Elizabeth Peters, The Serpent on the Crown - The war to end wars has been over for a few years so that by 1922 it is relatively safe for Egyptologists to return to excavations, especially in the Valley of the Kings. Foreign archeologists back in Egypt include Amelia Peabody and her spouse Emerson working with their son Ramses and daughter-in-law Nefret at Deir el Medina.

Author Magda Petherick arrives with an ancient gold artifact figure of an Egyptian king that she insists is cursed; the owner dies rather quickly once possessing the statuette as occurred to her spouse, a known collector. Magda pleads with Emerson to return the blighted relic to its tomb before someone else dies. However others disagree with Magda and want the statuette as the gold alone is worth a fortune. This crowded field includes Emerson, his friend Cyrus, the victim's two adult children, and a host of others that would make DeMille proud. The ethical Amelia wants to do the right thing so she begins retracing the ill-fated steps that Magda's spouse Pringle took when the widow vanishes and is later found dead. Amelia plans to expose the culprit.

Though the family interrelationships seem somewhat tedious in the seventeenth Peabody historical tale, the mystery and the Egyptology in the post-WWI era make for a fine time for fans of the series. The storyline is action-packed yet provides a deep look at how 1920s archeologists looked back to ancient civilizations. The death of Pringle is cleverly crafted to make it appear as if a brother curse to Tut's exists and the who-done-it is fabulously designed so that the reader will want Amelia to find the culprit. This is a solid entry in a fine series.

Morrow, Mar 2005, $25.95
ISBN: 0060591781

Harriet Klausner