Crocodile on the Sandbank

The Amelia Peabody Series, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Peters

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Amelia Peabody inherited two things from her father: a considerable fortune and an unbendable will. The first allowed her to indulge in her life's passion. Without the second, the mummy's curse would have made corpses of them all.

Don't miss the rest of the Amelia Peabody series. You can also check out more of our Most Addictive Series.

©2004 Elizabeth Peters (P)2004 Recorded Books

Absolutely delightful!

Really loved this. It has everything plus really draws the reader in. Amelia is a woman before her time!

A joy to read

Okay, I went into this book thinking it was your typical mystery, which is my own error, I suppose. It is more of a historical romance with an element of suspense. It took me a month to listen to the first third. It started out so slow and I was waiting for the action to start. But once I got into it, I enjoyed it tremendously! This is the perfect enemies to lovers story! The mystery wasn't incredible, but the characters are delightful. I will definitely read more in the series.

Such a fun romp!

Hilarious, engaging writing and phenomenal narration. Pure joy! I can barely wait to start book #2.

Great change of pace

I don’t often read period pieces but I have to say I really loved this book. The great characters won me over and the mystery, although not too tough, was satisfying and the bad guys get their comeuppance.

If I could give Barbara Rosenblat 10 stars for her narration, I would

I only buy recorded books of stories I’ve read and like, so I don’t have to pay strict attention whilst listening. Barbara’s narration was exactly what I heard in my head as I was reading. I was thrilled as I listened. I have been disappointed with so many narrations, but not with this one. Unfortunately she only narrates the first two Amelia Peabody books. Buy this one and the Mummy Case. The third one is a serious let down.

Excellent historical mystery

I am a fan of mysteries and particularly cozies these days. This series is a sort of cozy historical mystery or amateur sleuth historical mystery. I have read some of these in the past but seem to have missed this one. I think I will continue to listen to them. I like the sound of Barbara Rosenblatt's voice telling the story.
I had quite a lot figured out as the story went along but I didn't mind continuing the tale and seeing if I was right. A good story with well-drawn characters and dialogue will do that for me. Especially with a great narrator.
I can recommend this book, series and author.

Brilliant

Crocodile on the Sandbank was an incredibly fun, funny and suspenseful read. I look forward to reading more books in Barbara Metz’s Amelia Peabody series.

My #1 favorite series for many years

I’ve noticed lately that I seem to be writing more negative reviews than positive ones, and I decided to begin writing reviews of some of my favorite books. The Amelia Peabody series was for many years my very favorite series in any genre. It was only demoted after I discovered the Mary Russell series and the Vorkosigan series. I can’t tell you how many times I have listened to the entire series. For a while there I know I was listening to it two or three times a year.

I won’t go into the reasons why Amelia Peabody is so great because other reviewers have already done a good job with this. I totally endorse the reviews by Carrie from Plainfield, IL and Joanna from Scottsdale, AZ.

However, I do want to talk about the narrator, Barbara Rosenblat. She does an incredible job with this series. As others have noted there is much humor and sarcasm in this series and she delivers it perfectly. I only attempted to “read” rather than listen to one book in the series, and it was so much less without Barbara’s inspired acting, that I never tried it again. There is one character in the series who is first seen as a baby, then a child, young teenager, older teen, young adult and ultimately as a man in his thirties. Barbara Rosenblat manages to change his voice to be appropriate to each age and yet make it still recognizably the same person over the course of this long series. It totally blows my mind.

Audible has most books of the series, but not all of them. I know they are (or were) all available as read by Ms. Rosenblat because I had them all at one time on cassettes or CDs. Now, for some totally incomprehensible reason, Audible is acquiring the series again but read by a different person. I haven’t heard any of the books as read by the other person, but the reviews I’ve read say she is very second rate. I can’t imagine what Audible thinks they are doing with this move.

So I highly recommend that you read this series (which actually gets better as it goes along), and that you make sure to get only those recordings in which Barbara Rosenblat is the narrator.

One of the Best Adventure/Comedy Series Ever!

Elizabeth Peters is a wonder! I have read all the Amelia Peabody series and didn't think I could love them more. Then along came Audible and Barbara Rosenblat. Even better than print! I listen to these over and over. The key is Amelia; she is the perfect heroine -- strong, funny, opinionated and full of heart. In this first volume, the reader is hooked by the end of the first chapter and anxious to return to Amelia, Emerson, and Egypt for the whole series! Can't say enough about this listening experience.

brilliant heroine, brilliant narrator

I have loved Amelia Peabody since I first met her many years ago in the pages of this book. Barbara Rosenblat brings this fictional woman to life so vividly. The mystery, history, and fun of 19th-century Egyptology is as fresh now as it was when the book was first published. Elizabeth Peters never disappoints the reader. She uses her extensive education in history (a Ph.D. in Egyptology, in fact) to take the reader back to the adventures of discovering tombs and temples during the heyday of excavations. I highly recommend this book, this series, and this narrator.