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Originally Posted by ATDrake
Read The Crocodile on the Sandbank, 1st in Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody, Plucky Victorian Egyptologist mystery series, which I rather liked.
But then I was expecting to like it, as I generally enjoy books with Plucky Victorian Egyptologists anyway. Although it was very surprising that about halfway through the book, I not only knew whodunnit, but also the most likely reason why (and I turned out not to be wrong about that, which is a first); the only thing I was lacking was exactly howdunnit. But it's an early book and I expect the later ones get more sophisticated with the misdirection and the clue-leaving-motivation-hiding.
And I've realized that Peters now has the classic triad of Blonde, Brunette, Redhead for her major series heroines. Too bad you'd never get them all in the same book at once, unless she wrote one of those theme novella collections with linked stories where Peabody uncovers some artifact, decades later it gets lost/stolen and Bliss goes off on its trail, and one day it ends up in an exhibit near some sort of event that Kirby visits in her librarian capacity and makes snarky remarks about while foiling an attempted murder over it.
Recommended as an enjoyable start to a promising-looking series, especially if you, too, happen to like Plucky Victorian Egyptologist adventures.
Now currently onto a different period historical sleuth series, fellow Canadian Dave Duncan's Alchemist books with Zeno, apprentice to the prophetic visionary Nostradamus (but not the Nostradamus, merely his also-prophetic great-nephew also-named Nostradamus), solving murders and intrigue in Renaissance Italy.
Quite enjoyable so far, and nice background detail on the culture of Venice at that time and the thoroughly backstabbing scheming one can expect from meddling in the affairs of a major city-state. |
How about two out of three? I won't spoil it for you, but there's a tie in between Amelia and Vicky in later books. You have to really look for it though.