Lion in the Valley

The Amelia Peabody Series, Book 4

By: Elizabeth Peters

Narrated by: Susan O'Malley

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

The 1895-96 season promises to be an exceptional one for Amelia Peabody, her dashing Egyptologist husband Emerson, and their wild and precocious eight-year-old son, Ramses. The much-coveted burial chamber of the Black Pyramid in Dahshur is theirs for the digging. But there is a great evil in the wind that roils the hot sands sweeping through the bustling streets and marketplaces of Cairo. The brazen moonlight abduction of Ramses - and an expedition subsequently cursed by misfortune and death - have alerted Amelia to the likely presence of her arch nemesis, the Master Criminal, notorious looter of the living and the dead. But it is far more than ill-gotten riches that motivate the evil genius this time around. For now the most valuable and elusive prize of all is nearly in his grasp: the meddling lady archaeologist who has sworn to deliver him to justice...Amelia Peabody!

Don't miss the rest of the Amelia Peabody series.

©1986 Elizabeth Peters (P)1999 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Bursting with surprises, a sheer delight" (Publishers Weekly)
"Peters really knows how to spin romance and adventure into a mystery." (Philadelphia Enquirer)

Susan O'Malley needs to do all the Amelia books!!

I honestly do not understand how or why anyone enjoys Rosenblat's performance of this book. She has no comedic timing, she reads soooo slowly, and her voices of the characters are all so annoying to me that I cannot stand to listen. I tired, I listened to the whole first half of Crocodile on the Sandbank narrated by Rosenblat, and had to give up. It was so incredibly terrible.

Susan O'Malley on the other hand is SO WONDERFUL!!! She absolutely IS Amelia Peabody, and everything she does with these books is just such fun. She has great comedic timing, and it just makes the whole thing so enjoyable and fun and light.

It is a tragedy that she only did the first 6 books. I would love to listen to the entire series, but I just CANNOT deal with Rosenblat. So instead I have listened to these first 6 books narrated by O'Malley about 4 times each now. And I'll probably listen to them again and again. Someone, PLEASE have Susan O'Malley narrate the rest of the books!!! PLEASE!!!!

Good Books

Good Books, Love the Series! Can't wait to hear them all. I've been wanting to get back to these for a long time.

Amelia, Radcliff and the Besotten Criminal

Ramses is delightful. I like Amelia and Radcliffs love story and relationship. I do think she could be more materially nurturing, but Ramses seems to understand his parents. This plot was less captivating than the previous ones. I shall read on.

Disappointed

Disappointed with Susan O'Malley 's performance. The voice of each character is almost the same.

We finally meet Sethos

I love the Amelia books I have read them and listened to them. Amelia finally got her Pyramid and we enjoy alot more of Ramses shenanigans...but..I am doing this read the series and trade it back. I did not notice the reader and therefore when I saw it was not Barbara Rosenblatt I thought I would give the other reader a chance. To my great dismay, the book lost so much I'm now so sorry I went on. The reader does make a big difference and I'm so used to Barbara's work. Now I can't decide if I want to buy the book and have a do over or just go on.

great storyline

Fun and entertaining storyline. A pleasurable read filled with twists and turns for the reader to follow.

Egyptian & fun

Well written, witty, good stuff about Egypt. Family of detectives and Egyptologists sorting out crime issues.

So Entertaining

What a fun read. I have really enjoyed reading this series. It's so very entertaining even though no child ever talked like their son does. In spite of this, the reader will still enjoy reading and envisioning the land of Egypt through Amelia's eyes.

Love the narrator.

Where does Lion in the Valley rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Narrator is very good. I like her better than BRosenblat and wish she would have read the remaining books. She keeps the story flowing.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Love the characters!

What does Susan O'Malley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A good interpretation of Amelia Peabody.

Any additional comments?

Recommend the series.

Best of the series so far, IMO

Action moves along, Ramses is precious but not obnoxious, plot points tie together (rather than ending abruptly), humor is light, romance/relationship between Emerson & Peabody is sweet, spunky & discreet. Narrator is easy on the ears. Enjoyed.