Title: Lion in the Valley
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Series: Amelia Peabody #4
Genre: Historical Mystery
Pages: 384
Read: February 23, 2021
The 1895-96 season appears to be a promising one for the Emerson family. They are excavating at the Black Pyramid in Dashoor but the Master Criminal won’t give them a peaceful excavation.
While I did enjoy this book overall, I found myself struggling to stay engaged with the mystery. I think that was because there wasn’t much of a mystery in this book. It was mostly about the search for the Master Criminal who got away in previous books. We are introduced to new characters who play a main role in the story but their portion of the story almost felt separate until the end.
I also found Ramses, who is now 8, to be slightly annoying in this story. I expected this book to be like the previous ones and focus mostly on Amelia and Emerson with some minor Ramses parts. Instead, Ramses was constantly being talked about or was constantly adding his ideas to the conversations. I just found it slightly tedious and annoying, which also contributed to this book taking longer to read.
“…Peabody, we will face the danger together, you and I—side by side, back to back, shoulder to shoulder.”
Amelia and Emerson are still a great couple and I really enjoy their conversations and arguments. I do hope we see more excavation and teamwork with them in the future books. Also I just love how Emerson is so protective of Amelia. He rushes right into danger to protect her and loves to fight for her.
Overall, though I still enjoyed the story. I just hope the next book focuses more on Amelia and Emerson, their excavations, and has more of a mystery.
Previous books and reviews for the series:
Red-Haired Ash Reads 