Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters; narrated by Susan O’Malley | 2008; originally published 1975 | Blackstone Audio | Audiobook $ 17.00
Thirty-one-year-old Victorian gentlewoman Amelia Peabody has not only inherited her father’s fortune, but she is also blessed with his strong will as well. Now she’s headed for Cairo, accompanied by a girl with a tarnished past, to indulge her passion for Egyptology. Little did she know that murder and a homicidal mummy lay in wait for her.
My Classics Club list needed a few must-read mysteries; while looking for top titles to add, Crocodile on the Sandbank was consistently recommended by folks in the know about this genre.
The story follows the late-19th century adventures of independently wealthy and overeducated spinster Amelia Peabody as she travels through Egypt, picking up stray companions of varying degrees of a willingness and a spooky big mystery along the way.
While writing this review, I learned that the main character is based on a real person: Amelia Edwards, Victorian-era author and Egyptologist. Amelia Edwards published the account of her travels in Egypt in A Thousand Miles Up the Nile, which clearly heavily influenced the story of Amelia Peabody. Crocodile on the Sandbank’s own author, Barbara Mertz (pen name: Elizabeth Peters), also trained as an Egyptologist, which is no doubt how she learned of the adventures of the “real” Amelia.
Amelia Peabody is a charming, enjoyable character to follow. And if the mystery itself was rather predictable and a tad banal, it was overall good fun. I will note that the attitudes of all the white characters, Amelia included, towards the native people are quite realistically Victorian: plainly, pretty racist. I don’t think one can expect anything else from historical fiction that is based on a real historical person’s own writings, though; I only mention it as a caution to other potential readers who may prefer to skip it in favor of a book with more modern sensibilities.
I think I’ll add the sequels to this book to my to-read list — there are further nineteen of them!
Links:
- Author’s website: The World of Barbara Mertz
- Obituary of Barbara Mertz in The New York Times
- Kirkus Reviews collection of works for Elizabeth Peters
Publication information: Peters, Elizabeth. Crocodile on the sandbank. Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audio, 2008. Audiobook.
Source: Public library, via Hoopla.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.
