Book 11: The Lord of the Silent by Elizabeth Peters
Book 11: The Lord of the Silent (Amelia Peabody #13).
Author: Elizabeth Peters, 2002.
Genre: Adventure. Historical Mystery. Egyptology.
Other Details: ebook. 708 pages. Unabridged Audio (16 hrs, 8 mins). Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat.
Undeterred by world war and enemy submarines, Amelia and Emerson set sail once again for Egypt, where ghosts of an ancient past and spectres of a present-day evil hover silently over an inscrutable land. In the autumn of 1915 Cairo is transformed into an army camp teeming with enemy agents and shockingly bold tomb robbers are brazenly desecrating the ancient sites. Amelia seeks refuge at a remote dig in Luxor, but this provides no guarantee of safety when she discovers a fresh corpse in an ancient tomb. But are the Emersons in even darker danger with the intervention of one of Amelia's oldest and most dangerous adversaries? Tantalising clues suggest this might be so, and point towards an archaeological discovery of unparalleled importance - and the resurrection of a voice that has been silent for millennia. - synopsis from UK publisher's website.
After a run of excellent novels in this series, this one felt rather slow with less tension and more padding that did little to enrich the characters or further the plot. I expect that the resolution of some major ongoing story lines in the previous novel could be part of this as if Peters had to gain momentum again. Still there was plenty to enjoy and there was a welcome return of a long running adversary in a surprising new role that looks promising for future books in the series.
As always Barbara Rosenblat did a superb job as narrator.
Cross-posted to 50bookchallenge.