The Painted Queen: A Novel

Elizabeth Peters · Joan Hess

July 2017 · Amelia Peabody Series Book 20 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this eBook

Egypt, 1912—Amelia Peabody and her dashing archeologist husband, Radcliffe Emerson, are once again in danger as they search for a priceless, stolen bust of legendary Queen Nefertiti and Amelia finds herself the target of assassins in this long-awaited, eagerly anticipated final installment of Elizabeth Peters’ bestselling, beloved mystery series.

Arriving in Cairo for another thrilling excavation season, Amelia is relaxing in a well-earned bubble bath in her elegant hotel suite in Cairo, when a man with knife protruding from his back staggers into the bath chamber and utters a single word—"Murder"—before collapsing on the tiled floor, dead. Among the few possessions he carried was a sheet of paper with Amelia’s name and room number, and a curious piece of pasteboard the size of a calling card bearing one word: "Judas." Most peculiarly, the stranger was wearing a gold-rimmed monocle in his left eye.

It quickly becomes apparent that someone saved Amelia from a would-be assassin—someone who is keeping a careful eye on the intrepid Englishwoman. Discovering a terse note clearly meant for Emerson—Where were you?"—pushed under their door, there can be only one answer: the brilliant master of disguise, Sethos.

But neither assassins nor the Genius of Crime will deter Amelia as she and Emerson head to the excavation site at Amarna, where they will witness the discovery of one of the most precious Egyptian artifacts: the iconic Nefertiti bust. In 1345 B.C. the sculptor Thutmose crafted the piece in tribute to the great beauty of this queen who was also the chief consort of Pharaoh Akhenaten and stepmother to King Tutankhamun.

For Amelia, this excavation season will prove to be unforgettable. Throughout her journey, a parade of men in monocles will die under suspicious circumstances, fascinating new relics will be unearthed, a diabolical mystery will be solved, and a brilliant criminal will offer his final challenge . . . and perhaps be unmasked at last.

Ratings and reviews

I have read and reread Ms Peter's Amelia series for decades. They are old friends. These characters are strangers. The only resemblances are the names. Why did Ms. Hess decide to make them over? If you want to mourn the loss of the characters as well as their gifted creator, please buy this book. It will tear your heart out.

Awful. I was so disappointed. I respect the love that Ms. Hess obviously has for Peters, but reading this book is like watching your best friends turn into zombies. The dialogue was terrible, and everyone spoke and acted out if character. Much of the words coming out if the character's mouths we're so similar it was impossible to tell who was speaking, as opposed to Peters' wonderful writing where they play off each other in a perfect ensemble cast. For example Daoud's vocabulary and musings were far above his normal utterances, Nefret's were stilted, and David's completely missing his characteristic diffidence. Everyone's actions and emotional displays were out of character. Amelia kept hugging everyone and falling asleep, Emerson had no depth at all, and Rameses was mean-spirited and bullying shopkeepers, impulsive and angry. One wonders if Hess was ever truly a fan of Peter's work, when she transplants Mahmoud the cook's occupation and volatile temperament onto Fatima the gentle housekeeper, and demotes the fierce, capable, crusading surgeon Nefret to a savior of butterflies. The plot had no interesting turns, and was full of inaccuracies- there were no crocodiles in the Nile during this time period- refer to previous Peters works. All in all, worse than a waste of money, since it left me yearning for Peters' deft pen, and mourning the end of one of the best series of books ever written.

Wonderful homage to Ms Peters

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.

Joan Hess was the author of the Claire Malloy Mysteries and the Arly Hanks Mysteries, formally known as the Maggody Mysteries. She was a winner of the American Mystery Award and the Agatha Award (for which she was nominated five times), a member of Sisters in Crime, and a former president of the American Crime Writers League. She died in November 2017, four months after the publication of The Painted Queen.