Crocodile on the Sandbank is the first book in the Amelia Peabody Mystery series and although categorized as a mystery I think I smiled and chuckled all the way through. Amelia Peabody is such a character – a strong willed, opinionated, bossy woman, who thinks the only appeal she has is the inheritance left to her by her father.

Touring Rome Amelia’s companion falls ill and must be sent home before they can reach their final destination of Cairo. She encounters a young Englishwoman, Evelyn Barton-Forbes, who has collapsed on the grounds of the Forum of Rome. After hearing Evelyn’s shocking story of betrayal and abandonment by a man she thought loved her, Amelia determines to takes Evelyn under her wing to mentor her and be her companion on her Egyptian adventures.

This novel is a mystery, a story of self-discovery and a bit of a comedy of errors. In the end Evelyn teaches Amelia more about life, loyalty and love than she ever expected. Beneath her prickly and spunky exterior Amelia hides a kind heart. The below quote is one of my favourites in the novel and portrays Amelia to a tee.

“I watched them with the most thorough satisfaction I had ever felt in my life. I did not even wipe away the tears that rained down my face – although I began to think it was just as well Evelyn was leaving me. A few more weeks with her, and I should have turned into a rampageous sentimentalist.”

I’ve not delved too much into Egyptian archeological history so I’m not sure how true the methodology was for techniques in preserving Egyptian antiquities but I was impressed with the level of detail and how the descriptions of Cairo and Amarna come to life even though the story is fairly short. I’m sure I’ll continue on to read the rest of the series, the second book being The Curse of the Pharaohs. I would also recommend the Lady Emily Ashton series by Tasha Alexander.

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Right away I knew Crocodile on the Sandbankwas going to be funny. In the opening scene, Amelia Peabody, the novel's main character, fakes needing an interpreter in Italy so that she has someone to carry her parcels and run her errands. She is a tough, strong-willed, and independent woman on the verge of the 20th century. Of considerable wealth and edging towards spinsterhood, Amelia decides she wants to travel to Egypt. It being the late 1800s, she needs a female traveling companion. Enter Eveyln. Evelyn Barton-Forbes is a beautiful young girl with a not-so-innocent past. Amelia takes to her immediately and the two set out for an adventure of a lifetime. What starts out as a harmless journey to Egypt turns into a mystery complete with a murderous mummy and stop-at-nothing suitors. ( )

Amelia Peabody and crew -- Emerson, Ramses, etc -- have become some of my favorite characters ever, and this was the book that started it all, though Ramses enered the picture a little later. Funny, funny Victorian era mystery.

When I need to relax my brain by reading for the sheer entertainment of it, I reach for a mystery novel. The Amelia Peabody novels, of which Crocodile on the Sandbank is the first, are old friends of mine that can be relied on for their high entertainment quotient.

They are, first and foremost, spoofs of the Rider Haggard style of adventure novel: exaggerated characters, unlikely plots, and exotic locations. Amelia Peabody, Victorian spinster of independent means, sets off on some recreational travel and literally picks up a female companion in the streets of Rome. Her new friend has a satisfyingly murky past which follows them to their next destination, Egypt, where they meet the Emerson brothers who are conducting an archaeological dig. Amelia falls in love with Egypt and archaeology but finds herself at daggers drawn with the elder Emerson; or is that also love? Mix in a ghostly mummy and a smarmy villain or two, and you’ve got yourself a few hours of escapism.

I know people who intensely dislike these novels on account of the characters. They’re heroic: impossibly larger than life, preposterously resourceful, and when we get to the younger generation a few books along in the series, improbably good-looking and talented to boot. They’re possessed of great eloquence and terrifying amounts of self-confidence. But you’ve got to remember, they’re spoofs. No realism was intentionally harmed in the making of these novels. These are the creations of a confident writer who is having a huge amount of fun, and if you take them in the right spirit you’ll be laughing too.

On top of that, Peters’ writing is wonderfully crisp and spare, despite larding Amelia’s inner thoughts with sentences like “a glittering web of stars covered the indigo-blue vault” (because Amelia thinks in romance-novel clichés) and, as the series unfolds, inflicting some most distressing speech habits on her son Ramses. The plots whip along at a fast gallop to a fairly predictable conclusion, and much of the fun comes from waiting for the moment when Amelia herself cottons on to what’s happening.

As an added benefit, if you read through the series you’ll learn a surprising amount about archaeology, Egyptian history and geography, and many related matters. Several “real” historical characters or either directly portrayed or known to the fictional characters, and there’s a running Tutankhamen joke for good measure.

I’m not going to review every book in the series, but as I work my way through weightier tomes such as Gravity’s Rainbow I’ll be taking refreshing sips from the Emerson well to keep me going. A girl can’t be a literary snob ALL the time. ( )

Date read=07/14/09 -- There is nothing I love more than an Amelia Peabody mystery. This is the first in the series, and a re-read. ( )