The Mummy Case - SPOILER Thread - May/June 2021

[Susan]

Welcome to our buddy read of The Mummy Case the third Amelia Peabody mystery, first published in 1985.

The irascible husband of Victorian Egyptologist Amelia Peabody is living up to his reputation as ‘The Father of Curses’. Denied permission to dig at the pyramids of Dahshoor, Emerson is awarded instead the ‘pyramids’ of Mazghunah – countless mounds of rubble in the middle of nowhere. Nothing in this barren spot seems of any interest but then a murder in Cairo changes all of that.

The dead man was an antiques dealer, killed in his shop, so when a sinister-looking Egyptian spotted at the crime scene turns up in Mazghunah, Amelia can’t resist following his trail. At the same time she has to keep an eagle eye on her wayward son Rameses and his elegant and calculating cat and look into the mysterious disappearance of a mummy case…

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

[Jill]

I did enjoy the story, which was quite complicated, but was irritated by the son Walter (Ramses). Besides him being extremely clever which was fine, and the fact that he was almost uncontrollable, was acceptable, but his speech really annoyed me. I accept that he had a speech problem, and that is not a fault, but once it was pointed out, I just felt it was laboured over and over. I was irritated every time he spoke, having to translate.
I have been told that this irritation does not continue. Other than that, I am willing to overlook the gushing asides of Amelia about her love and admiration of her husband, which also kept cropping up The rescues were rather far-fetched, but then I don't think these books are meant to be taken that seriously.

[Judy]

I've just been complaining about the son over in the other thread, Jill! He really gets on my nerves, and I do agree the "d" for "th" makes it hard to read his long speeches.

I also agree about Amelia's gushing over Emerson being a bit much! The first book was more fun, I thought, because their bickering was a bit more real.

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "I've just been complaining about the son over in the other thread, Jill! He really gets on my nerves, and I do agree the "d" for "th" makes it hard to read his long speeches.

I also agree about A..."

As I said in the other thread, Emerson’s temper (flashing eyes, swelling chest, etc.) seems to be a turn on for Amelia, which is a little odd. I wouldn’t want arguing as foreplay myself, but it seems to be their thing, maybe because it stirs up memories of their “courtship” in the first book? Sounds exhausting to me - I’ve always just taken it as humorous, that they enjoy striking sparks off each other so much, and I guess a proper Victorian lady couldn’t just come out and say “I love sex with my husband!”

[Tara]

Despite the restrictions of Victorian society, they certainly have an extremely healthy sex life. More power to them, especially with such a precocious child to deal with.

[Judy]

What did anyone think of the mystery plot of this one? I got slightly lost at times, but that's probably just me.

[Julie]

Judy wrote: "What did anyone think of the mystery plot of this one? I got slightly lost at times, but that's probably just me."

No, I did too! So I kind of lost interest in it after a while.

[Tania]

Julie wrote: "Judy wrote: "What did anyone think of the mystery plot of this one? I got slightly lost at times, but that's probably just me."

No, I did too! So I kind of lost interest in it after a while."

Me too. I read this some time ago and I also lost interest in the mystery, I should think these books are read mainly for their character developement not for the mysteries. The thing I remember the most, was how absolutely insufferable Rameses was.

[Susan in NC]

Tania wrote: "Julie wrote: "Judy wrote: "What did anyone think of the mystery plot of this one? I got slightly lost at times, but that's probably just me."

No, I did too! So I kind of lost interest in it after ..."

I know I read this series years ago for the fun and character development, following the expanding cast of Emerson family and friend characters through their adventures! The mysteries were definitely secondary, almost always to do with Egyptian antiquities thefts.

[Julie]

That’s definitely their charm, these books are a lot of fun! And although Ramses’ speech annoys me in this one, I do enjoy his character as he grows older.

Perhaps not in the right frame of mind this time, as Emerson grated a bit too. I think I’ll try the next one as an audio!

[Susan]

I think the books have seemed very similar to me so far. I doubt very much whether I will read on.

[Judy]

Yes, I've also come to the conclusion this series isn't for me - although it sounds as if the later books, where Ramses is grown up, may be better.

[Sandy]

While I love this series for the characters I agree that they do not make for an intelligent discussion. The plots are usually far fetched and do not always hang together.