Elizabeth Peters was raised in Illinois and received her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago, Oriental Institute. So when she writes about Eqypt and Archaeology she certainly knows what she is talking about. Her novels are very funny, they bubbly over with satire, pointing a finger of mirth at people, places and things. But beneath all the fun is a very good story, an excellent mystery, a delightful romance, and her superb writing to tie it all together.
The Amelia Peabody Series
Amelia Peabody is an intrepid, forceful, Victorian Woman who will cowtow to no man. She meets her match in the overwhelming personality of Radcliff Emerson, Eqyptologist, Scholar, Archaeologist, and her antagonist. They solve mysteries (reluctantly on his part), chase tomb robbers, duck murders, rescue each other from harm, and bring about many a young romance (again reluctantly on his part). She believes that she is always right, of course SHE could never be wrong!! And half the fun of the books is watching her prove it.
The books in chronological order are.
Crocodile On The Sandbank The Curse of the Pharaohs The Mummy Case Lion in The Valley 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 Vickie Bliss Series
Vickie is tall, 6 ft at least, blond, blue-eyed, with a figure that "called to mind one of those revolting Bunnies in Playboy (quoted from Borrower of the Night page 2). To complicate matters, she isn't the typical blond air-head, she has an IQ to match her height - in other words it was 60 points higher than the next smartest kid in class. Vickie starts the series out as a history instructor in a Mid Western College, and through a series of events, ends up working in the National Museum in Munich. There she becomes involved in uncovering antiquities thefts and there she meets John (well maybe that's his name, she never knows for sure) her "perfect" match!!
The books in Chronological Order are:
Borrower of the Night Street of the Five Moons Silhouette in Scarlet Trojan Gold Night Train to Memphis
The Amelia Peabody Series