CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK by Elizabeth Peters (1975)
★ ★ ★ .5 - a surprisingly fun & funny Victorian historical "supernatural" mystery romp through ancient Egypt (via a British-led archaeological site) with a cute, non-spicy romance story-line.
‘…the mummy was that of a princely priest-magician, a servant of the great god Amon whom Pharaoh Khuenaten had toppled from his spiritual throne. The deposed god’s wrath found a vessel in his priest; through him, Amon had cursed the heretic city and anyone who set foot on its soil to resurrect it, forever. The villagers knew that none of them had made off with the mummy. Its disappearance could be accounted for in only one way; restored to the light of day, and animated by its discovery that new heretics were at work to uncover the accursed city… They must leave Khuenaten’s unholy city to the desolation of the sands, and take themselves off. Unless they did so, the curse would be visited on them and all those who assisted them in the slightest way.’
title: Crocodile on the Sandbank
series: Amelia Peabody (book one)
author: Elizabeth Peters
published: 1975
publisher: 1992 ed. Mysterious Press (Warner Books); 1975 orig. Dodd, Mead
genre/subgenre: cozy historical mystery
setting: Rome, Cairo, & Amarna
main themes/subjects: archaeology & Egyptology, English Victorian society & culture, infection & medicine, mummies, Egyptian funeral art & hieroglyphics, hilarious & sarcastic narrative voice (FMC), lots of witty banter
representation: lol, no
tropes: adversaries-to-marrieds?, ancient mummy’s curse
CW // racism, British military imperialism & colonialism
spice level: very much off-the-page, insinuations galore…
‘Briskly he gave orders for torches and ropes. Then he turned to me.
“I have explored these places before. I don’t recommend that you come with me, unless you are fond of bats in your hair and a great deal of dust.”
“Lead on,” I said, tying a rope in a neat half-hitch around my waist.’
my thoughts:
This was actually pretty cute. The narrative voice was particularly excellent. I think I’ll continue reading the rest of the series as part of the Archaeo Bookclub’s little Amelia Peabody buddy-read side-quest.
I must say I am particularly proud of my head-casting for all (well, most of) the characters though… (see my Quotes & Notes section below).
premise: a super fun historical “supernatural” mystery/romance romp through Victorian Egypt with a very strong, verbose, hilarious mid-30’s FMC, a chronically enraged, large & handsome archaeologist MMC, & other lovable characters, featuring themes of archaeology, British imperialism, love stories, & friendship.
execution: brilliant. ‘Course it could have gone a bit harder with the anti-imperialist stuff & the white saviorism bits were quite cringe (though accurate for the time period, I assume perhaps informed those choices?) but we’ll see how these themes progress through the series perhaps…
writing style: excellent. 5/5. The narrative voice was phenomenally executed. Probably the main thing that will entice me to continue with the series.
characters: actually quite phenomenal. What I especially enjoyed about this Victorian-era historical “supernatural” mystery written though in the 1970’s, was how it rather leaned into feminist themes & views without at any point trying to walk them back or (as is the case specifically with two of the stories in the last Victorian Ghost Stories anthology I read which were written by women) almost compensating for their gender by being even more disparaging to their own sex, which I have found is so often the case with contemporary Victorian literature written by women.
story/plot: it was alright. It kept me engaged & I didn’t guess the culprit even though by the end it felt like it should have been extremely obvious who it was so I suppose I wasn’t paying enough attention to the mystery element since I was enjoying the characters, the writing style, & the vibes so much.
worldbuilding: I loved it. The evocation of modern & ancient Egypt & how the two constantly overlap & intertwine, life on an archaeological desert site in the Victorian era, the language, the costumes, the material culture, everything was on point.
philosophy: I wasn’t expecting too much in this area from a lighthearted work of genre fiction but there were a few good moments & a few cringe moments as well. Like I said I’m curious to see how this develops throughout the series…
notable elements: all the archaeology parts were very well demonstrated & the allusion to real archaeological figures was fun.
i would recommend this book to readers who enjoy cozy historical mysteries with a fun, no-spice (like at all at all) romance story-line. this book is best read… with friends! I’m really enjoying our buddy read side-quest in our Archaeo Bookclub with this series. 🫶🏻
‘“Never fear,” Emerson snarled. “I am leaving. I can only stand so many minutes in this horror house of yours. In God’s name, man, why don’t you classify your pots?”’
final note: Next up is The Curse of the Pharaohs.
season: summer/fall
music pairing: The Mummy (1999) soundtrack
further reading:
“The Mummy Hand” by Adeline Sergeant in The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume V (2021) ★ ★ ★ ★ .75
The Mummy (1999) & The Mummy Returns (2001)
Ancient Egyptian poetry
Middle Egyptian Literature: Eight Literary Works of the Middle Kingdom by James P. Allen (2014)
Love Songs of the New Kingdom by John L. Foster (1974)
“Romance Along the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Love Poetry”, by Niv Allon and Diana Craig Patch; Gallery 132: Egyptian Art Facsimile Rotation (2015–2016) at the Met Museum
An Egyptian Princess by Georg Ebers (1870) —I have to do more research on where to access this as it appears to be like fifty volumes?? Idk… stay tuned.
King Solomon’s Mines (1885), She: A History of Adventure (1886), and Cleopatra (1889), by H. Rider Haggard
The Beetle by Richard Marsh (1897)
Ziska by Marie Corelli (1897)
Sketch of a Hieroglyphical Dictionary (1838), and An Introduction to the Study of the Egyptian Hieroglyphics (1857) by Samuel Birch —“the Reverend Samuel Birch’s little books on the study of Egyptian hieroglyphs”
The Pyramids and Temples of Giza by Flinders Petrie (1883) —“a volume on the pyramids of Gizeh, by a certain Mr Petrie”
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‘“Archaeology is a fascinating pursuit, but, after all, one cannot work day and night…. Peabody, my darling Peabody—what a perfectly splendid time we are going to have!”
Emerson was right—as he usually is. We have had a splendid time.’
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Reading Notes & Head-casting…
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