The Painted Queen

An Amelia Peabody Novel of Suspense

De: Elizabeth Peters, Joan Hess

Narrado por: Barbara Rosenblat

Egypt, 1912—Amelia Peabody and her dashing archeologist husband, Radcliffe Emerson, are once again in danger as they search for a priceless, stolen bust of legendary Queen Nefertiti and Amelia finds herself the target of assassins in this long-awaited, eagerly anticipated final installment of Elizabeth Peters’ bestselling, beloved mystery series.

Arriving in Cairo for another thrilling excavation season, Amelia is relaxing in a well-earned bubble bath in her elegant hotel suite in Cairo, when a man with knife protruding from his back staggers into the bath chamber and utters a single word—""Murder""—before collapsing on the tiled floor, dead. Among the few possessions he carried was a sheet of paper with Amelia’s name and room number, and a curious piece of pasteboard the size of a calling card bearing one word: ""Judas."" Most peculiarly, the stranger was wearing a gold-rimmed monocle in his left eye.

It quickly becomes apparent that someone saved Amelia from a would-be assassin—someone who is keeping a careful eye on the intrepid Englishwoman. Discovering a terse note clearly meant for Emerson—Where were you?""—pushed under their door, there can be only one answer: the brilliant master of disguise, Sethos.

But neither assassins nor the Genius of Crime will deter Amelia as she and Emerson head to the excavation site at Amarna, where they will witness the discovery of one of the most precious Egyptian artifacts: the iconic Nefertiti bust. In 1345 B.C. the sculptor Thutmose crafted the piece in tribute to the great beauty of this queen who was also the chief consort of Pharaoh Akhenaten and stepmother to King Tutankhamun.

For Amelia, this excavation season will prove to be unforgettable. Throughout her journey, a parade of men in monocles will die under suspicious circumstances, fascinating new relics will be unearthed, a diabolical mystery will be solved, and a brilliant criminal will offer his final challenge . . . and perhaps be unmasked at last.

Just did not feel like the Peabody Emersons

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I missed the characters and did enjoy revisiting them. there were errors in the details that jarred

Would you be willing to try another book from Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess ? Why or why not?

Probably but it is over anyhow

Which scene was your favorite?

Sethos rang true when he grabbed Amelia on the horse

Did The Painted Queen inspire you to do anything?

Nope

Any additional comments?

I appreciate the attempt to finish the novel but I wish some of the facts from other books had been more carefully edited Daoud did not have many wives Kathrine did not know Ramses from birth,Emerson would have never left the shop unguarded so it made the characters less real to me

Better next time

Some kind of magic was missing from this book. It was ok but the characters weren't as true as they were in other books. As much as I love B. Rosenblat she seemed a little tired in this narration.

Wonderful to hear familiar FRIENDS

Time has moved on and does it's work on all of us together. Aging takes place. Barbara Mertz has passed, leaving a treasure for we who loved her creations. Barbara, the narrator has been a wonderful. Her beautiful voice has aged and I am very grateful she has been here at the end. THANK YOU to both BARBARAs. What a great gift I have found and keep close to my heart!!!

How many will there be?

Wow, I can't believe it. The Emersons actually made it through a story of grime, crime, 5 murderous attempts and came out no worse for wear. To complete it all, what are electric fish in the rushes...in the Nile? I'm rereading this set for the umpteenth time and never tire.

Twists time

This series plays with time by not having the stories sequential. It is hard when this is done because you lose track of relationships as to when things happened in their relationship in a prior novel has now not happened in next novel.

Also, beginning this book learning the original author had passed put a damper on the whole novel for me. Such a revelation could have been expressed at the end of the book. The whole time I was listening knowing the author had passed while still working on this book made me feel as if the characters had passed too.

For these reasons I lost some of the joy I had while listening to books earlier in the series.