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Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, #1)

Elizabeth Peters

Start date: September 12, 2020

Finish date: October 9, 2020

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: We have some Elizabeth Peters fans in the group, and decided to buddy read the first Amelia Peabody book.
[close] We have some Elizabeth Peters fans in the group, and decided to buddy read the first Amelia Peabody book.

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What Members Thought

Jun 22, 2015 Kavita rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, colonialist-bullshit, africa, historical-fiction, egypt

Amelia Peabody is a Victorian woman, but the resemblance really ends there. A member of the highly privileged class, Amelia has inherited a fortune and decides to go around the world and enjoy herself as she does not want to get bogged down by the rigours of womanhood, namely marriage, that other women are forced into for sake of society and sustenance. She meets and befriends a young woman called Evelyn in Egypt and the story takes off from there. The beginning is fairly slow and I often felt l Amelia Peabody is a Victorian woman, but the resemblance really ends there. A member of the highly privileged class, Amelia has inherited a fortune and decides to go around the world and enjoy herself as she does not want to get bogged down by the rigours of womanhood, namely marriage, that other women are forced into for sake of society and sustenance. She meets and befriends a young woman called Evelyn in Egypt and the story takes off from there. The beginning is fairly slow and I often felt like quitting, but was curious to see what kind of mystery could two Victorian women possibly encounter in Egypt. The mystery is fairly clichéd, with mummies, swooning women and colonial arrogance.

Amelia's character is supposedly of a Victorian feminist, but she is more of an arrogant misandrist, if nothing else. She hates men, and keeps making irrelevant weird statements about how useless men are, which really got on my nerves after a point. I might have overlooked that as something feminists of the time might have thought, but she is similarly not interested in the rights of other women. She tells her friend and companion that she will not part from her 'until she can give her up to a man who deserves her'. Errr, hello? Isn't that for HER to decide? She also infantilises said companion all the time. So, NOT a feminist.

In addition, her colonial arrogance put me off several times. The ease with which these people go and plunder the tombs in other countries and then make a fuss about the locals objecting to it made my blood boil. They also seemed to be contemptuous of the Egyptians and Sudanese who obviously preferred to rule themselves and there are references to 'complacent fools'.

But the book is not all bad. If you can overlook these annoyances, there is a lot of humour in the different situations created by Amelia and the archaeologist she meets on the trip. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the banter between Emerson and Amelia, which obviously ended in a romance. The references to ancient Egypt are what makes this novel worth reading, even though I often wished there was more of that and less of Evelyn fainting.

Worth a read if you have nothing better going on.

...more

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Oct 07, 2013 Jazzy Lemon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This reminds me of one of those boring and badly lit programmes that is aired at 10 am on a Sunday morning that you change channels on if you come across it. The story went on and on slowly but in quite an uninteresting manner, and the way the story wrapped up was insulting. I'm thankful to have come to the end of it. ...more

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Sep 05, 2015 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bought-2015, victorian, mystery, silver-age-mystery, historical-mystery, set-in-egypt, carl-s-r-i-p

Amelia Peabody is a force of nature--a Victorian spinster armed with a more than sufficient independent income to complement her unshakable self-confidence and independent nature. Her late father (from whence comes the income) was a scholar and antiquarian who sparked an interest in Egypt in his only daughter and companion of his waning years. Amelia's brothers pretty much abandoned them, so it was only natural for Father Peabody to leave his surprisingly large estate to her. After suffering foo Amelia Peabody is a force of nature--a Victorian spinster armed with a more than sufficient independent income to complement her unshakable self-confidence and independent nature. Her late father (from whence comes the income) was a scholar and antiquarian who sparked an interest in Egypt in his only daughter and companion of his waning years. Amelia's brothers pretty much abandoned them, so it was only natural for Father Peabody to leave his surprisingly large estate to her. After suffering foolish suitors (with the gleam of golden riches in their eyes) less than gladly, she decides to venture to the land of the Pharaohs on her own--well, on her own with a maid and a companion. When her companion falls ill and must be shuttled back to England in the company of a handy clergyman and his wife, Amelia most fortuitously manages to rescue young Evelyn Barton-Forbes who has been seduce by an Italian rogue who abandoned her on the streets of Rome as soon as he found out her wealthy grandfather had disowned and disinherited her when she allowed herself to be "ruined."

Of course, Amelia is not put off at all by Evelyn's past--in fact her most pressing question is fairly naughty for a Victorian lady: "Tell me, Evelyn--what is it like? Is it pleasant?" Yes, our Victorian-age heroine wants to know about s-e-x. After sorting all this out*, Amelia takes Evelyn on a s companion and they head off up the Nile to visit various archaeological wonders. They make every effort to elude Alberto--the Italian lover who has mysteriously reappeared, swearing undying love and wanting her back--as well as her cousin Lord Ellesmere (who has gained the title upon their grandfather's death) who also wants to marry Evelyn.

When they reach an archaeological site at El-Armanah, they find the Emerson brothers--grumpy but dashing Radcliffe and amiable Walter--whom they had briefly met in Alexandria. Amelia becomes entranced with the dig and Evelyn and Walter become entranced with each other--but their digging expedition is interrupted by the nightly ramblings of mummy, the refusal of the locals to work on the site because of said mummy's cures, suspicious accidents, a botched kidnapping, and the disappearance of Amelia's faithful Egyptian servant. And the appearance of Lord Ellesmere only serves to confuse the issue more. Radcliffe and Amelia become convinced that there is a plot afoot to harm Evelyn. It will take all their ingenuity to outwit the villain or villains behind the mummy's curse.

Miss Amelia Peabody's debut in Crocodile on the Sandbanks (1975) by Elizabeth Peters is delightful. She springs forth in the first chapter, fully formed and, as mentioned above, a force of nature. A force that not even the irascible Radcliffe can resist for long. She is gruff but lovable and a character that I enjoyed very much. Peters writes a very witty and easy reading mystery. It is, admittedly, much more fun than it is mystifying--how Amelia as intelligent as she is could have been hoodwinked by that...oops, that would be telling...is a bit baffling. Maybe she was distracted by her verbal sparring with Radcliffe. Readers looking for an intricate puzzle to unravel should look elsewhere. But if you want interesting characters, a bit of Egyptian mystical mummy adventures, witty dialogue, and a great deal of fun then grab a copy and settle in for a fun read. ★★★★

*Oh...and Evelyn does answer Amelia's question: "Oh, Amelia, under the right circumstances, it is--in a word--perfectly splendid!"

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 17, 2013 Lynnie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audible, 2025, read-in-2023, egypt, archaeology-suspense, read-in-2010s, read-in-2000s, historical-mystery, gothic-romance, all-time-favourites

A comfort reread. (4th time).
It's funny and I adore Amelia Peabody, it was good to revisit.

5th reread - listened to the audio narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. Just brilliant. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 13, 2018 Icewineanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery, mystery-pub-bookclub, audiobook

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 22, 2016 Melinda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was fun to read. I really liked Amelia Peabody, she was stubborn, headstrong and very independent. I liked Radcliffe from the start despite his cantankerous attitude. Walter was a less forceful character and was a thoroughly nice guy. Evelyn seems helpless and too soft to cope at first and although she faints a few times she proves to be resilient in the end.

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Jan 04, 2013 Deborah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Well researched. I tried this series once before and did not care for it. This time it was more enjoyable although I was able to figure out most of it.

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