Amelia Peabody Books In Order

Publication Order of Amelia Peabody Books

Chronological Order of Amelia Peabody Books

Elizabeth Peters is the author of the Amelia Peabody series. It is a pen name used by Barbara Mertz, who also wrote under her own name and under the pen name of Barbara Michaels. A project titled The Amelia Peabody Mysteries is in development.

She was born in Illinois, where she grew up. She would then attend the University of Chicago and earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology. She was picked to be Grand Master at the Anthony Awards in 1986 and then in 1998 was selected to be Grand Master at the Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America.

She lived in Frederick, Maryland in a historic farmhouse until the time of her passing.

The Amelia Peabody series is a series of historical mystery novels, twenty in total, as well as a nonfiction companion volume. The series follows along on the adventures of the main character Amelia Peabody Emerson, a female Egyptologist. The series is named after the character and involves more characters, friends, family and more as the series evolves. The series has mystery and romance elements and often utilizes a comic tone.

The early books in this series feature a first person narrative. The novels are supposed to be edited versions of journals that were personally written by Amelia. The mythology of the series is that the journals were actually discovered in the attic of a home in Cornwall, England owned by the Tregarth family, which her youngest granddaughter would end up marrying into.

Starting with the book Seeing a Large Cat, the narrative is interspersed with third-person narrative excerpts from Manuscript H that follows along with the younger generation’s adventures, which is eventually shown to the reader to be Walter Ramses Emerson. Other points of view are included in the stories from then on, usually in the form of letters and manuscripts.

The series is largely set in Egypt although some scenes are set in England. The books take place over a time frame of 39 years and covers from 1884 to 1923. This also lines up with the English administration of Egypt in the years following the Anglo-Egyptian war. A continuing theme throughout the series is the tension and the uneasiness that is felt between the European administrators and the Egyptians.

The Amelia Peabody series also brings in a variety of historical figures from the Egyptology field as characters. These include Gaston Maspero, William Flinders Petrie, Howard Carter, George A. Reisner, and E.A. Wallis Budge, as well as American entrepreneur Cyrus Vandergelt, who also becomes a close friend to the Emersons. The character is partially based on the real life American entrepreneur Theodore Davis.

This series also involves various geo-political events taking place in the Middle East and Egypt into the background as well as into the plot. The character Ramses is also shown to be working with the British intelligence during World War I after being perceived as a conscientious objector.

The various achievements that the Emerson-Peabodys took on in the novel were accomplished by archaeologists from real life in some cases. Some excavations done in Crocodile on the Sandbank by Emerson and Walter in 1883 at Amarna are based on real life 1891 excavations done by Sir William Flinders Petrie.

Additionally, the main character of Amelia was also inspired at least in part by the real life Amelia Edwards. She was a travel writer, a Victorian novelist, and an Egyptologist. She wrote the 1873 book A Thousand Miles Up the Nile, which was a best-seller.

The debut book came out in 1975 and was originally intended to stand alone. As a result, a sequel was not written for six years. The series went slowly at the beginning due to the author juggling different series under to pen names. New installments came out in intervals sporadically and the series became more successful commercially later which led to more effort and a faster pace of both writing them and the books being released. The last book in the series came out in 2010 and is A River in the Sky. The series also includes Amelia Peabody’s Egypt: A Compendium.

The series has come out in the US and the UK in English and books have also been translated into different languages including Greek, French, German, and Japanese.

Crocodile on the Sandbank is the first book in the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. Amelia Peabody appears for the first time in this story as a scholar, a suffragist, and a spinster residing in England in the year 1884.

She ends up coming into a fortune left to her by her father and decides that it is the perfect time to go leave England behind for a bit so that she can travel and see the world. The side benefit of this would be that she got away from different suitors as well as family members that weren’t aware that she would be the only one to get her father’s estate or even that he had pulled together a small fortune throughout the course of his life.

Once she is in Rome, Amelia makes the acquaintance of Evelyn Barton-Forbes. She is a young Englishwoman who has a decent social standing. She has decided to run away with her Italian lover, but it has all gone wrong and he has abandoned her. The two decide that they would be perfect travel companions and link up and make their way over to Egypt.

Once they are there they end up meeting the Emerson brothers. These include Radcliffe, an Egyptologist, and Walter, a philologist. Throughout the course of this adventure they end up pairing off and Amelia ends up getting married to Radcliffe, who is called Emerson throughout much of the series, and Walter gets married to Evelyn.

The couple have a son that they name Ramses Emerson and decide that it is high time to settle down in Kent. From there, Emerson does his best commuting to a job where he lectures on Egyptology at the university in London. Even though Amelia suggests that he take on seasonal digs in Egypt once more, Emerson decides that he wants to stay in England with everyone since he believes that their son is too young to yet take on travel. What will happen? Read this book to find out!

The Curse of the Pharaohs is the second novel in the Amelia Peabody series written by author Elizabeth Peters. If you liked the first book in this series, check this book out!

Amelia Peabody keeps going on adventures in Egypt and journaling everything. Meanwhile, Ramses has been left behind in England as he is still a toddler. Then there’s Radcliffe Emerson, whose old friend Lady Baskerville is worried that a curse has gotten rid of her husband, Sir Henry.

Soon American Cyrus starts paying attention and the profits of the will end up funding more excavation. But can a lady in white put a stop to it all? Read the second book in the Amelia Peabody series to find out!

5 Responses to “Amelia Peabody”

1. Ty: 4 months ago

   Started reading this series in middle school in the late 90’s. It was The Ape Who Gaurds the Balance that introduce me to Elizabeth Peters, and further enahnaced my love of Egypt and history. Every year since the publication of the Painted Queen, I reread the series and enjoy it more and more. There is always some detail that i have missed on prior reads. I have the series in a physical and kindle format. The physical books have a prominate space in my office/library and can always been seen in my background druing virtual meetings along with the books on Egyptology under her real name Barbara Mertz.

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2. Candice Dunlap: 1 year ago

   I am not accustom to reading books this much but I have to admit that I have not been able to put these down. I had hopes of being an Egyptologist in my younger years (I am now 76) but life got in the way so I live vicariously in your stories for which I thank you for writing such captivating thrillers. I sometimes donate books to schools, libraries, etc. but these I will keep and most likely read again with the same enjoyment as I do today.

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3. Donna Frano: 6 years ago

   Thank you Graeme! I have enjoyed the series in the correct order because of your work! (LOVE IT!)

   Reply
   • Graeme: 6 years ago

     You’re welcome! Thanks for taking the time to write!

     Reply
4. Donna Frano: 6 years ago

   Thank you! I have enjoyed the series in the correct order because of your work! (LOVE IT!)

   Reply