Tomb of the Golden Bird
Published March 2006

In New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Peters's most eagerly anticipated Amelia Peabody adventure to date, the incomparable Emerson clan is a hairbreadth away from unearthing the legendary site they've been searching for. But a sinister plot and a dark family secret stand in the way of their ultimate ambition -- and threaten to change things forever. . . . Read more >>

The Serpent on the Crown
Published March 2005

Once again the incomparable New York Times bestselling master of suspense, Elizabeth Peters, brings an exotic world of adventure, intrigue, and danger to vivid life, in a tale as exciting, mysterious, and powerful as ancient Egypt.  Read more >>

Children of the Storm
1919-20 Season
Published April 2003

December of 1919 marks the end of the first year of peace after the Great War.  Amelia is looking forward to a magical holiday season in her Luxor home with her handsome husband Emerson, their accomplished son Ramses and his doctor-wife Nefret, who are now parents. Joining them is Emerson's brother Walter and his wife Evelyn who arrive from England.  Finally united after years of separation and international turmoil, they are planning to celebrate their dear friend Cyrus Vandergelt's thrilling discovery: the burial of four royal high Priestesses, complete with coffins and mummies, rich jewelry, and wonderful beaded robes  . . .   Read more >>

The Golden One
1916-17 Season
Published 2002

Dateline: New Year's Eve, 1917. Bearing winter storms and German torpedoes, the Emersons are heading for Egypt once again: intrepid Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, her brilliant archaeologist husband Radcliffe Emerson, their son Ramses and his wife Nefret, not to mention their ward, their butler and their cat. Emerson is counting on a long season of excavation without distractions, but loyal readers know this is a forlorn hope . . .   Read more >>

Lord of the Silent
1915-16 Season
Published 2001

Risking life, limb, and her second-best hat, Amelia and her husband, and their growing entourage, defy German submarines and warring Senussi to embark on another season of exploration and crime solving in 1915. Hounded by would-be assassins, Amelia quickly discerns that Ramses is doing undercover work that poses a threat to the family. Then a fresh -- but not fresh enough -- body turns up in the tomb they are excavating. With Sethos, her arch nemesis put to rest in the last expedition, who can be responsible for this?   Read more >>

He Shall Thunder in the Sky
1914-15 Season
Published 2000

The winter of 1914 finds the family back in Cairo, but times have changed. The city is under martial law because the Suez Canal might be attacked by the Ottoman Empire at any moment. Ramses is widely scorned for his pacifist role, but Amelia and Nefret, who now runs a women's clinic in Cairo, discover that he might be involved in an insurrection. And the discovery of an unexpected treasure at Giza leads Amelia to suspect that the Master Criminal, Sethos, is at work again.    Read more >>

The Falcon at the Portal
1911-12 Season
Published 1999

It's 1911, and David Todros, Ramses' best friend, is suspected of dealing in forged antiquities, possibly to help support a rising nationalist movement. The Emerson clan immediately springs into action to help clear the young Egyptian's name, and there are dangerous consequences for all involved when a body is discovered at Emerson's most recent excavation site. And in this installment, Ramses and Nefret's relationship finally changes forever.     Read more >>

The Ape Who Guards the Balance
1906-07 Season
Published 1998

Attending a suffragettes' rally outside the home of an antiquities collector in 1907, Amelia finds herself embroiled in a series of bizarre events that leave her in great danger. Suspecting that the Master Criminal, Sethos, is responsible, the family sets off for Egypt. There they acquire an important papyrus of the Book of the Dead. When the dead body of a young woman is found in the Nile, Amelia, Emerson and Ramses all have their theories, but their own lives might be at stake if their ancient book is involved. Letters from Nefret provide a new perspective on Amelia, the great detective and Egyptolologist.   Read more >>

It's 1903 in Cairo, and Amelia dreams of a large Egyptian cat, a sign of good luck. But the luck turns when she and Emerson, who are set to dig in the Valley of the Kings, receive an ominous warning: "Stay away from tomb Twenty-A!" More trouble brews as Ramses and Nefret, unknown to their parents, begin to sneak about to help an American who believes she's being stalked. When tomb Twenty-A reveals a mummy wearing silk unmentionables, Amelia is trapped in a labyrinth of murder, passion and deceit.

When a masked stranger offers to reveal an Egyptian queen's lost tomb to Amelia and Emerson in 1900, they are intrigued to say the least. But the guide mysteriously disappears, leaving them to sail to Thebes to follow his trail. The fact that Ramses and Nefret are along on the journey both helps and hampers efforts to solve this mystery. Soon all four are risking their lives as they foil kidnappers, grave robbers and ancient curses. And intrepid Amelia finds herself faced with a surprising new villain who is every bit as clever and resourceful as she is!

With Nefret, now a ward of Amelia and Emerson, and Ramses at home pursuing their studies, the couple returns to Amarna in 1898 for a dig that promises to be just like old times. The trip turns out to be more like old times than they plan, however, when they become the targets of a Master Criminal's evil plot. Emerson is kidnapped, and Amelia rescues him to discover that he has lost his memory. Tantalizingly close to her most important discovery yet, a tomb that may have been Nefertiti's, Amelia needs to turn her attention to regaining her husband's love.

It's true: the last camel is gone, leaving Amelia, Emerson and Ramses to bake under the desert sun in the winter of 1897. Armed with a mysterious note and map, they have been commissioned to locate a lost English aristocrat and his wife, who disappeared over a decade ago. In this tribute to H. Rider Haggard (King Solomon's Mines), the family marches into the desert where survival depends on solving a mystery as old as Ancient Egypt, and where they meet a young girl, Nefret, who will join their family and change their lives forever.

The Deeds of the Disturber
Summer 1896
Published 1988

Amelia doesn't need to leave England in 1896 to find murder and mayhem. When a night watchman at the British Museum dies with a terrified expression on his face in front of a "haunted" mummy case, Amelia knows she needs to get to the bottom of it. Versed in the dangers of ancient curses, Amelia comes to understand that a contemporary curse can be just as lethal. And she discovers that the familiar streets of London can be every bit as treacherous as the alleyways of Cairo after dark, especially when an evil mastermind sets his murderous sights on his relentless pursuer . . . Amelia Peabody!

Lion in the Valley
1895-96 Season
Published 1986

The 1895-96 season promises to be an exceptional one for Amelia, Emerson, and their precocious eight-year-old son Ramses. The much-coveted burial chamber of the Black Pyramid in Dahshoor is theirs for the digging -- finally. However, their luck turns when Ramses is abducted by moonlight. The entire excavation becomes complicated by misfortune, and Amelia feels certain that her arch nemesis, the Master Criminal, is to blame. What she doesn't realize is that he won't be satisfied until he has captured her.   Read more >>

Amelia and Emerson bring their young son Ramses along in Egypt in 1894. Denied permission to dig at the lovely pyramids of Dashoor, they are assigned to the decrepit mounds of rubble that pass for the pyramids of Mazghunah. Nothing in this barren stretch of land seems of interest until an illegal antiquities dealer gets killed. Before long, mummy cases start appearing and disappearing, and a second murder complicates the mystery. When it becomes clear that a Master Criminal is behind these goings on, Amelia starts digging -- for facts.

It's 1892, and Amelia and Emerson, who is now her husband, are back in England raising their young son Ramses, when they are approached by a damsel in distress. Lady Baskerville's husband, Sir Henry, has died after uncovering what may have been royal tomb in Luxor. Amid rumors of a curse haunting all those involved with the dig, Amelia and Emerson proceed to Egypt and begin to suspect that Sir Henry did not die a natural death. The accidents plaguing the dig appear to be caused by a sinister human element, not a pharaoh's curse.

Set in 1884, this is the first installment in what has become a beloved bestselling series. At thirty-two, strong-willed Amelia Peabody, a self-proclaimed spinster, decides to use her ample inheritance to indulge her passion, Egyptology. On her way to Egypt, Amelia encounters a young woman named Evelyn Barton-Forbes. The two become fast friends and travel on together, encountering mysteries, missing mummies, and Radcliffe Emerson, a dashing and opinionated archaeologist who doesn't need a woman's help -- or so he thinks.

View the complete book list by Elizabeth Peters