Works by
Barbara Mertz
(aka Barbara Michaels, Elizabeth Peters)
(Writer)
[1927 - ]

• The Master of Blacktower (1966)
  Damaris Gordon shuddered at the thought of working for the cruel and bitter Master of Blacktower—but her father's death left her no choice. Suddenly her fate—her life itself—was in the black silk-gloved hands of Gavin Hamilton, a man scarred and tortured by an unspoken past, whose mocking laughter echoes through his ancient Scottish estate. Damaris has heard the whispers that accuse Gavin Hamilton of his wife's death and his young daughter's crippling injury. But the pain and sadness barely hidden behind his blazing dark stare touch Damaris deeply—and a courageous heart is luring her to the estate's topmost tower in search of his dangerous secrets.

• Sons of the Wolf (1967)

• Prince of Darkness (1969)
  A stranger has come to Middleburg, Maryland, a visitor from abroad with a mysterious purpose. But this quaint, affluent community has dark secrets of its own. And when the interloper, Peter Stewart, becomes involved with the bewitching, seductive ward of noted local author Kate More, the townfolk fear the chilling past they are hiding will no longer be safe. For Middleburg has a colonial history of malevolent sorceries and obscene sacrifice. And when the terrible pot is stirred, murder may be the least of the evils to emerge from the unholy brew.

• The Dark on the Other Side (1970)
  Everywhere she turns, Linda Randolph hears voices: from empty dark corners and lonely rooms. But it is the house itself that speaks the loudest, telling Linda to run for her life. Her husband, Gordon, the noted statesman and scholar, suggests she's losing her mind. Linda almost hopes it's true, because the alternate explanation is too terrible to contemplate: that Gordon is intimately involved with dark, diabolical forces beyond the scope of the natural and rational. Either Linda Randolph is half-mad ... or her husband is pure evil.

• The Crying Child (1971)

• Greygallows (1972)
  Lucy Cartwright placed her life and future into the hands of the dashing Baron Clare, despite the rumors of his dark, unsavory past. Trusting his kind words and gentle manner, she agreed to be his wife and followed the enigmatic lord to Greygallows, his sprawling country estate. But mystery, deception, betrayal, and danger surround the magnificent manor—a ghostly secret charges the atmosphere and terror reigns in its shadowed hallways. Lucy entered Greygallows willingly . . . and now she may never leave.

• Witch (1973)

• House of Many Shadows (1974)
  Meg Rittenhouse fears she is losing her mind. The doctors tell her the strange and disturbing hallucinations she's been experiencing ever since her accident are all in her head, and that, with a little rest, the haunting visions will vanish. But accepting an invitation to stay with her cousin in the country may be the worst decision Meg has ever made. Here, in a remote old house miles from anywhere, the terrible sights and sounds have gotten even worse. Suddenly eerie black shapes dance in the shadows—mocking Meg, haunting her . . . threatening her. And the presence of kind, considerate Andy Brenner, the caretaker, both reassures her and terrifies her—because Andy also sees these dark specters .

• The Sea King's Daughter (1975)
  Since Sandy Frederick first set foot on the volcanic Greek isle of Thera, this breathtaking place of ancient myth and mystery has haunted her dreams. Joining her estranged, obsessed father on a dive to find astonishing secrets from the ocean's floor, she cannot shake the feeling that she was meant to be here; that some ancient, inscrutable power is calling to her. But there are others who have been eagerly waiting for her arrival to drag her into a tangled and terrifying web of secrets, dark superstition, betrayal, blood, and death. And suddenly Sandy's heritage and her destiny could be her doom.

• Patriot's Dream (1976)

• Wings of the Falcon (1977)
  The death of her English father left Francesca alone and unprotected, with nowhere to turn but to the noble Italian family of her late mother. Adrift in a strange land, surrounded by cold and suspicious relatives who had disowned her mother on her wedding day, Francesca is determined to make the best of a bad situation. But nothing could have prepared her for the nest of dark secrets and oppressive cruelty she has been cast into. And her fate now rests in the hands of a mysterious horseman known as the Falcon, whose appearance will speed her salvation ... or hasten her doom.

• Wait for What Will Come (1978)

• The Walker in Shadows (1979)
  The house next door to Pat Robbins—eerily identical to the home Pat shares with her college-aged son, Mark—has been empty for years, the darkness within seeming to warn all to stay away. Now new tenants are moving in: affable Josef Friedrichs and his lovely daughter, Kathy, who has stolen Mark's heart on first glance. But something is not right—something old and secret lurking in the shadows that fresh paint and new furnishings cannot mask or exorcise. There is evil alive in the heart of the house next door—and it means to feed on the fears of two families . . . and drag Kathy Friedrichs with it into peril.

• The Wizard's Daughter (1980)
  A penniless yet strikingly beautiful orphan, Marianne Ransom's indomitable spirit has enabled her to survive a cruel life on the backstreets of Victorian London. But it is her gift of second sight that carries her into the world of money and privilege—a power brought on by a strange twist of fate. In the opulent home of a wealthy duchess, Marianne is being called upon to summon her late father—a noted mystic—from the grave. But Marianne's exceptional abilities have become a perilous trap. And suddenly knowing too much could prove fatal.

• Someone in the House (1981)
  An English Gothic mansion, transported stone by stone to the isolated Pennsylvania hills, Grayhaven Manor calls to Anne and Kevin. Here is the ideal summer retreat -- a perfect location from which to write the book they have long planned together. But there are distractions in the halls and shadows of the looming architectural wonder luring them from their work -- for they are not alone. Something lives on here from Grayhaven's shocking past—something beautiful, powerful, and eerily seductive -- unlocking the doors of human desire, of fear ... and unearthly passion.

• Black Rainbow (1982)
  Megan O'Neill sees it hanging in the sky above the towers of Grayhaven Manor -- a beautiful yet sinister black rainbow, a warning to the estate's new governess to stay away. Yet the warmth and kindness of the Mandeville family banish her fears -- and her hypnotic obsession for her handsome, mysterious new employer blinds her to the darkness within. But desire always has its price. And the shocking secrets enclosed in Grayhaven's walls threaten to pull Megan into the terrifying shadows, never to emerge again.

• Here I Stay (1983)
  Andrea Torgesen is certain that hard work is exactly what her younger brother Jim needs to help him recover from the trauma of a serious car accident—and turning a decrepit old mansion into a beautiful country inn seems to be the perfect project. But unearthly voices and eerie visions haunt Jim from almost the first instant he sets foot in the dreary old house. And his strange obsession with a long-neglected graveyard is most troubling to his concerned sibling. There is evil in this place where the unthinkable is possible—a terrifying force that Andrea and Jim must confront . . . or forfeit their lives.

• The Grey Beginning (1984)
  Devastated by her husband's death, Kathy Malone has traveled to his childhood home, hoping to come to terms with the recent tragedy. Here in the beautiful rolling hills of Tuscany, she seeks solace—and discovers something sinister instead. Befriending a lonely boy named Pietro—accepting the chilly hospitality of the aristocratic Contessa Morandini—Kathy begins to uncover the pieces of an ominous puzzle and hints of a deadly obsession. And now she has stumbled upon a murderous plot that could cost Kathy her life—for it was meant to stay hidden . . . forever.

• Be Buried in the Rain (1985)
  The past holds terrors...
  There are secrets buried at Maidenwood--dark secrets that span generations. Medical student Julie Newcomb, who once spent four miserable childhood years at this rundown Virginia plantation, would rather not resurrect ancient memories, or face her own fear.
  
  That can't be forgotten
  Yet Julie cannot refuse her relatives' plea that she spend her summer caring for the bedridden--but still malevolent--family patriarch. Reluctantly, Julie agrees, praying that life at Maidenwood will not be as bleak as before. From the first, though, Julie finds Maidenwood a haunted place, not merely echoing with grim reminders, but filled with dark secrets that will become part of her life even today.

• Search the Shadows (1987)
  When twenty-two-year-old Haskell Malone accidentally discovers damning proof that the dead was hero whose name she bears is not her father, she is shattered. The revelation only confirms the dark fear that has haunted her since childhood. In fact, what little she knows about her birth and her mother's subsequent death, is a fragile web of evasions and lies.
  
  Determined to expose the truth at any cost, Haskell takes a job at Chicago's famed Oriental Institute in the city where her mother once lived and loved. But as she searched the shadows of the past, she finds that the truth can sometimes be deadly.

• Smoke and Mirrors (1989)
  Joining the campaign of a charismatic congresswoman, young Erin Hartsock arrives in Washinton, D.C., filled with idealism and ambition. But her enthusiasm dissolves into terror when the campaign takes a malevolent turn. Someone...something...has begun threatening Erin and her colleagues. First come the strange fires, then a seemingly accidental death. As the election nears, Erin fears that she just may be a murderer's next candidate.

• Into the Darkness (1990)

• Vanish With the Rose (1992)

• Houses of Stone (1993)

• The Dancing Floor (1997)
  Romantic Suspense Large Print Edition Well-delineated characters make this tale everything a romance reader can ask for. Publishers Weekly * A New York Times Bestselling Author For years, Heather Tradescant has dreamed of the pilgrimage to the great English gardens she and her father would someday make. Now, determined to fulfill her deceased fathers dream, shes furious that the millionaire owner has denied her request to see the fabled 17th-century garden of Troytan House. Stubbornly, Heather braves walls of briars to reach the manor house. When shes caught, she cant understand why the reclusive owner seems pleased to meet her. And the events that follow prompt Heather to wonder if the stories of witchcraft that haunt Troytan House are as far in the past as everyone thinks.

• Other Worlds (1999)
  The smoky room glows with a mix of cigars, brandy, and genius. Those present include Harry Houdini, king of illusion; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, father of the modern detective novel; Dr. Nandor Fodor, a psychoanalyst of international acclaim; and an elegant writer who can rival them all with her sleuthing talent.
  
  These maters of mystery put their minds to a pair of gripping storiesof families beset by poltergeistly pranks and bewitched by inexplicable horrors. Gripping puzzles, yes, but the terror is all too vicious and all too real.
  
  In the hallows of Tennessee, a family is threatened by a dire spirit whose predictions of despair and death come frighteningly true.
  
  In a small Connecticut town, a newly married widow and her children move into her second husband's home to find their lives possessed by an unimaginable demon.
  
  For the gathering at the club, a brilliant battle of wits is at hand. Were these villains phantoms from beyond or evildoers of flesh and blood? Each expert has a theory. Which of them is correct?
  
  Whether writing as Barbara Michaels or Elizabeth Peters, this author is a master chef crafting richly atmospheric, suspense-filled delights. Other Worlds is an up-all-nighter, guaranteed to still haunt in the morning -- tale as chilling by daylight as it is by darkness.

1. Ammie, Come Home (1968)
   It begins as a lark -- a harmless diversion initiated by Washington, D.C., hostess Ruth Bennett as a means of entertaining her visiting niece, Sara. But the séance conducted in Ruth's elegant Georgetown home calls something back; something unwelcome ... and palpably evil. Suddenly Sara is speaking in a voice not her own, transformed into a miserable, whimpering creature so unlike her normal, sensible self. No tricks or talismans will dispel the malevolence that now plagues the inhabitants of this haunted place -- until a dark history of treachery, lust, and violence is exposed. But the cost might well be the sanity and the lives of the living.

2. Shattered Silk (1986)
   Karen Nevitt has brought new life to old, abandoned things. Her vintage clothing collection, nestled away in Washington, D.C.'s picturesque Georgetown, features exquisite designer originals from decades past. But there is something deadly sewn into the lace and delicate fabrics she has—clues to a forgotten mystery that is pulling Karen into a dark and terrifying place. A secret once locked away in old trunks and dusty attics is crying out for justice, and only she can make things right. But a killer still lurking in the shadows has decided that the truth must remain hidden . . . and Karen Nevitt must die.

3. Stitches in Time (1996)
   When an antique bridal quilt appears under mysterious circumstances at the vintage clothing shop where Rachel Grant works, she is fascinated. She has never been able to resist handmade textiles from the past, for she believes that through the ages, women wove protective magic into their fabrics in order to mark the important events of their lives: birth, marriage, and death.
   
   But there is more than good in the quilt's magic power. Day by day Rachel sees and feels the power growing, as she senses the quilt influencing her thoughts and actions. Much as Rachel's logical mind longs to deny the supernatural, the aura of evil coming from the quilt is terrifyingly real, and it seems to carry a sinister legacy into the lives of the people Rachel loves.

Writing as Elizabeth Peters (Mystery)

Fiction

• The Jackal's Head (1968)
  Althea Tomlinson says she has returned to Egypt to see the sights, and to chaperon a spoiled teenager through this strange and breathtaking desert land. The truth is more complex...and dangerous. Ten years ago, something here brought about her father's ruin and subsequent death—and Althea intends to clear her disgraced parent's name and lay a dark past finally to rest. But there are some mysteries best left buried in the shifting sands. And a devoted daughter's search for answers is stirring up forgotten memories almost too painful to endure, and propelling her onward toward ancient tombs, legendary treasures, miraculous discoveries...and ever-closer to her own probable doom.

• The Camelot Caper (1969)
  For Jessica Tregarth, an unexpected invitation to visit her grandfather in England is a wonderful surprise—an opportunity to open doors to a family past that have always been closed to her. But sinister acts greet her arrival. A stranger tries to steal her luggage and later accosts her in Salisbury Cathedral. Mysterious villains pursue her through Cornwall, their motive and intentions unknown. Jessica's only clue is an antique heirloom she possesses, an ancient ring that bears the Tregarth family crest. And her only ally is handsome gothic novelist David Randall—her self-proclaimed protector—who appears from seemingly out of nowhere to help her in her desperate—attempt to solve a five hundred-year-old, puzzle. For something from out of the cloudy mists of Arthurian lore has come back to plague a frightened American abroad. And a remarkable truth about a fabled king and a medieval treasure could ultimately make Jess Tregarth very rich...or very dead.

• The Dead Sea Cipher (1970)
  It was the start of a grand adventure in a land of antiquity, a rare opportunity to visit biblical places shrouded in mystery. But in a Jerusalem hotel room a world away from everything she knows, Dinah van der Lyn hears angry voices through the wall, followed by a crash and a brief cry in English...for help! The brutal shattering of an evening's stillness becomes a prelude to terror. Without warning, Dinah has been unwittingly pulled into something unholy transpiring in a sacred city, and she must find answers hidden in the shadows. And she must trust an enigmatic stranger as she races through ancient, twisting streets teeming with secrets and peril, a man who may be leading her to safety...or to her doom.

• The Night of Four Hundred Rabbits (1971)
  An unexpected "gift" has arrived for Carol Farley this Christmas: an envelope bearing a newspaper clipping and no return address. There, blurred but unmistakable, is a photo of a man missing for years and feared dead—Carol's father. It is a siren calling her to a world she has never known, to a place of ancient majesty and blood-chilling terror. Now, surrounded by towering pyramids on Mexico City's Walk of the Dead, a frightened yet resolute young woman searches for a perilous truth and for the beloved parent she thought was gone forever. But there are dark secrets lurking in the shadows of antiquity, a conspiracy she never imagined...and enemies who are determined that Carol Farley will not leave Mexico alive.

• Legend in Green Velvet (1976)
  Scotland is Susan's passion and obsession—and the opportunity to join a Highland dig is a dream come true for the young archaeology student. But then a sinister stranger slips Susan a cryptic message in ancient verse—and is later found viciously slain. A mysterious peril has unexpectedly emerged from the mists to haunt Susan, sending her running for her life in the company of handsome, unconventional laird Jamie Erskine. For she has an unseen enemy hiding in the shadows—someone who is going to great lengths to frame her for murder . . . and to bury Susan, if necessary, in this land she loves.

• Devil May Care (1977)
  Ellie is young, rich, engaged and in love. These are the carefree days before marriage and new responsibility, and anything goes -- including house-sitting at eccentric Aunt Kate's palatial estate in Burton, Virginia. Ellie feels right at home here with the nearly invisible housekeepers and the plethora of pets, but she soon realizes that there are disturbing secrets about the local aristocracy buried in a dusty old book she has carried into the mansion. And her sudden interest in the past is attracting a slew of unwelcome guests -- some of them living and some, perhaps not. And the terrible vegeance that Ellie and her friends seem to have aroused -- now aimed at them -- surely cannot be...satanic.

• Summer of the Dragon (1979)
  A good salary and an all-expenses-paid summer spent a sprawling Arizona ranch is too good a deal for fledgling anthropologist D.J. Abbott to turn down. What does it matter that her rich new employer/benefactor, Hank Hunnicutt, is a certified oddball who is presently funding all manner of off-beat projects, from alien conspiracy studies to a hunt for dragon bones? There's even talk of treasure buried in the nearby mountains, but D.J. isn't going to allow loose speculation -- or the considerable charms of handsome professional treasure hunter Jesse Franklin -- to sidetrack her. Until Hunnicutt suffers a mysterious accident and then vanishes, leaving the weirdos gathered at his spread to eye each other with frightened suspicion. But on a high desert search for the missing millionaire, D.J. is learning things that may not be healthy for her to know. For the game someone is playing here goes far beyond the rational universe -- and it could leave D.J. legitimately dead.

• The Love Talker (1980)
  Laurie has finally returned to Idlewood, the beloved family home deep in the Maryland woods where she found comfort and peace as a lonely young girl. But things are very different now. There is no peace in Idlewood. The haunting sound of a distant piping breaks the stillness of a snowy winter's evening. Seemingly random events have begun to take on a sinister shape. And dotty old Great Aunt Lizzie is convinced that there are fairies about -- and she has photographs to prove it. For Laurie, one fact is becoming disturbingly clear: there is definitely something out there in the woods -- something fiendishly, cunningly, malevolently human -- and the lives of her aging loved ones, as well as Laurie's own, are suddenly at serious risk.

• The Copenhagen Connection (1982)
  A strange twist of fate brings Elizabeth Jones face to face with her idol, the brilliant, eccentric historian Margaret Rosenberg, at the Copenhagen Airport. An even stranger accident makes Elizabeth the esteemed scholar's new private assistant. But luck can go from good to bad in an instant -- and less than twenty-four hours later, the great lady is kidnapped by persons unknown. Suddenly desperate in a foreign land, Elizabeth must cast her lot with Rosenberg's handsome, insufferable son Christian in hopes of finding her vanished benefactor. On a trail that leads from modern wonders to ancient mystery, a determined young woman and an arrogant "prince" must uncover shocking secrets carefully guarded in the beautiful Danish city. And they must survive a mysterious affair that is turning darker and deadlier by the hour.

Amelia Peabody Series

1. Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975)
   Amelia Peabody, that indomitable product of the Victorian age, embarks on her first Egyptian adventure armed with unshakable self-confidence, a journal to record her thoughts, and, of course, a sturdy umbrella. On her way, Amelia rescues young Evelyn Barton-Forbes, who has been ruined and abandoned on the streets of Rome by her rascally lover. With a typical disregard for convention, Amelia promptly hires her fellow countrywoman as a companion and takes her to Cairo. Eluding Alberto, Evelyns former lover, who wants her back, and Evelyns cousin Lord Ellesmere, who wishes to marry her, the two women sail up the Nile. They disembark at an archaeological site run by the Emerson brothersthe irascible, but dashing, Radcliffe and the amiable Walter. Soon their little party is increased by oneone mummy, that is, and a singularly lively example of the species. Strange visitations, suspicious accidents, and a botched kidnapping convince Amelia that there is a plot afoot to harm Evelyn. But no villain, or mummy, is a match for the doughty Amelia. How she arranges all to her satisfaction is just one of the pleasures of this delightfully witty mystery.

2. The Curse of the Pharaohs (1981)

3. The Mummy Case (1985)
   Radcliffe Emerson, the irascible husband of fellow archaeologist and Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, has earned the nickname "Father of Curses" -- and at Mazghunah he demonstrates why. Denied permission to dig at the pyramids of Dahshoor, he and Amelia are resigned to excavating mounds of rubble in the middle of nowhere. And there is nothing in this barren area worthy of their interest -- until an antiquities dealer is murdered in his own shop. A second sighting of a sinister stranger from the crime scene, a mysterious scrap of papyrus, and a missing mummy case have all whetted Amelia's curiosity. But when the Emersons start digging for answers in an ancient tomb, events take a darker and deadlier turn -- and there may be no surviving the very modern terrors their efforts reveal.

4. Lion in the Valley (1986)
   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 Dahshoor 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 marketplace of Cairo. The brazen moonlight abduction of Ramses—and an expedition subsequently cursed by misfortune and death—have alerted Amelia to the likly 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 motivates the evil genius this time around. For now the most valuable and elusive prized of all is nearly in his grasp: the meddling lady archaeologist who has sworn to deliver him to justice . . . Amelia Peabody!

5. The Deeds of the Disturber (1988)
   Can fear kill? There are those who believe so--but Amelia Peabody is skeptical. A respected Egyptologist and amateur sleuth, Amelia has foiledfelonious schemes from Victoria's England to the Middle East. And she doubts that it was a Nineteenth-Dynasty mummy's curse that caused the death of a night watchman in the British Museum. The corpse was found sprawled in the mummy's shadow, a look of terror frozen on the guard's face. What--or who--killed the unfortunate man is a mystery that seems too intriguingly delicious for Amelia to pass up, especially now that she, her dashing archaeologist husband, Emerson, and their precocious son, Ramses, are back on Britain's shores. But a contemporary curse can be as lethal as one centuries old--and the foggy London thoroughfares can be as treacherous as the narrow, twisting alleyways of Cairo after dark--when a perpetrator of evil deeds sets his murderous sights on his relentless pursuer...Amelia Peabody!

6. The Last Camel Died at Noon (1991)

7. The Snake, the Crocodile & the Dog (1992)
   A brand-new Elizabeth Peters novel is one of the uncompromising pleasures in life. As Peter Theroux in the New York Times Book Review points out, "Her wonderfully witty voice and her penchant for history lessons of the Nile both ancient and modern keep (her) high adventure moving for even the highest brows". In her previous outing, The Last Camel Died at Noon, Amelia Peabody and her dashing husband, Emerson, discovered a fabulous lost oasis in the Nubian desert. Now, in the seventh mystery in the series, the Emerson-Peabodys are traveling up the Nile once again to encounter their most deadly adversary, the Master Criminal, who is back at his sinister best. Amelia Peabody was unabashedly proud of her newest translation, a fragment of the ancient fairytale "The Doomed Prince". Later, she would wonder why no sense of foreboding struck her as she retold the story of the king's favorite son who had been warned that he would die from the snake, the crocodile, or the dog. Little did she realize, as she and her beloved husband sailed blissfully toward the pyramids of ancient Egypt, that those very beasts (and a cat as well) would be part of a deadly plot. The expedition began so happily....Leaving their delightful, but catastrophically precocious, son, Ramses, back in England, Amelia hoped this romantic trip might rejuvenate her thirteen-year-old marriage and bring back the thrills that she feared were fading. She and her dear Emerson were returning to the remote desert site where they had first fallen in love, Amarna, the holy city of Akhenaton and his beautiful queen, Nefertiti. But their return would threaten not only their marriage, but their very lives with perils as chilling as a mummy'scurse. An old enemy was determined to learn Amelia and Emerson's most closely guarded secret: the location of a legendary long-lost oasis and a race of people bedecked in gold. So cunning was his scheme that Amelia might overlook - until it was too late - the truth about

8. The Hippopotamus Pool (1996)

9. Seeing a Large Cat (1997)
   Amelia Peabody, feisty turn-of-the-century Egyptologist, is in Cairo headed for a dig in the awesome Valley of the Kings. Stay away from tomb Twenty-A, warns an ominous message delivered by an unseen hand. Even though her famous premonitions are telling her that trouble lies ahead, Amelia dreams of a large cat, an Egyptian sign of good luck. And when tomb Twenty-A finally reveals its secret, Amelia will need all the luck she can garner, as the desert produces a macabre puzzle of murder, passion and cruel deceit.

10. The Ape Who Guards the Balance (1998)
    Join Amelia Peabody on her thrilling new expedition to the Valley of the Kings--Your Itinerary: Upper Egypt, 1907. A perilous adventure into antiquity with fiction's most beloved archaeologist and her captivating cohorts. Witness exotic scenery, craven tomb robbers, vengeful gods! Discover stolen treasures, a mysterious cult, surprising secrets hidden in desert sands! Find the unexpected--a rithless, remorseless killer with his eye on Amelia!

11. The Falcon at the Portal (1999)
    Amelia and family have arrived in Egypt for the 1911 archeological season—after the marriage of young Ramses' best friend David to Amelia's niece Lia. But trouble finds them immediately when David is accused of selling ancient artifacts. While Amelia and company try to clear his name and expose the real culprit, the body of an American is found at the bottom of their excavation shaft. As accusations of drug dealing and moral misconduct fly, a child of mysterious antecedents sparks a crisis that threatens to tear the family apart. Amelia brings her brilliant powers of deduction to bear, but someone is shooting bullets at her—and coming awfully close!Amelia and family have arrived in Egypt for the 1911 archeological season—after the marriage of young Ramses' best friend David to Amelia's niece Lia. But trouble finds them immediately when David is accused of selling ancient artifacts. While Amelia and company try to clear his name and expose the real culprit, the body of an American is found at the bottom of their excavation shaft. As accusations of drug dealing and moral misconduct fly, a child of mysterious antecedents sparks a crisis that threatens to tear the family apart. Amelia brings her brilliant powers of deduction to bear, but someone is shooting bullets at her—and coming awfully close!Amelia and family have arrived in Egypt for the 1911 archeological season—after the marriage of young Ramses' best friend David to Amelia's niece Lia. But trouble finds them immediately when David is accused of selling ancient artifacts. While Amelia and company try to clear his name and expose the real culprit, the body of an American is found at the bottom of their excavation shaft. As accusations of drug dealing and moral misconduct fly, a child of mysterious antecedents sparks a crisis that threatens to tear the family apart. Amelia brings her brilliant powers of deduction to bear, but someone is shooting bullets at her—and coming awfully close!

12. He Shall Thunder in the Sky (2000)
    Trouble is brewing in Egypt at the close of 1914 and no one will escape the fury of the tempest to come. With the world around them at war, Amelia Peabody and her husband Radcliffe Emerson have returned to Cairo for another season of archaeological excavation -- despite the increasing danger of an attack on the Suez Canal and on Egypt itself.
    
    A terrible conflict looms. A long-simmering love affair is resolved. A dastardly plot twists like a serpent writhing in the desert sun. There is no escaping the onrushing hurricane that now threatens the Emersons and their world -- so Amelia plunges right into it.

13. Lord of the Silent (2001)
    For archaeologist Amelia Peabody and her family, the allure of Egypt remains as powerful as ever, even in this tense time of World War. But nowhere in this desert land is safe -- especially for Amelia's son Ramses and his beautiful new wife Nefret. Treachery and peril are pursuing the two young lovers across the length and breadth of this strange, exotic world, strengthening a bond of passion and devotion that only death can sever. And the grim discovery of a recent corpse in a tomb where it does not belong is pulling Amelia deeper into a furious desert storm of intrigue, corruption, kidnapping, and murder -- and toward dark revelations that threaten to awaken the past...and alter the family's destiny.

14. The Golden One (2002)
    A new year, 1917, is dawning, and the Great War that ravages the world shows no sign of abating. In these perilous times, archaeologist Amelia Peabody and her extended family must confront shocking dangers. But it is son Ramses who faces the most dire threat, answering a call that will carry him to the fabled seaport of Gaza on a mission as personal as it is perilous -- where death will be the certain consequence of exposure. While far away, Ramses's beautiful wife, Nefret, guards a secret of her own ...

15. Children of the Storm (2003)
    A Great War has ended, but evil still casts a long shadow over a violence-scarred land. One woman -- an adventurer and archaeologist with a brilliant mind -- must now confront a dreadful adversary more fiendish and formidable than any she has ever encountered. But by doing so, she may be feeding the flames of a devastating firestorm that threatens the fragile lives of the tender and innocent.

16. Amelia Peabody's Egypt: A Compendium (2003) by Kristen Whitbread with Elizabeth Peters, ed.
    The Egypt that so enticed and enchanted intrepid archaeologist-sleuth Amelia Peabody in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries was a place of wonder, mystery, danger, and the lure of antiquity. Now, with this monumental volume of Egyptian culture, history, and arcania, readers will be able to immerse themselves in the great lady's world more completely than ever before.
    
    Journey through the bustling streets and markets of Cairo a hundred years ago. Surround yourself with the customs and color of a bygone time. Explore ancient tombs and temples and marvel at the history of this remarkable land -- from the age of the pharaohs through the Napoleonic era to the First World War. Also included in Amelia Peabody's Egypt are a hitherto unpublished journal entry and intimate biographies of the Emersons and their friends, which provide a uniquely personal view of the lives, relationships, opinions, politics, and delightful eccentricities of mystery's first family, as well as unforgettable pearls of wit and wisdom from everyone's favorite fictional Egyptologist herself.
    
    Containing nearly 600 black-and-white photographs and illustrations, and articles by numerous experts, Amelia Peabody's Egypt sparkles with unforgettable glimpses of the exotic and the bizarre, the unusual and the unfamiliar -- a treasure trove that overflows with Egyptological riches, along with wonderful insights into the culture and mores of the Victorian era, including the prevalent attitudes on empire, fashion, feminism, tourists, servants, and much more.
    
    A one-of-a-kind collection that offers endless hours of pleasure for Peabodyphiles and Egypt aficionados alike, here is a tome to cherish; a grand and glorious celebration of the life, the work, and the world of the incomparable Amelia Peabody.

17. Guardian of the Horizon (2004)
    Readers have long wondered what befell the Emerson clan during the years before the Great War. Now, at last, the silence is broken and the truth revealed of a perilous journey to a secret and mysterious place hidden deep in the heart of the unforgiving desert. An adventure prompted by loyalty to an endangered friend -- and spurred on by lies and treachery -- it leads Amelia Peabody and her intrepid family into a nest of vipers lying in wait at a remote mountain fortress. And when a dark past and a shocking mystery are ultimately discovered, a loved one may be lost forever.

18. The Serpent on the Crown (2005)

19. Tomb of the Golden Bird (2006)
    Banned forever from the eastern end of the Valley of the Kings, eminent Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson's desperate attempt to regain digging rights backfires—and his dream of unearthing the tomb of the little-known king Tutankhamon is dashed. Now Emerson, his archaeologist wife, Amelia Peabody, and their family must watch from the sidelines as Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter "discover" the greatest Egyptian treasure of all time.
    
    But the Emersons' own less impressive excavations are interrupted when father and son Ramses are lured into a trap by a strange group of villains ominously demanding answers to a question neither man comprehends. And it will fall to the ever-intrepid Amelia to protect her endangered family—and perhaps her nemesis as well—from a devastating truth hidden uncomfortably close to home . . . and from a nefarious plot that threatens the peace of the entire region.

1. The Seventh Sinner (1972)
   At first, Jean Suttman thought she had died and gone to Heaven when she was granted the opportunity to study in Rome. But the body that's lying in the ancient subterranean Temple of Mithra—the murdered corpse of a repulsive and disliked fellow student—isn't her idea of heavenly. Now she is truly frightened, not just because small "accidents" seem to be occurring around her with disturbing regularity. It's the ever-increasing certainty that someone, for some unknown reason, is ruthlessly determined to do her harm. Jean's innocent underground excursion into a sacred pagan place has trapped her in something dark and terrifying, and even the knowledge that practical, perceptive fellow American Jacqueline Kirby is on the case won't ease her fears. Because there's only so far Jean Suttman can run . . . and no escape for her except death.

2. The Murders of Richard III (1974)
   In a remote English manor house, modern admirers of the much-maligned King Richard III—one of Shakespeare's most extraordinary villains—are gathered for a grand weekend of dress-up and make-believe murder. But the fun ends when the masquerade turns more sinister . . . and deadly. Jacqueline Kirby, an American librarian on hand for the festivities, suddenly finds herself in the center of strange, dark doings . . . and racing to untangle a murderous puzzle before history repeats itself in exceptionally macabre ways.

3. Die for Love (1984)
   The annual Historical Romance Writers of the World convention in New York City is calling to Jacqueline Kirby, a Nebraska librarian who desperately desires some excitement. But all is not love and kisses at this august gathering of starry-eyed eccentrics and sentimental scribes. As far as Jacqueline is concerned, the sudden "natural" death of a gossip columnist seems anything but. And when she's approached by a popular genre star who fears for her own life, the resourceful Ms. Kirby quickly goes back to work...as a sleuth. Because there's a sinister scenario being penned at this purple prose congregation. And when jealousy and passion are given free rein beyond the boundaries of the printed page, the result can be murder.

4. Naked Once More (1989)

1. Borrower of the Night (1973)
   Meet art historian Vicky Bliss, She is as beautiful as she is brainy--with unassailable courage, insatiable curiosity, and an expertise in lost museum treasures that often leads her into the most dangerous of situations.
   
   A missing masterwork in wood, the last creation of a master carver who died in the violent tumult of the sixteenth century, may be hidden in a medieval German castle in the town of Rothenburg. The prize has called to Vicky Bliss, drawing her and an arrogant male colleague into the forbidding citadel and its dark secrets. But the treasure hunt soon turns deadly. Here, where the blood of the long forgotten damned stains ancient stones, Vicky must face two equally perilous possibilities. Either a powerful supernatural evil inhabits this place. . .or someone frighteningly real is willing to kill for what Vicky is determined to find.

2. Street of the Five Moons (1978)
   Vicky Bliss, a brain with a body like a centerfold, often has a tough time getting people to take her seriously. But when it comes to medieval history, this blonde beauty knows her stuff -- and she's a master at solving mysteries that would turn the art world upside down.
   
   Vicky gasped at the sight of the exquisite gold pendant her boss at Munich's National Museum held in his hand. The Charlemagne talisman replica, along with a note in hieroglyphs, was found sewn into the suit pocket of an unidentified man found dead in an alley.
   
   Vicky vows to find the master craftsman who created it. It's a daring chase that takes her all the way to Rome and through the dusty antique centers and moonlit streets of the most romantic city in the world. But soon she's trapped in a treacherous game of intrigue that could cost her life -- or her heart...
   
   Vicky Bliss, a brain with a body like a centerfold, often has a tough time getting people to take her seriously. But when it comes to medieval history, this blonde beauty knows her stuff -- and she's a master at solving mysteries that would turn the art world upside down.
   
   Vicky gasped at the sight of the exquisite gold pendant her boss at Munich's National Museum held in his hand. The Charlemagne talisman replica, along with a note in hieroglyphs, was found sewn into the suit pocket of an unidentified man found dead in an alley.
   
   Vicky vows to find the master craftsman who created it. It's a daring chase that takes her all the way to Rome and through the dusty antique centers and moonlit streets of the most romantic city in the world. But soon she's trapped in a treacherous game of intrigue that could cost her life -- or her heart...Vicky Bliss, a brain with a body like a centerfold, often has a tough time getting people to take her seriously. But when it comes to medieval history, this blonde beauty knows her stuff -- and she's a master at solving mysteries that would turn the art world upside down.
   
   Vicky gasped at the sight of the exquisite gold pendant her boss at Munich's National Museum held in his hand. The Charlemagne talisman replica, along with a note in hieroglyphs, was found sewn into the suit pocket of an unidentified man found dead in an alley.
   
   Vicky vows to find the master craftsman who created it. It's a daring chase that takes her all the way to Rome and through the dusty antique centers and moonlit streets of the most romantic city in the world. But soon she's trapped in a treacherous game of intrigue that could cost her life -- or her heart...

3. Silhouette In Scarlet (1983)
   One perfect red rose, a one-way ticket to Stockholm, and a cryptic "message" consisting of two Latin words intrigue art historian Vicky Bliss—as they were precisely intended to do.Beautiful, brilliant and, as always, dangerously inquisitive, Vicky recognizes the handiwork of her former lover, the daring jewel thief John Smythe. So she takes the bait, eagerly following Smythe's lead in the hope of finding a lost treasure. But the trail begins at a priceless fifth century chalice which will place Vicky at the mercy of a gang of ruthless criminals who have their eyes on an even more valuable prize. And the hunt threatens to turn deadly on a remote island, where a captive Vicky Bliss must lead an excavation into the distant past—and where digging too deep for the truth could dig her own grave.

4. Trojan Gold (1987)
   A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
   
   But the photograph art historian Vicky Bliss has just received gives rise to a thousand questions instead. A quick glance at the blood-stained envelope is all the proof she needs that something is horribly wrong.
   
   The picture itself is familiar: a woman adorned in the gold of Troy. Yet this isn't the famous photograph of Frau Schliemann—no, this picture is contemporary. The gold, as Vicky and her fellow academics know, disappeared at the end of World War II.
   
   Now this circle of experts is gathered for a festive Bavarian Christmas. All of them—including the mysterious John Smythe and a very determined killer...

5. Night Train to Memphis (1994)