Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody Murder Mystery): An Amelia Peabody Murder Mystery Book

This first book is by far the best. Not only do we have the best display of manhood from Radcliffe Emerson that I've ever seen in a crime book but he still manages to have that hidden side of concern for those he cares about that stops him from being another overbearing bully, like so many hard-up leading men are in crime books.

Being a fan of Archaeology, I was ecstatically surprised to find that this is the first book, and set of books, I've ever found that accurately describe the work of an Archaeologist and that actually covers this topic sympathetically.

The crimes alone are addictively clever and Elizabeth Peters allows the reader enough clues to piece together the facts by themselves, rather than those authors who seem to have their characters keep all the information to themselves and suddenly know everything at the end of the book, hinting at clues that we, the reader, were never allowed to see.

This first book lays the crucial groundwork for the following books, which are equally excellent, each story never boring the reader or sounding too farfetched to be worth reading. It is for this reason that this is my favourite of the collection. The enigmatic settings only inspire and become more enchanting as the books continue but it where we first meet Amelia and the characters that are to reoccur in later books with that first glimpse of the Egyptian setting on the 1800's that really hits home.

By far, a group of books well worth owning, never mind reading. A set you'll read again and again.

Amelia Peabody is Elizabeth Peters' most brilliant and best-loved creation, a thoroughly Victorian feminist who takes the stuffy world of archaeology by storm with her shocking men's pants and no-nonsense attitude!In this first adventure, our headstrong heroine decides to use her substantial inheritance to see the world. On her travels, she rescues a gentlewoman in distress - Evelyn Barton-Forbes - and the two become friends. The two companions continue to Egypt where they face mysteries, mummies and the redoubtable Radcliffe Emerson, an outspoken archaeologist, who doesn't need women to help him solve mysteries -- at least that's what he thinks!'Think Miss Marple with early feminist gloss crossed with Indiana Jones... Dastardly deeds, whirlwind romances, curious mummies and all the fun and intrigue of Egyptian excavations, with a heroine who wields a sturdy parasol rather than a magnum. Accomplished entertainment.' Guardian

Amelia Peabody a thoroughly Victorian feminist who takes the stuffy world of archaeology by storm with her shocking men's pants and no-nonsense attitude decides to use her substantial inheritance to see the world. On her travels she rescues a gentlewoman in distress - Evelyn Barton-Forbes - and the two become friends.