He Shall Thunder in the Sky

Elizabeth Peters
aka Barbara Mertz

Two years after The Falcon at the Portal the Emerson family is again in Cairo for archeology excavation. It is 1914 and England is at war with the Germans. Ramses is scorned for being a pacifist. Nefret has joined them and is running her women's clinic in the redlight district of Cairo. David has been deported to India for being an Egyptian nationalist trying to eliminate English rule in Eypt. Emerson is excavating a site in the Valley of the Kings in place of his archeologist German friend who is not allowed in Egypt due to the war.

This, though, is the Emerson family. Things are not always what they seem. Instead of the murder mystery the Peabody's are normally involved in, things are deeper. Ramses is actually an English spy pretending to lead the Egyptian nationalists. David is hiding in Cairo pretending to be Ramses as a cover in social situations. Amelia and Emerson do not know anything until Ramses comes home with a bullet wound in the shoulder. They hide the truth from Nefret. The elder Emersons pitch in to help Ramses achieve the goal he is after. Things progress as they normally do in the Emerson family - with danger, confusion, intuition, and Sethos in the background.

I don't know if there will be more Amelia Peabody mysteries (I'm assuming there will be) but if not, this one ties up the last four novels. Amelia is able to show Ramses how she feels for him instead of being the stoic mother she normally is. Ramses and Nefret come to an understanding. Emerson discovers family that has been long separated. And the spy mystery is good, too.

My major recommendation is to read this immediately after The Falcon at the Portal. The two novels go together. I'm glad I didn't get to these books in the series before this one was published. To thoroughly enjoy the Emersons, start with The Crocodile on the Sandbank.

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