Lion in the Valley

Elizabeth Peters
aka Barbara Mertz

Emerson and Peabody are returning to Egypt for another archeological dig. This time they are finally going to Dashoor. This dig includes the pyramids Amelia so loves. Of course Ramses and the cat Bastet go with them. Ramses is now 8 years old and still as precocious as ever.

Amelia is quickly rescuing "lost souls" in Cairo. She meets a beggar who is an Englishman down on his luck. He is starting to use opium. After he rescues Ramses from a kidnapping, Amelia is certain she can keep him from being totally addicted and brings him along to watch over Ramses. A young Englishwoman is flauting around Cairo and disappears when a man is found dead in her bed. She also seeks out Amelia for help.

Meanwhile, the Master Criminal that Emerson and Amelia tangled with in the last book shows his presence again. He is identified as Sethos. In Egyptian history, Sethos was the great Ramses father. Now he is the master of disguises and keeps visiting the Emersons without their knowledge.

Amelia and her parasol are kept busy in this book. The final confrontation between Amelia and Sethos startled me. She is busy trying to prove who killed the man in the hotel room bed, who is trying to kill her new guardian for Ramses, and catch Sethos. Lion in the Valley is a light mystery, one that had me chuckling many times at both Amelia's and Emerson's personalities.

Crocodile on the Sandbank
The Curse of the Pharaohs
The Mummy Case
Lion in the Valley
The Deeds of the Disturber
The Last Camel Died at Noon
The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog
The Hippopotamus Pool
Seeing a Large Cat
The Ape Who Guards the Balance
The Falcon at the Portal
He Shall Thunder in the Sky
The Lord of the Silent
The Golden One
Children of the Storm
Guardian of the Horizon
The Serpent on the Crown
Tomb of the Golden Bird
A River in the Sky