Beth Fish Reads: Bullet Review: The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters

17 October 2013

Bullet Review: The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters

As I mentioned in my review of Elizabeth Peters's Lord of the Silent a couple of weeks ago, I plan to finish the last few installments of her wonderful Amelia Peabody books fairly quickly. It's not my usual style to race through a series, but my current work schedule (insanely busy) demands some fun reading. Elizabeth Peters fills the bill.

This Bullet Review is focused on The Golden One, the sixteenth Peabody book; for a quick look at the series, see my review of the previous entry (click on the link above). Peters created such a fun and entertaining premise with fabulously unique characters and a fascinating setting that I'm sorry there are only three books left.

What's happening in The Golden One: It's 1917 and World War I is winding down but still very much on everyone's minds. The Emerson-Peabody family decides to remain in Egypt for a long stay rather than risk the dangers of sea travel during wartime. The bulk of the action takes place in Luxor and involves antiquities theft, betrayal, and rumors of untouched tombs.
Amelia Peabody's quirks: Amelia prides herself on being prepared for all emergencies--a good thing because the family is constantly getting into scrapes. She almost always carries one of her trademark "stout parasols" (one of which has a hidden dagger), and there are a couple of hysterical parasol scenes in The Golden One. She is also rarely without her belt, which is adorned with her "useful accoutrements." I love it that the Emersons' young Egyptian friend, Jumana, has fashioned her own belt in emulation of Amelia.
Family matters: One of the successful decisions Peters made when writing this series was allowing her characters to age, mature, change, and grow. Emerson himself seems to be mellowing a bit professionally, and it's good to see. Nefret and Ramses's relationship continues to develop, and I like the way they are coming to terms with what kind of marriage they will have.
What's ahead: The book ends with the expectation of further changes for the family, both personally and professionally. I can't wait to see what happens in both arenas.
Audiobook notes: I have to be careful where I listen to the Amelia Peabody books because the main characters' antics and comments often have me laughing out loud. The combination of Peters's sense of humor and narrator Barbara Rosenblat's impeccable timing leaves me smiling. Such a great company when I'm on a walk or cooking.

10 comments:

Col (Col Reads), 10/17/13, 6:42 AM: Sounds like a great series for audio. I'd like to try the first one!
Julie P., 10/17/13, 7:00 AM: I should try this series. Sounds fantastic and I know the author has a lot of fans.
(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea, 10/17/13, 7:00 AM: I like the bullet review style (tells me all I need or want to know really). Glad u enjoyed this one.
bermudaonion, 10/17/13, 7:48 AM: Amelia sounds like my kind of detective!
JoAnn, 10/17/13, 8:23 AM: I need to try this series!
(Diane) bookchickdi, 10/17/13, 9:18 AM: I was a big BatGirl fan as a youngster and your description of Amelia Peabody and her belt with accoutrements sounds like someone I would like to read about.
Beth Hoffman, 10/17/13, 11:34 AM: Any book that makes you laugh out loud is one I want to read! I really need to dive into this series.
rhapsodyinbooks, 10/17/13, 1:10 PM: I so want to start this series!
J.C. Montgomery, 10/21/13, 3:38 PM: I love what I've read of this series so far, and can't wait to read more. Glad to see the series continues to be good. I sometimes worry that if there are so many books, that the author starts repeating plots.
SuziQoregon, 11/14/13, 5:57 PM: Finally getting here to read this because I finished the book today and wrote up my review.

I need to get a good stout parasol!

I'm going to be sad when I finsh the last book in this series.