The Curse of the Pharaohs

The Amelia Peabody Series, Book 2

By: Elizabeth Peters

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The sun rides high over the British Empire and the light still sparkles brightly in Amelia Peabody's eye as she returns for her second adventure in archaeology and romantic mystery as recounted in her lively journal, The Curse of the Pharaohs.

It was Sir Henry's intention to ensure that no tomb had been overlooked in the previous expedition. Scarcely had the men been at work for three days when their spades uncovered the first of a series of steps cut into the rock.

The Times gave the story a full column, on page three. The next dispatch to come to Luxor, however, rated front-page headlines. Sir Henry Baskerville was dead. He was found next morning stiff and stark in his bed. On his face was a look of ghastly horror. On his high brow, inscribed in what appeared to be dried blood, was a crudely drawn uraeus serpent, the symbol of the divine pharaoh.

Instead of digging up the treasures of a lost age, it appeared that Amelia and her friend Radcliffe were excavating a deadly curse.

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

©1981 Elizabeth Peters (P)1990 Recorded Books LLC

Critic reviews

"Peters really knows how to spin romance and adventure into a mystery." (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Wonderful!

Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson are married and settled into a quiet, English life. Yes; they are happy and yes; they are bored. In this installment, Amelia and Emerson ditch their baby with Evelyn and Walter and travel to finish a cursed dig. Amelia still endlessly expounds on her eccentric opinions, and Emerson is as vociferous as ever. The Curse of The Pharaohs is entertaining and an excellent addition to this series. As always, Barbara Rosenblat is wonderful with a variety of accents. You may notice that there are two narrators for this series: Barbara Rosenblat and Susan O'Malley. This is due to the fact that Blackstone Audio, Inc. and Recorded Books have both produced some of the installments. You do not have to switch narrators to enjoy each volume in this series if you stick with Recorded Books and Barbara Rosenblat. Some of the audiobooks for this series also have abridged additions. So, be careful.

Barbara Rosenblat rules!!

I adore Ms Rosenblat's narration and characterizations. I made the error of purchasing the first Amelia Peabody book narrated by Ms O'Malley and boy is there a difference. Ms Rosenblat's narration is hands down the best!!

So much fun!

I read the first Amelia Peabody mystery, but never seemed to get into the second so I decided to listen instead. I don't know if I will ever actually read the rest after listening to this narrator. She does some amazing voices and kept me extremely amused by giving such life to our heroine, Amelia. She kept the story moving along and never once was I bored!

Loved It!

Elizabeth Peters + Barbara Rosenblatt = Perfection!

Brilliant!

Barbara Rosenblatt is the perfect Amelia. She's also the perfect Emerson, Evelyn and all the other characters. Her range as a narrator is astounding and she rivals Jim Dale (in the Harry Potter series) for her ability to completely inhabit a character. Warning: Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series is addictive. I wish Audible would make all the books available with Ms. Rosenblatt.

Wonderful!

Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson are married and settled into a quiet, English life. Yes; they are happy and yes; they are bored. In this installment, Amelia and Emerson ditch their baby with Evelyn and Walter and travel to finish a cursed dig. Amelia still endlessly expounds on her eccentric opinions, and Emerson is as vociferous as ever. The Curse of The Pharaohs is entertaining and an excellent addition to this series. As always, Barbara Rosenblat is wonderful with a variety of accents. You may notice that there are two narrators for this series: Barbara Rosenblat and Susan O'Malley. This is due to the fact that Blackstone Audio, Inc. and Recorded Books have both produced some of the installments. You do not have to switch narrators to enjoy each volume in this series if you stick with Recorded Books and Barbara Rosenblat. Some of the audiobooks for this series also have abridged additions. So, be careful.

Great Reading

I fundamentally enjoyed the reading of this book. I laughed out loud more than once.

Old Time Adventure

A delightful adventure set at the turn of the century with mischief, murder, sabotage & deception added to a little historical fiction. Perfect entertainment for a Sunday afternoon in the rain!!

Great story and narrator

This narrator brings the story to life and will have you chuckling the whole way through at her highly proper attitude to ridiculous events. I love Elizabeth Peters' series.

Enjoyable but a little weak

Having just finished Elizabeth Peters' first book (listen) with "Amelia Peabody," I was eager to read the second in her series. I can't say that I would not recommend it, but I will say that I did not enjoy it as much as her first. Some things were predictable, and some were just plain silly. Overall, however, Amelia does capture one's sensibilities with her wit, cleverness, and abililty to be the consummate heroine. This plot was a little weak, and, at times, became slow. But the work as a whole is charming and, as was her first book, a fun mystery, surrounded by egyptology, tomb explorations, lighthearted banter, and, of course detective work! So far as I can tell, having only read the two books, this is a series to be read when one is in the mood for light, entertaining, uncomplicated mysteries, to fill a time when one is not in the mood for serious, more thought-provoking and intense stories. As with her first book, I found that it might be best to read these books in chronological order, as there was some essential information about Amelia and her family that one shouldn't miss.

parousel at the ready!

I love this book! In fact, I love the whole series of books. Amelia Peabody is everything you could want in a character; funny, witty and with a hard edge that is at the same time endearing and loveable. What is so great is that she seems so real, I find myself really relating to how she feels sometimes being a bit of a tom boy myself. All of the characters are great and the story keeps you hooked from start to finish! Fantastic adventure series that I would recommend to anyone. In fact, we called our son Walter which we chose because we like this series so much :-)

curse of the pharoahs

Very enjoyable travelogue/historical mystery. Miss peabody unravels various clues whilst having to wait for her husband to regain his memory of being married to her.The last eleven years of their lives together.This all adds to the suspense and tests amelias patience to the limit.

Amelia comes to Life

What made the experience of listening to The Curse of the Pharaohs the most enjoyable?

The narrator Barbara Rosenblat makes you feel like your listening to Amelia and her high handed way of dealing with everyone and everything that gets in her way, but it still comes over as a bit of fun

What about Barbara Rosenblat’s performance did you like?

Barbara's performance was brilliant. It sounded so like the way I have always imagined Amelia and her family would carry one with little or no regard to others as she sweeps everyone aside that doesn't agree with her, but it is very funny

Nostalgic adventures

This is the second in a series of Amelia Peabody stories, mostly set in 19th Century Egypt. They are charming and well-written nostalgia. This one involves a possible mummy's curse, several deaths, and danger for our intrepid heroine and her husband. Barbara Rosenblat does an excellent job with the voices of all characters, particularly with the upper-class English accents, only occasionally slipping-up with a modern American pronunciation. Easy-listening and entertaining, recommended.

The Curse of the Pharaohs

Having been hooked, I couldn't wait to listen to the next book in the series. Another good and story read by a great narrator.

Amazing story

Lovely writing & narration such an interesting and exciting story - I love the series can’t wait to read the next one

loved it!

the narrator is excellent even though she doesn't bellow! I can't wait for the next title in this series.

A thrilling start to the series

I was hooked into the Amelia Peabody Books years ago. I’m delighted to be able to experience the thrilling adventures of this woman and her entertaining family and friends. Elizabeth Peters Egyptology background allows her to draw you into the thrilling world of the ‘dig’ even from your armchair. The murder mystery element is an added bonus. Barbara Rosenblats Narration is truly wonderful - her ability to adopt so many realistic voices is incredible - she really makes to plots come alive

Loved the first and the second!

I have only just discovered this series and I'm so happy to dig into it! I enjoyed this second book every bit as much as the first. The glimpse into the Emmerson's domestic life was so entertaining! I will definitely be sticking with this series. Top-notch.

Fabulous

love Amelia and Emerson and the Egyptian setting. Great story, well read. Fabulous series.