Crocodile on the Sandbank, A Review
When I finished my last book, I was ready for some light, amusing reading. Not wanting to read my last new Christopher Moore just yet, I decided to pick up Crocodile on the Sandbank, an Amelia Peabody mystery by Elizabeth Peters. My friend has been reading this series fora while now. She is always looking for Peter’s latest book when we go to the used book stores. This is not something I would normally remember, but while visiting my eldest sister in Seattle last summer, she had just started reading this series, and had to share her ethusiasm for it with me. So with a hole in my reading list and a particular book bug in my brain, I set out to read the first book in the Amelia Peabody mystery series.
I was struck right away by the first person narrative, both for it’s dry wit and how is succintly summed up the personality of the main character. Amelia Peabody is a woman in a man’s world, but she is past romantic ideals, and is well aquainted with how the world works. That being said, she is a woman who knows how to work the system and order affairs to her own ideals. If she wants somthing, she sees no reason why she shouldn’t get it, no matter who stands in her way. She loves a good fight, as she is sure she will win, because, of course, she is right. She is bossy, and a little domineering, but the magic of her character is that this does not make unapproachable or unlikable. In fact, it is her very stubborness that makes you love her. Amelia is also intelligent and well versed in ancient cultures and it is her love of study that leads her to dream of seeing those things she reads about in person and to our story in particular.
In this first book of the series, Amelia becomes a woman of independent means, and sets off to Egypt, with a female companion, where she can fufill her dream of seeing the remains of ancient Egypt. Here Elizabeth Peters does a great job of painting a picture of Egypt in the Victorian Age, as wealthy Englishmen (and women) travel to and pilfer from ancient tombs for tidbits of interest to display on their native soil. She also sets this in the context of political stirrings of different clans within Egypt at the time and their response to the indomitable English Empire.
Once in Egypt, the real story and mystery begin, and Amelia must protect her companion, fight with a pompous English Archeologist, and just maybe solve a mystery along the way. For me, the mystery was not hard to solve, but the joy lay Amelia, Evelyn, Emerson and Walter and their interactions throughout the action of the book. Scathing comments, and dry observation are a joy to read when written this well, and I couldn’t help but smile and laugh to myself, even when surrounded by strangers on the subway.
When I finished this book, I was glad I had already ordered the next two online (I had to buy the first one there, as it was not in the library, nor was it at any local brick and mortar chain bookstore). If this series sounds appealing to you, I urge you to go to www.betterworldbooks.com, where you can pick up this hard to find title (published in 1975) while recycling and supporting literacy at the same time. Did I mention shipping is free anywhere in the United States, no matter how many books you buy? If you do pick it up, let me know what you think. It is always fun to share your views on a good book, but sometimes it is hard to find someone else who has read it.
