The Deeds of the Disturber

"Compared to London, Egypt is a veritable health resort," remarks Amelia Peabody Emerson in this fifth of the novels which she narrates. This one is the first, though, which is set principally in England, with a mere bit of preamble beforehand in Egypt, for a geographic reversal of the prior books. This change also condenses the time-line, so that readers don't have to wait until the next year's archaeological season in Egypt to pick up the thread of the story.

Radcliffe Emerson is supposed to be working on his scholarly treatise in London, but it goes without saying that solving puzzling crimes precludes such pedestrian concerns for most of the story. The book is positively bursting with contempt for British Museum curator and show more egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge, an accurately-named historical character despite the occasional reference to "Madame Blatantowski" and other semi-pseudonymous Victorian figures.

The Deeds of the Disturber has nearly everything one could wish for from a novel in this line: perplexing murders, ominous curses, sinister ceremonies, romantic jealousies, syphilitic aristocrats, and an opium den. A series of incidents involving the young Ramses and his visiting cousins doesn't reveal itself as a parallel plot until very late in the story. As a continuation of the previous books, it further develops a number of existing characters--not only the Emersons and their household, but also the journalist Kevin O'Connell--and the new ones it adds are all interesting. The mystery element is amply puzzling, and some pieces of it even defeat Amelia herself until all is revealed to the reader's satisfaction. show less

Deeds of the Disturber – Elizabeth Peters
audio version performed by Barbara Rosenblat

4 stars


Deeds of the Disturber is the fifth book in Peter’s Amelia Peobody series. In this book, Amelia, her husband Radcliff Emerson and their precocious son Ramses have returned to England after a season of excavation and detection in Egypt. While Emerson sets about organizing his excavation notes and preparing for publication by the Oxford University Press, Amelia is burdened with the care of her obnoxious niece and nephew. The plot immediately thickens with the death of a night watchman and the desecration of a mummy at the British Museum. Investigating the crime takes Amelia, Emerson and the intrepid Ramses from the brothels and opium dens of show more Victorian London to Scotland Yard. The exciting climax occurs in the dark confines of the decaying, gothic Mauldy Manner.
This book is a pastiche of detective fiction and a spoof of Victorian society dramas. I adore Amelia Peobody. More than that, I adore Barbara Rosenblat’s talented interpretation of this entertaining series. Every voice, every inflection and especially every accent she employs is perfect. Rosenblat’s rendition of the young Ramses is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. It is worth listening to for this line alone, “Fortunately, I’ve brought along a little nitroglycerin.” show less

Ah, when life gets you down, Amelia Peabody is guaranteed to pick you up, dust you off, and send you on your way with a slightly foolish but cheerful grin.

Ms Peabody is the embodiment of anachronism, but we love her for it. Her modern feminism, her stout parasol (steel reinforced) and rejection of fashion, her undying love for Emerson and Egyptian archaeology, her complete utter and unwavering belief in her intellectual superiority, her fabulous hourglass shape, her unbridled enthusiasm for sex, and her intolerance for anyone vacuous makes her a heroine unlike any other.

In this book, the fifth in the series, takes a turn from the earlier books in that Amelia and Emerson are in London instead of Egypt, and are solving a murder that looks show more as if it may be a mummy's curse. This gives us a nice breather from hot and dusty Egypt, re-introduces some earlier characters who haven't been seen for a while, and allows Amelia to be let loose in a different city, dealing with over-enthusiastic journalists, opium dens, and some very ill behaved young family members.

And, as usual, I chortled happily all the way through. show less

The Deeds of the Disturber
3.5 Stars

Amelia and her family return to England, where they learn of the mysterious death of a night watchman at the British Museum. When another man dies under suspicious circumstances, rumors abound concerning a mummy curse, and the Emersons find themselves wrangled into investigating.

Elizabeth Peters is a master of social satire with her tongue-in-cheek descriptions of British society and their sense of superiority. Nevertheless, this installment in the series has its problems.

To begin with, the mystery has potential as Amelia employs her detecting skills on British soil. However, the pacing is rather slow until the last few action-packed chapters (which earn the book an extra half-star), and the eventual show more explanation is convoluted and not altogether logical.

Moreover, Amelia can be exceedingly annoying at times, which is most apparent in her decided lack of communication with Emerson leading to completely unnecessary angst in their relationship. That said, there is some excellent character growth for them both as details of his past prior to his meeting Amelia come to light.

Ramses, as always, provides excellent comic relief and his antics are hilarious. In this regard, Amelia finally comes up to snuff and demonstrates an excellent understanding of her son's nature when her obnoxious nephew's manipulative bullying comes to light.

While this installment is an improvement on the absurdity of the last, it still does not quite meet the expectations set by the first three books. show less

Ah, Elizabeth Peters, you've done it again!

In this installment, Amelia Peabody Emerson and her husband Radcliff Emerson are back from the latest archaeological season in Egypt with their son, Ramses. They are staying in London so that Emerson can finish his book with ready access to the records at the museum, and of course they get embroiled in the latest mystery. Two men have been found dead in front of the museum's latest addition to the Egypt Room, a female mummy. Is this really a message from an outraged supernatural source (as the Daily Yell would have us believe), or is there something even more sinister going on? Amelia is, of course, determined to find out.

I'd give this four stars, but the mystery was a little too convoluted show more and at one crucial moment Amelia is guided by a strange dream she had. Rather too convenient, that. Also, it was pretty plain to the reader that Emerson was not involved in any extramarital affairs, so Amelia's worry and jealousy come across as silly. Not that jealousy generally makes much sense to the outsider, and the point is that it makes you irrational, but it did leave me a little impatient with Amelia for being so dense. But I guess that's part of what makes her such a human character; for all her strength and determination, she has some very vulnerable points.

Peters handles her characters so effortlessly, and they never are contorted into doing something uncharacteristic or hard to believe. And they are such lively people to read about! Whether it's Emerson growling through his favorite disguise (a big bushy beard), Ramses launching into one of his interminable speeches, or Amelia herself forging through a crowd with the point of her formidable parasol, they are outrageously themselves and yet somehow believable. Ramses' cousins Percy and Violet are humorous additions to the family circle this time around.

I'm starting to see why this series is such a great one in the world of detective fiction. The characters are fun, the historical setting of Victorian England feels real, the Egyptology is fascinating, the narrative voice is opinionated and distinctive, and the mysteries themselves aren't bad. It's a winning combination that has won a legion of fans.

And I can't say enough about Barbara Rosenblat's narration. I listened to this on audiobook and she understands Amelia's voice perfectly and often adds a little "hmm" or slight cough to accentuate the dialogue. Her voice for Emerson is great, too, and sometimes made me laugh aloud. It's a rich listening experience and though I own most of this series in print, I plan to work my way through it via the audiobooks at the library. It takes longer, but it's funnier this way, and I believe Rosenblat has recorded all the series so far.

So that's The Deeds of the Disturber. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Fun stuff! show less

How is it that I'm only just now discovering the joy that is Elizabeth Peters? I've seen her books in the library before, of course, but I never really looked at them until I picked up this paperback in a rummage sale months ago, thinking it sounded interesting. I finally got around to reading it, and I enjoyed it so much! It's very witty historical fiction, and it was delicious to discover the delightful Amelia Peabody for the first time.

The Deeds Of The Disturber, by Elizabeth Peters
★★★★★ and a ♥

Synopsis: (from the back of the paperback edition) Can fear kill? There are those who believe so--but Amelia Peabody is skeptical. A respected Egyptologist and amateur sleuth, Amelia has foiled felonious schemes from Victoria's England to the Middle East. And she doubts that it was a Nineteenth-Dynasty mummy's curse that caused the death of a night watchman in the British Museum. The corpse was found sprawled in the mummy's shadow, a look of terror frozen on the guard's face. What--or who--killed the unfortunate man is a mystery that seems too intriguingly delicious for Amelia to pass up, especially now that she, her dashing archaeologist husband, Emerson, and their show more precocious son, Ramses, are back on Britain's shores. But a contemporary curse can be as lethal as one centuries old--and the foggy London thoroughfares can be as treacherous as the narrow, twisting alleyways of Cairo after dark--when a perpetrator of evil deeds sets his murderous sights on his relentless pursuer...Amelia Peabody!
In A Sentence: One of my favorite books in this series!
My Thoughts: I'm thoroughly enjoying myself with these novels! Not only is it reigniting my love of Egyptology, but the book are even more fun when you reread them. Since I already know the solution to the mystery, I was able to sit back and enjoy the smaller things that also make this book enjoyable. The Emersons are by far my favorite fictional family. The way they interact with each other can be hilarious at times! We also get a brief introduction to one of Amelia's brothers, James Peabody, and his two children, Violet and Percy. Since we have recently become familiar with one of Amelia and Radcliffe's arch-nemeses, it only seems fair that Ramses finds his own arch-nemesis in his cousin Percy.
I think this book has become one of my favorites in the series because the plot moves fairly quickly and has a bit more of a Sherlock Holmes air to it. It doesn't seem quite as long-winded as some previous novels, and the humor is still as funny as ever. Overall, it makes for a great detective read, one that I would recommend to any mystery fan. show less