HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

The Falcon at the Portal: An Amelia Peabody…
Loading...

The Falcon at the Portal: An Amelia Peabody Mystery (original 1999; edition 2009)

by Elizabeth Peters (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,865318,940 (4.02)43
Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. Join spunky Amelia and her charming family for a thrilling new archaeological adventure in Edwardian Egypt. Even on the joyous occasion of the marriage of their Egyptian "son" David to their beloved niece Lia, trouble finds Amelia and hunky hubby Emerson. And this time it is personal. In London, someone impersonating David is peddling high-quality fake antiquities, and soon the Emerson-Peabody home is burglarized. Once in Egypt, trouble only escalates as Amelia becomes a shooter's target, her son Ramses is implicated in a paternity scandal, and an American girl is found dead in the shaft of the pyramid they are excavating. When the family's impetuous ward Nefret disappears and comes back married, it takes all of their upper-crust British restraint to keep familial relations civil. Grand Master Elizabeth Peters once again delivers the delectable goods we have come to expect: beloved characters, an intriguing mystery, and alluring settings among the ruins. Romance and danger heighten the excitement, as does Barbara Rosenblat's narration, which is nothing short of perfection.… (more)
Member:mnleona
Title:The Falcon at the Portal: An Amelia Peabody Mystery
Authors:Elizabeth Peters (Author)
Info:William Morrow (2009), Edition: Illustrated, 464 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading
Rating:*****
Tags:None

Work Information

The Falcon at the Portal by Elizabeth Peters (1999)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 43 mentions

English (29)  Spanish (1)  French (1)  All languages (31)
Showing 1-5 of 29 (next | show all)
The 1911 archaeological season brings more problems for the Peabody/Emerson family. It starts well with David and Lia's marriage. But when David is accused of forgery, it isn't only his reputation that is in danger. David has become involved in the Egyptian nationalism movement which puts him in danger from those trying to thwart that movement.

A young woman develops a crush on Ramses which isn't unusual but her murdered body being found in a shaft in the area where the Emersons are excavating is. The young woman's brother is determined to bring Ramses to justice despite the fact that the death has been judged an accident and Ramses had done nothing to encourage the woman.

In fact, Ramses and Nefret are finally becoming involved now that Nefret has realized that she is in love with him. However, the day after they spend their first night together, a procurer brings a woman and young child to the Emersons claiming that the child is Ramses's daughter. Nefret impulsively runs away and marries another archaeologist who has been hanging around her. Ramses and his parents know that he is not the child's father but, rather, that the child is Cousin Percy's.

Cousin Percy hasn't changed much since their first encounter. He's still unprincipled and sly and a blatant British chauvinist. He has also been courting Nefret despite her constant refusals.

This was a more emotionally intense episode than earlier books in the series. I liked that we got more of the story from Ramses' point of view even though I still enjoy Amelia's unique viewpoint. ( )
  kmartin802 | Nov 3, 2023 |
Due to certain things that I had deduced from various sources, I knew that this book would have some morally touchy elements. I thought that I could stand it, for once. But after reading the prequel to this one (Guardian of the Horizon) I was less than impressed... ( )
  OutOfTheBestBooks | Sep 24, 2021 |
Synopsis: ' It is 1911 and Amelia and husband Emerson receive a mysterious accusation of antiquities forgery leveled against family friend David, who is just about to marry Amelia's niece Lia. More intrigue and mystery build up when the Emersons return to Egypt: bullets aimed at Amelia, the discovery of a young American's corpse at their excavation site, and the appearance of a small girl of mysterious parentage.'
Review: There are lots of twists in the plot. David and Lia are finally wed, but they are off to a rough start not only because of David's ethnicity, but because of the charges leveled against him. Percy's daughter leads Nefret to abandon Ramses. This particular story deals with lots of feelings and the beginnings of World War I.
Review: Well fine. I am glad that Percy has been eliminated. Nefret behaved stupidly. Really ready for what happens next. ( )
  DrLed | Apr 24, 2021 |
In which Ramses and Nefret make me believe in love for the briefest of moments and then tear out my heart and shatter it into tiny pieces and stomp on it.

I'm also going to call out Peters for the following passage, because what the fuck:

... I caught Emerson - he had put himself deliberately in my path - and he caught Nefret, who pulled him under the mistletoe and kissed him soundly. I had to put a stop to the kissing after a while.

Is that... meant to imply that Nefret was making out with her adoptive father in a way that made Amelia uncomfortable? Because that's SUPER GROSS AND WEIRD. And then it's never mentioned again. I am DISTURBED.
( )
  a-shelf-apart | Nov 19, 2019 |
The 1911 season looks to be one full of drama for Amelia Peabody what with the weddings, the weird family drama between Nefret and Ramses, the political intrigue and drug dealers on the loose, the random child popping up claiming to belong to Ramses. And of course, the rash of forgeries attributed to Ramses’ best friend, David–falsely attributed, obviously, but proving that is being a bit challenging. Maybe it’s a good thing the only site Emerson was able to get this season is a bit boring on the whole.

I absolutely always love Peters’ Amelia Peabody books; there’s some great history combined with lots of thrills, good humor, suspense, mystery, and romance. Basically, they’re just good historical adventures all around. The Falcon at the Portal fills this excellently, although I do have to say that it’s just generally less cohesive than some of the other stories in this series. Honestly, there’s just so much going on that it’s hard to keep track sometimes of what’s actually important. Add to that the fact that you’ve got three separate narrators (even though I love having Nefret and Ramses’ perspectives), and the story can be a bit all over the place at times. But really, I feel like the actual mystery plot takes second place to the character development and drama in this volume anyhow, so it’s not such a big deal to miss plot threads at times. And wow is there some drama going on here! For one, we’ve got some actual development in one of my favorite (of all time, not just of this series) ships–Nefret and Ramses. Plus the whole mess with Amelia’s nephew Percy and the Americans who keep hanging around. And of course, this is where Sennia joins the family. So yeah, lots of drama, a good touch of heartache, but lots of fun, too. Recommended. ( )
  Honyasbookshelf | Oct 24, 2019 |
Showing 1-5 of 29 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Elizabeth Petersprimary authorall editionscalculated
Darius, BeateÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Eggar, SamanthaNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Orts García, PatriciaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Piccioli, Maria BarbaraTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rosenblat, BarbaraNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Truchaud, FrançoisTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vlčková, JanaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Information from the Italian Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
To Ray
A thousand of every good and pure thing…
First words
They attacked at dawn.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. Join spunky Amelia and her charming family for a thrilling new archaeological adventure in Edwardian Egypt. Even on the joyous occasion of the marriage of their Egyptian "son" David to their beloved niece Lia, trouble finds Amelia and hunky hubby Emerson. And this time it is personal. In London, someone impersonating David is peddling high-quality fake antiquities, and soon the Emerson-Peabody home is burglarized. Once in Egypt, trouble only escalates as Amelia becomes a shooter's target, her son Ramses is implicated in a paternity scandal, and an American girl is found dead in the shaft of the pyramid they are excavating. When the family's impetuous ward Nefret disappears and comes back married, it takes all of their upper-crust British restraint to keep familial relations civil. Grand Master Elizabeth Peters once again delivers the delectable goods we have come to expect: beloved characters, an intriguing mystery, and alluring settings among the ruins. Romance and danger heighten the excitement, as does Barbara Rosenblat's narration, which is nothing short of perfection.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.02)
0.5
1 4
1.5
2 14
2.5 2
3 56
3.5 11
4 158
4.5 12
5 105

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Recorded Books

An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,226,962 books! | Top bar: Always visible