband find a body which is more obviously recent, and this sets her off on a trail of detection combined with interference in the affairs of everyone around her. Enough explanation is given for cross references to make sense even to a newcomer to Peters or to someone, like myself, who has only read a selection, though it is clear that there would be something to be gained by greater familiarity with the earlier Peabody novels. All of Peters' writing is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the Peabody novels rather less so than some, and here the trademark sharp dialogue is in evidence combined with a plot complex enough for a serious thriller; it is one of the best in the series.
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Peters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Peters. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 October 2001
Tuesday, 3 October 2000
Elizabeth Peters: The Camelot Caper (1969)
Edition: Severn House, 1996
Review number: 642
From the title, it would perhaps be reasonable to assume that this early Elizabeth Peters' novel is one of her silliest, but in fact it is a fairly straightfaced thriller. Jessica Tregarth has come to England on her grandfather's invitation, but is alarmed to find herself being followed around tourist spots like Salisbury Cathedral and having her luggage searched, to the point of hiding on a local bus (where the most amusing scene of the novel occurs, in whhich respectable villagers conceal her and lie inventively to the "gangsters" chasing her).
The plot is typical of the thrillers of the style perhaps best exemplified by Mary Stewart - though to a certain extent it is satirising poorer examples of this subgenre. The Camelot Caper has signs of parody - the way that successive scenes work their way through most of the best known tourist sites in South West England, for example, but it is really more lighthearted than uproarious. An enjoyable feature of the novel is the vacillation of the heroine between terror and the feeling that she is making something out of nothing, like in Northanger Abbey (a parallel she quotes).
Review number: 642
From the title, it would perhaps be reasonable to assume that this early Elizabeth Peters' novel is one of her silliest, but in fact it is a fairly straightfaced thriller. Jessica Tregarth has come to England on her grandfather's invitation, but is alarmed to find herself being followed around tourist spots like Salisbury Cathedral and having her luggage searched, to the point of hiding on a local bus (where the most amusing scene of the novel occurs, in whhich respectable villagers conceal her and lie inventively to the "gangsters" chasing her).
The plot is typical of the thrillers of the style perhaps best exemplified by Mary Stewart - though to a certain extent it is satirising poorer examples of this subgenre. The Camelot Caper has signs of parody - the way that successive scenes work their way through most of the best known tourist sites in South West England, for example, but it is really more lighthearted than uproarious. An enjoyable feature of the novel is the vacillation of the heroine between terror and the feeling that she is making something out of nothing, like in Northanger Abbey (a parallel she quotes).
Tuesday, 15 August 2000
Elizabeth Peters: Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975)
Edition: Cassell, 1976
Review number: 575
The first Amelia Peabody novel is perhaps the sharpest that Elizabeth Peters has written; it is astringently funny rather than romantic. The heroine is an opinionated feminist in mid-Victorian society, with no time for the stupid conventions of the world around her (and rich enough to avoid some of the more serious consequences which could arise from this attitude).
Travelling in Italy, she befriends a young woman on the point of suicide: she had run away from her family with the man she loved only to discover that he was really only after her for her money. Amelia and Evelyn travel to Egypt, with Evelyn in the guise of paid companion. In Egypt, they become involved in the amazing archaeological discoveries taking place at the time (accompanied by rampant treasure hunting, theft, and vandalism).
Elizabeth Peters was an archaeologist before taking up writing, and it is her enthusiasm for this which makes this novel one of her best, catching the reader up, rendering them less apt to notice the absurdities of the plot. Like all her novels, Crocodile on the Sandbank is unashamedly light reading, though written with an intelligence and humour which is unable to take the clichés of romantic fiction seriously. This is always true of the best of one of the more absurd genres of modern fiction, whether the writer is Mary Stewart, Dorothy L. Sayers or Elizabeth Peters.
The rather strange title is taken from a piece of ancient Egyptian poetry, quoted in the novel, in which a lover vows to cross a river in which there is a crocodile waiting on a sandbank to be with his beloved.
Review number: 575
The first Amelia Peabody novel is perhaps the sharpest that Elizabeth Peters has written; it is astringently funny rather than romantic. The heroine is an opinionated feminist in mid-Victorian society, with no time for the stupid conventions of the world around her (and rich enough to avoid some of the more serious consequences which could arise from this attitude).
Travelling in Italy, she befriends a young woman on the point of suicide: she had run away from her family with the man she loved only to discover that he was really only after her for her money. Amelia and Evelyn travel to Egypt, with Evelyn in the guise of paid companion. In Egypt, they become involved in the amazing archaeological discoveries taking place at the time (accompanied by rampant treasure hunting, theft, and vandalism).
Elizabeth Peters was an archaeologist before taking up writing, and it is her enthusiasm for this which makes this novel one of her best, catching the reader up, rendering them less apt to notice the absurdities of the plot. Like all her novels, Crocodile on the Sandbank is unashamedly light reading, though written with an intelligence and humour which is unable to take the clichés of romantic fiction seriously. This is always true of the best of one of the more absurd genres of modern fiction, whether the writer is Mary Stewart, Dorothy L. Sayers or Elizabeth Peters.
The rather strange title is taken from a piece of ancient Egyptian poetry, quoted in the novel, in which a lover vows to cross a river in which there is a crocodile waiting on a sandbank to be with his beloved.
Thursday, 11 November 1999
Elizabeth Peters: Die For Love (1984)
Edition: Souvenir Press, 1985
Review number: 386
The third Jacqueline Kirby novel is one of Elizabeth Peters' most outrageous. Setting a mystery at a romantic novels conference enables her to write several over the top spoofs of a genre almost beyond parody. Like her heroine, she clearly enjoys the bad taste piled on in such huge amounts; enough kitsch becomes fun.
Yet there are aspects of the romance industry of which Peters does not approve, and which this book criticises: the deceptions carried out on the readers, the bad treatment of the only slightly less naive authors. (As in many genre fiction, most authors start out as fans.)
As a crime novel, Die For Love has an easy puzzle, though it helps if you know some Shakespeare reasonably well. It is the background which makes it fun, along with the acerbic quality of Jacqueline.
Review number: 386
The third Jacqueline Kirby novel is one of Elizabeth Peters' most outrageous. Setting a mystery at a romantic novels conference enables her to write several over the top spoofs of a genre almost beyond parody. Like her heroine, she clearly enjoys the bad taste piled on in such huge amounts; enough kitsch becomes fun.
Yet there are aspects of the romance industry of which Peters does not approve, and which this book criticises: the deceptions carried out on the readers, the bad treatment of the only slightly less naive authors. (As in many genre fiction, most authors start out as fans.)
As a crime novel, Die For Love has an easy puzzle, though it helps if you know some Shakespeare reasonably well. It is the background which makes it fun, along with the acerbic quality of Jacqueline.
Monday, 7 June 1999
Elizabeth Peters: Borrower of the Night (1973)
Edition: Coronet, 1976
Review number: 267
One of Elizabeth Peters' earliest novels (the first of the Vicky Bliss series), Borrower of the Night does not quite have as well developed a sense of satire as many of her later books. It is more like the romances of a writer like Victoria Holt than a spoof of the genre.
Some elements of the romance genre are made fun of. The character of Vicky Bliss is made deliberately too good to be true: not only does she fit into an accepted notion of feminine beauty (she describes herself as looking like a Playboy centerfold, though she would prefer to be a petite brunette), but she is an accomplished scholar, with a doctorate in history. Her biggest problem is trying to persuade people that being a buxom blonde doesn't automatically make her dumb.
She takes on a challenge (to prove her intellectual superiority) to find a missing altarpiece by the late-Gothic German sculptor Riederschmeier. It is probably hidden in a sinister castle, which comes complete with the stereotypical details of such fiction (secret passages, apparently ghostly apparitions, a rightful heiress kept from enjoying her property by a wicked relative).
As always with Elizabeth Peters, Borrowers of the Night is fun without taxing the mind to the smallest degree. (I find they make ideal reading for when I'm not well.) She just hadn't yet committed herself completely to the parody mode, the obvious choice for someone too intelligent to take this sort of fiction seriously herself, but who clearly also enjoys the genre.
Review number: 267
One of Elizabeth Peters' earliest novels (the first of the Vicky Bliss series), Borrower of the Night does not quite have as well developed a sense of satire as many of her later books. It is more like the romances of a writer like Victoria Holt than a spoof of the genre.
Some elements of the romance genre are made fun of. The character of Vicky Bliss is made deliberately too good to be true: not only does she fit into an accepted notion of feminine beauty (she describes herself as looking like a Playboy centerfold, though she would prefer to be a petite brunette), but she is an accomplished scholar, with a doctorate in history. Her biggest problem is trying to persuade people that being a buxom blonde doesn't automatically make her dumb.
She takes on a challenge (to prove her intellectual superiority) to find a missing altarpiece by the late-Gothic German sculptor Riederschmeier. It is probably hidden in a sinister castle, which comes complete with the stereotypical details of such fiction (secret passages, apparently ghostly apparitions, a rightful heiress kept from enjoying her property by a wicked relative).
As always with Elizabeth Peters, Borrowers of the Night is fun without taxing the mind to the smallest degree. (I find they make ideal reading for when I'm not well.) She just hadn't yet committed herself completely to the parody mode, the obvious choice for someone too intelligent to take this sort of fiction seriously herself, but who clearly also enjoys the genre.
Thursday, 14 May 1998
Elizabeth Peters: The Deeds of the Disturber (1988)
Edition: MacMillan
Review number: 48
This is the fifth in Peters' series of mysteries featuring a nineteenth century Egyptologist and early feminist Amelia Peabody. The series maintains a lighthearted, humourous tone and is always fun to read. This novel, unusually, takes place in London rather than Egypt. As usual, Emerson and Peabody allow themselves to be dragged into a murder investigation kicking and screaming but really enjoying every minute of it. In this case, the murders are in the British Museum, centred around a particular mummy in the Egyptian collection. A nice little touch, if deliberate, is that the murder is investigated by Inspector Cuff, presumably a promoted Sergeant Cuff from Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone.
The series doesn't rely heavily on knowledge of the earlier books, but it obviously helps to have read at least the first of them. One good thing about Elizabeth Peters is that enjoying any one of her books is a fairly good guide to whether you will enjoy the rest; they are also sufficiently easy-going to be fun to read no matter how tired or ill you might be.
Review number: 48
This is the fifth in Peters' series of mysteries featuring a nineteenth century Egyptologist and early feminist Amelia Peabody. The series maintains a lighthearted, humourous tone and is always fun to read. This novel, unusually, takes place in London rather than Egypt. As usual, Emerson and Peabody allow themselves to be dragged into a murder investigation kicking and screaming but really enjoying every minute of it. In this case, the murders are in the British Museum, centred around a particular mummy in the Egyptian collection. A nice little touch, if deliberate, is that the murder is investigated by Inspector Cuff, presumably a promoted Sergeant Cuff from Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone.
The series doesn't rely heavily on knowledge of the earlier books, but it obviously helps to have read at least the first of them. One good thing about Elizabeth Peters is that enjoying any one of her books is a fairly good guide to whether you will enjoy the rest; they are also sufficiently easy-going to be fun to read no matter how tired or ill you might be.
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