The Golden One
by Elizabeth Peters
Reviewed by Pat DeLiz 

[E-book]


Golden One (Publisher, Morrow New York) is the 14th in Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series. For a quarter of century we've been reading about Archaeology and Egypt at the turn of the 20th century.
In a charming and satirical manner Ms. Peters covers the Nile Valley's class system, its geography and the flora and fauna of the region. She reveals the bumbling of the authorities in handling the most impressive treasures ever dug from the earth. Everything from Valley of the Kings sarcophagi to ordinary water jugs were looted by tomb robbers and later by the archaeologists themselves.
This information is woven into Ms. Peters' series about
Amelia and Radcliffe Emerson (never call him Radcliffe) and their eccentric and ever-fluctuating family.
The Golden One, in 1917, finds the Emersons embroiled in a plot with looted temples, illegal antiquities and a bad guy (Jamil) who repeatedly tries to kill them or bury them alive. They are surrounded by well-drawn characters: archaeologists (some with familiar names), native workers (led by Selim, their reis or foreman), local families of tomb robbers, and the obligatory tourists who come to Egypt for the climate, the ruins and maybe to take away a little treasure. Add to" these characters the armies who are there as a result of World War I." Ms. Peter's comments on these are pithy enough to make us wonder how they won this war! Ramses (Amelia and Emerson's son) is pressured into working undercover for British military intelligence. With his remarkable grasp of native dialects, skin darkened by years of Egypt's sun and his facility with disguises, he can easily become a native.

Ramses is a well-known pacifist but this isn't the first time British intelligence has asked for his help with a delicate situation. He must get into Gaza, a seaport held by the Germans and the Turks. He must find out if Ismail, a former British intelligence agent, is being held prisoner, has become a double agent, or is playing a deeper game for his own purposes.

Then Ramses must get out again.  Backed up by the amusing, although helpful, interference of Amelia, Emerson, Nefret (Ramses' wife) and Selim bouncing across the desert in a T Model Light car, Ramses carries out his assignment in his usual efficient style. The outcome of his adventure has some unexpected revelations, even for the most devoted Amelia Peabody fan.

Read The Golden One for suspense, humor and a great history lesson. And, naturally, there are a few surprises to lead us on to the next book in the series - and hopefully the next.

Elizabeth Peters earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, was named Grand Master at the Anthony Awards in 1986, and Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998. The first book in the Amelia Peabody series is Crocodile on the Sandbank.
 

 [E-book]

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