The Serpent on the Crown (Amelia Peabody Series #17)

The Serpent on the Crown (Amelia Peabody Series #17)

by Elizabeth Peters
The Serpent on the Crown (Amelia Peabody Series #17)

The Serpent on the Crown (Amelia Peabody Series #17)

by Elizabeth Peters

Paperback(Mass Market Paperback - Reprint)

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Overview

The New York Times bestselling “Grande Dame of historical mystery” (Washington Post) returns with another thrilling tale of mystery,

As the l921-22 season begins, the Emersons are enjoying a busy period of excavation in Egypt, when they hear a lurid description of a man’s mysterious death. His widow is convinced he died of a curse, and implores the Emersons to return the “deadly” little statue that killed him to the tomb from which it was stolen—before it adds her to its list of victims. Clearly, it would be a serious error for the Emersons to start chasing tomb robbers, just when they have finally received permission to return to the Valley of the Kings, from which they were barred several years earlier. But the family soon realizes that the curse may be more real than they ever imagined….and they may be the next victims.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780060591793
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 03/28/2006
Series: Amelia Peabody Series , #17
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 512
Sales rank: 408,120
Product dimensions: 4.19(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.15(d)

About the Author

About The Author
Elizabeth Peters earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago’s famed Oriental Institute. During her fifty-year career, she wrote more than seventy novels and three nonfiction books on Egypt. She received numerous writing awards and, in 2012, was given the first Amelia Peabody Award, created in her honor. She died in 2013, leaving a partially completed manuscript of The Painted Queen.

Hometown:

A farm in rural Maryland

Date of Birth:

September 29, 1927

Place of Birth:

Canton, Illinois

Education:

M.A., Ph.D. in Egyptology, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1952

Read an Excerpt

The Serpent on the Crown


By Elizabeth Peters

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2006 Elizabeth Peters
All right reserved.

ISBN: 006059179X

Chapter One

He woke from a feverish sleep to see something bending over him. It was a shape of black ice, a tall featureless outline that exuded freezing cold. He tried to move, to cry out. Every muscle was frozen. Cold air touched his face, sucking out breath, warmth, life.

We had gathered for tea on the veranda. It is a commodious apartment, stretching clear across the front of the house, and the screens covering the wide window apertures and outer door do not interfere with the splendid view. Looking out at the brilliant sunlight and golden sand, with the water of the Nile tinted by the sunset, it was hard to believe that elsewhere in the world snow covered the ground and icy winds blew. My state of mind was as benevolent as the gentle breeze. The delightful but exhausting Christmas festivities were over and a new year had begun -- 1922, which, I did not doubt, would bring additional success to our excavations and additional laurels to the brow of my distinguished spouse, the greatest Egyptologist of this or any age.

Affectionately I contemplated his impressive form -- the sapphire-blue eyes and ebon hair, the admirable musculature of chest and arms, half bared by his casual costume. Our son, Ramses, who had acquired that nickname because hehad the coloring of an Egyptian and, in his youth, the dogmatism of a pharaoh, sat comfortably sprawled on the settee, next to his beautiful wife, our adopted daughter, Nefret. Faint cries of protest and distress drifted to our ears from the house the dear little children and their parents occupied; but even Nefret, the most devoted of mothers, paid them no heed. We were well accustomed to the complaints; such sounds always accompanied the efforts of Fatima and her assistants (it took several of them) to wash and change the children. It would be some time before the little dears joined us, and when a carriage drew up in front of the house I could not repress a mild murmur of protest at the disturbance of our peace.

Emerson protested more emphatically. "Damnation! Who the devil is that?"

"Now, Emerson, don't swear," I said, watching a woman descend from the carriage.

Asking Emerson not to use bad language is tantamount to King Canute's ordering the tide not to surge in. His Egyptian sobriquet of "Father of Curses" is well deserved.

"Do you know her?" Emerson demanded.

"No."

"Then tell her to go away."

"She appears to be in some distress," Nefret said. Her physician's gaze had noted the uncertain movements and hesitant steps. "Ramses, perhaps you had better see if she requires assistance."

"Assist her back into her carriage," Emerson said loudly.

Ramses looked from his wife to his father to me, his heavy black eyebrows tilting in inquiry. "Use your own judgment," I said, knowing what the result would be. Ramses was too well brought up (by me) to be rude to a woman, and this one appeared determined to proceed. As soon as he reached her she caught hold of his arm with both hands, swayed, and leaned against him. In a breathy, accented voice she said, "You are Dr. Emerson, I believe? I must see you and your parents at once."

Somewhat taken aback by the title, which he had earned but never used, Ramses looked down at the face she had raised in entreaty. I could not make out her features, since she was heavily veiled. The veils were unrelieved black, as was her frock. It fit (in my opinion) rather too tightly to a voluptuously rounded figure. Short of prying her hands off his arm, Ramses had no choice but to lead her to the veranda.

As soon as she was inside she adjusted the black chiffon veils, exposing a countenance whose semblance of youth owed more to art than to nature. Her eyes were framed with kohl and her full lips were skillfully tinted. Catching my eye, she lifted her chin in a practiced gesture that smoothed out the slight sagging of her throat. "I apologize for the intrusion. The matter is of some urgency. My name is Magda Petherick. I am the widow of Pringle Petherick. My life is threatened and only you can save me."

It was certainly the sort of introduction that captured one's attention. I invited Mrs. Petherick to take a chair and offered her a cup of tea. "Take your time," I said, for she was breathing quickly and her face was flushed. She carried a heavy reticule, which she placed at her feet before she accepted the cup from Ramses.

Leaning against the wall, his arms folded, Emerson studied her interestedly. Like myself, he had recognized the name.

"Your husband was Pringle Petherick, the well-known collector?" he inquired. "I believe he passed away recently."

"November of last year," she said. "A date that is engraved on my heart." She pressed her hand over that region of her person and launched, without further preamble, into the description I have already recorded. "He woke that morning from a feverish sleep ...

"This is what killed him," she finished. Reaching into the bag, she withdrew a rectangular box painted with crude Egyptian sym-bols. "He had purchased it only a few weeks earlier, unaware that the curse of the long-dead owner yet clung to it."

A long pause ensued, while we all tried to think of an appropriate response. It had occurred to me, as I feel sure it has occurred to the Reader, that there was a certain literary air about her narrative, but even Emerson was not rude enough to inform a recently bereaved widow that she was either lying or demented ...

Continues...


Excerpted from The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters Copyright © 2006 by Elizabeth Peters. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Interviews

A Letter from the Author

Dear Ransom Notes Readers:

I've lost track of the number of times I've traveled to Egypt. The first was back in the l960s; the most recent, last winter. (Never go to Egypt in the summer unless you have to.) I don't believe I will ever tire of it. I share Amelia's love of the view across the Nile toward the West Bank, but for various reasons (including laziness) I don't get up at dawn. Instead, I watch Egypt's glorious sunsets staining the river red as I listen to the blended calls of the muezzins, and, in company with a like-minded friend, sip gin-and-tonic on the balcony of my room at the Winter Palace Hotel.

Though much has changed in Egypt, much remains the same. It's not difficult to put myself back in Amelia's day, and quite often a specific view will inspire a new plot idea. In this book, The Serpent on the Crown, the golden statuette that starts the ball rolling was inspired by two separate ideas -- one, a similar statue of the god Amon, from a much later period; and second, a useful hint from a friend about something Carter found when he opened Tutankhamon's tomb. I can't go into more detail without giving away the entire plot, but I'll bet Egyptology buffs will spot that particular clue.

The discovery of Tutankhamon's tomb in the fall of l922 caused a sensation. It was unique and thrilling. It's fascinating, even to people who know almost nothing more about ancient Egypt. I couldn't resist allowing the Emersons to be present. Emerson would have liked to find the tomb, but since I knew he hadn't, I wasn't able to oblige him.

Since entertainment is my main purpose, the history is all interwoven with lots of hairbreadth escapes, dangerous criminals, frustrated lovers, and, of course, curses. I don't believe in curses any more than Amelia does, but as a writer I love setting up spooky situations and finding logical explanations for them.

The real curse (to use an oxymoron) came after Carter opened King Tutankhamon's tomb. It started with the "mysterious" death of Lord Carnarvon and was built up by energetic journalists and sensation seekers. I'm saving that story for the next book, which I'm working on now. This curse is just a foreshadowing -- a reminder to my readers of the wild superstitions that surround archaeology.

I introduced a new character in Serpent: a lady novelist. Those who are unfamiliar with the popular literature of the period will find her somewhat extravagant, but I assure readers that her prose is typical of her times. Does she remind me of anyone? Maybe just a little. I am not above making fun of myself. Naturally I consider myself a much more talented writer, and I'm sure Amelia would agree.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Peters

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