Lord Of The Silent
In this, the thirteenth Amelia Peabody mystery, the hale and hearty Peabodys find themselves deeply ensconced in yet another intrigue, this time in 1915 Egypt. The spectre of World War I looms everywhere, and the opportunities to make fortunes during such upheaval are seemingly endless.
Though Amelia and her husband, Emerson, are still important characters, here the focus shifts to their son Ramses and his wife, Nefret. While the Peabodys try to ascertain the source of a fresh corpse in a tomb being excavated by them, they are faced with the possibility that they have uncovered yet another arch-rival. Is this a political killing? Has Ramses, who has previously been involved in intrigues during the War, become a target?
Ramses and Nefret are delightful creations. Ramses is no longer the enfant terrible, and Nefret, a physician, is a liberated woman in a post-Victorian world. Having read almost all the Peabody mysteries, I must admit to feeling a bit of ennui. However, since we’ve run the gamut with Amelia and Emerson, it was clever of Peters to shift the focus to Ramses and Nefret. Light, fun reading, without anything terribly profound going on.
