The Camelot Caper*

Jess Tregarth travels to England to meet her grandfather, and quickly realizes she is being pursued by mysterious villains for an unknown purpose. As she runs from these criminals [one of whom’s name is John :-)] she finds help from the most unlikely sources including a busload of would-be heroes, some modern-day Druids and a handsome author. Will she discover what the villains are after in time to foil their scheme?

Borrower of the Night

Vicky Bliss, a history instructor at a small midwestern college, sets off to Germany to discover a priceless religious shrine that’s been missing for hundreds of years. Her quest becomes a competition, but among her colleagues and fellow guests at the ancient castle where the shrine is hidden is a murderer, who will allow no one else to claim the prize.

Street of the Five Moons

When a masterful fake of a famous piece of jewelry shows up in a dead man’s pocket, along with an address in Rome, Vicky is off to Italy to investigate. While there she encounters forgers, nobility, and a dashing art thief with a healthy sense of self-preservation. Her suspicions of a criminal conspiracy put her life in danger, and test her intelligence and courage.

Silhouette in Scarlet

A cryptic note from John Smythe (and the need for an overdue vacation) lead Vicky to Stockholm, where she is quickly surrounded by suspicious characters, with no one she’s more suspicious of than John Smythe himself. A possible long-lost relative may be the key to a hidden treasure, if Vicky can live long enough to find it.

Trojan Gold

A bloodstained envelope and a mysterious picture lead Vicky into a search for gold that supposedly disappeared at the end of World War II. This is a search John Smythe can’t resist, and a determined killer will do what’s necessary to make sure Vicky and John don’t succeed.

Night Train to Memphis

A cruise on the Nile is the lure for Vicky to help an intelligence agency solve a murder and stop a heist of Egyptian antiquities–and possibly capture Vicky’s on-again, off-again art thief lover, John Smythe. But jealousy clouds Vicky’s usually astute mind, leaving her distracted while danger lurks…

The Laughter of Dead Kings

The heist of the century has taken place in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and John is a prime suspect. Even Vicky isn’t sure that her blue-eyed lover hasn’t fallen back into his bad old ways. Pursued by Interpol, the Egyptian police, rival gangs of thieves, and Vicky’s inquisitive boss, Anton Z. Schmidt, she and John set off on a wild chase to find the clever culprits and retrieve an extraordinary treasure.

The Seventh Sinner

Jacqueline meets up with a group of art and art history students in the romantic city of Rome. The fun turns to fear after one of the students is murdered, and another is beset by a series of mysterious accidents. Jacqueline turns detective, in an effort to locate the murderer before he strikes again!

The Murders of Richard III

Jacqueline joins her friend Thomas Carter in England, and becomes involved in solving one of most famous unsolved murders of all time: what reallyhappened to the princes in the Tower. Before Jacqueline can solve that mystery, however, she has to tackle another – who’s playing the possibly fatal practical jokes on the Richard III re-enactors?

Die For Love

Jacqueline, in need of a tax deduction, travels to a writer’s conference in New York city. It’s a conference of romance writers, full of glamour, celebrity, excited fans, and excessive amounts of pink bunting. Romance sours, however, when an unpopular celebrity gossip columnist dies suddenly. Was it just an accident, or was it murder? Jacqueline puts romance writing on the back burner, while she tracks down clues to solve the mystery.

Naked Once More

Naked in the Ice was an overwhelmingly popular historical novel by author Kathleen Darcy, who committed suicide before she could write the planned sequel. After seven years she has been decreed legally dead, and the heirs to the estate have requested that a sequel to Naked be written. This all seems like a dream come true to Jacqueline, who wants to break out of the romance field. But she becomes intrigued by Kathleen Darcy’s life, family, and ex-boyfriend, and dogged by competitors in the publishing field who think they should have been chosen to write the sequel. As Jacqueline sets out to discover more about Kathleen’s past, she is haunted by a series of strange accidents. Jacqueline has to work fast to determine who is trying to silence her, and why.

Crocodile on the Sandbank

Excavation season 1884-85

When strong-willed Amelia Peabody’s studious father dies, Amelia decides to use her ample inheritance to travel. After rescuing a gentlewoman (Evelyn Barton-Forbes) in considerable distress, the two become friends and Amelia hires Evelyn to be her companion on the next leg of her trip, which takes them to Egypt. There Amelia encounters mysteries, missing mummies, and Radcliffe Emerson, an opinionated archaeologist who doesn’t need a woman’s help to solve the mystery–or so he thinks.

The Curse of the Pharoahs

Excavation season 1892-93

When Lady Baskerville’s husband Sir Henry dies after discovering whay may be an undisturbed royal tomb in Luxor, she appeals to eminent archaeologist Radcliffe Emerson and his wife Amelia to take over the excavation. Amid rumors of a curse haunting all those involved with the dig, the intrepid couple proceeds to Egypt, where they begin to suspect that Sir Henry did not die a natural death, and they are confident that the accidents that plague the dig are caused by a sinister human element, not a pharoah’s curse.

The Mummy Case

Excavation season 1894-95

Amelia and Emerson bring their young son Ramses along on this adventure, where they find themselves investigating the mysterious death of a dealer in illegal antiquities. Before long, mummy cases start appearing and disappearing and a second murder complicates the mystery. When it becomes clear that a Master Criminal is behind the mysterious goings on, Amelia determines to unmask the dastardly mastermind.

Lion in the Valley

Excavation season 1895-96

Amelia finally gets her wish–she is returning to Egypt with her beloved husband and colleague in archaeology, Emerson, to excavate a pyramid. However, her excavation is quickly complicated by a disguised nobleman, distressed damsels, and a brilliant (and dashing!) Master Criminal. Amelia, with a pyramid to explore and a mystery to solve, is in her element.

The Deeds of the Disturber

Excavation season Summer 1896

This time Amelia doesn’t need to leave England to find murder and mayhem. When a night watchman at the British Museum dies with a terrified expression on his face in front of a “haunted” mummy case, Amelia knows she needs to get to the bottom of it.

The Last Camel Died at Noon

Excavation season 1897-98

In this affectionate tribute to H. Rider Haggard (King Solomons’ Mines) the Emerson family heads to the Sudan for the season, following an ancient map they hope will lead them to a secret oasis. What they find is one of the most perilous adventures of their lives.

The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog

Excavation season 1898-99

With the children at home in England pursuing their studies, Amelia and Emerson head back to Amarna for a dig that promises to be just like old times. The trip turns out to be more like old times than they plan, however; Emerson’s memory disappears, and Amelia must try to win his love again, amid peril from enemies both old and new!

The Hippopotamus Pool

Excavation season 1899-1900

Popular, plucky 19th-century Egyptologist Amelia Peabody romps through her eighth archaeological adventure. When Amelia, her husband Emerson, and their 13-year-old son Ramses return to Egypt to begin excavation on an undisturbed Royal Tomb, they find themselves faced with a surprising new villain who is every bit as clever and resourceful as the intrepid Amelia herself!

Seeing A Large Cat

Excavation season 1903-04

Peabody and Emerson receive a warning: “Stay away from tomb Twenty-A!” Along the way to solving the mystery, the Emersons meet a spoiled young woman, an overprotective father, and an intelligent con artist, in addition to discovering that Ramses has grown from a precocious child to a teenage heartthrob. Ramses strikes out with his adopted cousin David and beautiful Nefret on adventures that are best not known to anybody…especially Amelia. Special thanks to Lee for the Seeing a Large Cat synopsis!

The Ape Who Guards the Balance

Excavation season 1906-07

The Ape Who Guards the Balance has all the elements necessary for a classic Amelia Peabody mystery: a dead body (mauled by crocodiles?), young lovers, a reunion of old friends…and enemies, archaeological discoveries, all recounted in Amelia’s own inimitable style. Excerpts from Manuscript H and letters from Nefret provide another perspective on the great detective and Egyptolologist.

The Falcon at the Portal

Excavation season 1911-12

David is accused of forging antiquities, and the Emerson clan springs into action to help clear his name. The romantic tension between Ramses and Nefret finally comes to a head, a body is discovered at Emerson’s excavation site, and the obnoxious cousin Percy reappears. Again, narrated in the initimitable Amelia style, with excerpts from Manuscript H and letters from Nefret.

He Shall Thunder in the Sky

Excavation season 1914-15

It is 1914, the Emersons are in Egypt for another dig, and the existing tensions within the family are heightened by World War I, and the threat of the invasion into Egypt by the Ottoman Turks. A dangerous game of spy vs. spy ensues, complete with deceit, deception, and disinformation.

Lord of the Silent

Excavation season 1915-16

The year is 1915, and the Emersons return to Egypt to excavate (as Emerson believes that is more important than fighting a war with Germany). As usual with the Emersons, they become involved in solving a mystery involving tomb robberies, and reuinting with old friends…and enemies.

The Golden One

Excavation season 1916-17

The Emerson family is back in their 14th adventure, set once again in their beloved Egypt. Finding dead bodies in tombs is to be expected, but when the tomb in question is for an ancient Egyptian, and the body in question is comparably fresh and obviously met with foul play, the Emersons are on the case. In the meantime, with World War I still raging, Ramses is called back to duty with British Intelligence, to match wits with a man who may or may not be the mysterious Sethos.

Children of the Storm

Excavation season 1919-20

As the Emersons welcome the end of the war, not to mention the next generation of their family, trouble is afoot from a new and formidable villain. Antiquities theft, mysterious deaths, and an appearance by the goddess Hathor draw the Emersons into their 15th adventure, and help arrives in an unexpected form.

Guardian of the Horizon

Excavation season 1907-08

The recently rediscovered missing journal of the 1907-1908 expedition. Following a mysterious summons, the Emersons travel to the Lost Oasis. Unbeknownst to them, they are being lured to the Oasis under false pretences, which places their lives in mortal peril.

A River in the Sky

Excavation season August 1910

It is August 1910 and the Emersons have been persuaded by the War Office to travel to Palestine. Their mission: to prevent an inept treasure hunter from excavating under the sacred Dome of the Rock which could incite a bloody holy war. Ramses, who is excavating with Reisner in Samaria at this time, intends to meet with them but things get complicated when he runs into archaeologists whom he suspects are collaborating with German spies. In this volatile region a wrong move by any one of them could bring about a deadly conflict endangering not only the Emersons but the peace of the region.

The Serpent on the Crown

Excavation season 1921-22

Enjoying a world finally at peace, the Emersons have returned to the Valley of the Kings in 1922. With the lengthy ban on their archaeological activities lifted, Amelia Peabody and her family look forward to delving once more into the age-old mysteries buried in Egypt’s ever-shifting sands. But a widow’s strange story — and even stranger request — is about to plunge them into a storm of secrets, treachery, superstition … and murder.

Tomb of the Golden Bird

Excavation season 1922-23

Emerson and Amelia must watch from the sidelines as Carter and Carnarvon “discover” the greatest Egyptian treasure of all time: King Tut’s tomb. Powerless to intervene but determined to stay close to the unattainable tomb, the family continues their dig in the less promising West Valley. But before their own excavation can get underway, the family finds themselves threatened by a strange group of villains who endanger the peace of the entire region.

Amelia Peabody’s Egypt:

A Compendium

The Egypt that so enticed and enchanted intrepid archaeologist-sleuth Amelia Peabody in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries was a place of wonder, mystery, danger, and the lure of antiquity. Now, with this monumental volume of Egyptian culture, history, and arcania, readers will be able to immerse themselves in the great lady’s world more completely than ever before.

Journey through the bustling streets and markets of Cairo a hundred years ago. Surround yourself with the customs and color of a bygone time. Explore ancient tombs and temples and marvel at the history of this remarkable land — from the age of the pharaohs through the Napoleonic era to the First World War. Also included in Amelia Peabody’s Egypt are a hitherto unpublished journal entry and intimate biographies of the Emersons and their friends, which provide a uniquely personal view of the lives, relationships, opinions, politics, and delightful eccentricities of mystery’s first family, as well as unforgettable pearls of wit and wisdom from everyone’s favorite fictional Egyptologist herself.

• The Locked Tomb Mystery
  • Available in the anthologies Sisters in Crime and The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits Volume 1
• Elizabeth Peters, P.I.
  • Available in the anthology Christmas Stalkings or as an audiobook.

The Jackal’s Head

Althea Tomlinson’s ostensible reason for returning to Egypt is to chaperone a spoiled teenager through this fabulous desert land. The truth is more complex . . . and dangerous. Ten years ago, something that happened here brought about her father’s ruin and subsequent death and Althea intends to clear her disgraced parent’s name and finally lay a dark past to rest. But there are some mysteries best left buried in the shifting sands, and a devoted daughter’s search for answers is stirring up forgotten memories almost too painful to endure, that propel her onward among ancient tombs, legendary treasures, miraculous discoveries . . . and ever-closer to her own threatened doom.

The Dead Sea Cipher

It was the start of a grand adventure in a land of antiquity, a rare opportunity to visit biblical places rich in tradition. But in a Jerusalem hotel room a world away from everything she knows, Dinah van der Lyn hears angry voices through the wall, followed by a crash and a brief cry in English . . . for help The brutal shattering of an evening’s stillness becomes a prelude to terror. Without warning, Dinah has been unwittingly pulled into something unholy transpiring in a sacred city, and she must find answers hidden in the shadows. And she must trust an enigmatic stranger as she races through ancient, twisting streets teeming with secrets and peril: a man who may be leading her to safety . . . or to her doom.

The Night of 400 Rabbits

An unexpected “gift” has arrived for Carol Farley this Christmas: an envelope with no return address containing a newspaper clipping. Blurred but unmistakable is a photo of a man missing for years and feared dead Carol’s father. It is a summons calling her to a world she has never known, to a place of ancient majesty and blood-chilling terror. Surrounded by towering pyramids on Mexico City’s Walk of the Dead, a frightened yet resolute young woman searches for a perilous truth and for the beloved parent she thought was gone forever. But there are dark secrets lurking in the shadows of antiquity, a conspiracy she never imagined . . . and enemies who are determined that Carol Farley will not leave Mexico alive.

Legend in Green Velvet

Scotland is Susan’s passion and obsession and the opportunity to join a Highland dig is a dream come true for the young archaeology student. But then a sinister stranger slips Susan a cryptic message and is later found viciously slain. A mysterious peril has emerged from the mists to haunt Susan, sending her running for her life in the company of handsome, unconventional laird Jamie Erskine. For she has an unseen enemy hiding in the shadows someone who, for some unknown reason, is going to great lengths to frame her for murder . . . and to bury Susan, if necessary, in this land she loves.

Devil May Care

Ellie and Henry are young, rich, and engaged. When Ellie’s eccentric Aunt Kate asks her to house-sit at her palatial estate in Burton, Virginia, Ellie is happy to oblige. She feels right at home there with the nearly invisible housekeepers and the plethora of pets, but conventional Henry finds Aunt Kate and her lifestyle a little hard to take. After he leaves, Ellie realizes that there are disturbing secrets about the local aristocracy buried in a dusty old book she has carried into the mansion, and her sudden interest in the past is attracting a slew of unwelcome guests some of them living . . . and some, perhaps, not. But there are no such things as ghosts, are there? And the terrible vengeance that Ellie and her friends seem to have aroused now aimed at them surely cannot be . . . satanic.

The Love Talker

Something evil is lurking in the deep, dark forest . . .

Laurie has finally returned to Idlewood, the beloved family home deep in the Maryland forest, where she found comfort and peace as a lonely young girl. But things are very different now. There is no peace in Idlewood. The haunting sound of a distant piping breaks the stillness of a snowy winter’s evening. Seemingly random events have begun to take on a sinister shape. And dotty old Great-Aunt Lizzie is convinced that there are fairies about and she has photographs to prove it. For Laurie, one fact is becoming disturbingly clear: there is definitely something out there in the woods something fiendishly, cunningly, malevolently human and the lives of her aging loved ones, as well as Laurie’s own, are suddenly at serious risk.

Summer of the Dragon

A good salary and an all-expenses-paid summer spent on a sprawling Arizona ranch is too good a deal for fledgling anthropologist D.J. Abbot to turn down. What does it matter that her rich new employer/benefactor, Hank Hunnicutt, is a certified oddball who is presently funding all manner of off-beat projects, from alien conspiracy studies to a hunt for dragon bones? There’s even talk of treasure buried in the nearby mountains, but D.J. isn’t going to allow loose speculation or the considerable charms of handsome professional treasure hunter Jesse Franklin to sidetrack her. Until Hunnicutt suffers a mysterious accident and then vanishes, leaving the weirdos gathered at his spread to eye each other with frightened suspicion. But on a high desert search for the missing millionaire, D.J. is learning things that may not be healthy for her to know. For the game someone is playing here goes far beyond the rational universe and it could leave D.J. legitimately dead.

The Copenhagen Connection

A strange twist of fate brings Elizabeth Jones face-to-face with her idol, the brilliant, eccentric historian Margaret Rosenberg, at the Copenhagen Airport. An even stranger accident makes Elizabeth the esteemed scholar’s new private assistant. But luck can go from good to bad in an instant and less than twenty-four hours later, the great lady is kidnapped by persons unknown. Suddenly desperate in a foreign land, Elizabeth must cast her lot with Rosenberg’s handsome, insufferable son Christian in hopes of finding her vanished benefactor. On a trail that leads from modern wonders to ancient mystery from the bustling city to the beautiful, perilous countryside a determined young woman and an arrogant “prince” must uncover shocking secrets carefully guarded in the beautiful Danish city. And they must survive a mysterious affair that is turning darker and deadlier by the hour.