Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody Mystery, #1)

by Elizabeth Peters

Meet Egyptologist Amelia Peabody in the first mystery in the Victorian-era set, New York Times bestselling "sparkling series" (Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review).

"If Indiana Jones were female, a wife, and a mother who lived in Victorian times, he would be Amelia Peabody Emerson."--Publishers Weekly

Amelia Peabody, that indomitable product of the Victorian age, embarks on her debut Egyptian adventure armed with unshakable self-confidence, a journal to record her thoughts, and, of course, a sturdy umbrella. On her way to Cairo, Amelia rescues young Evelyn Barton-Forbes, who has been abandoned by her scoundrel lover. Together the two women sail up the Nile to an archeological site run by the Emerson brothers-the irascible but dashing Radcliffe and the amiable Walter. Soon their little party is increased by one-one 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. Now Amelia finds herself up against an unknown enemy-and perilous forces that threaten to make her first Egyptian trip also her last . . .

Praise for Elizabeth Peters and Crocodile on the Sandbank
"A writer so popular that the public library has to keep her books under lock and key." -Washington Post Book World

"Grand views of Egyptian antiquities . . . a sparkling series." -Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

 

• ISBN10: 0304297283
• ISBN13: 9780304297283
• Publish Date: 7 October 1976 (first published 1 December 1975)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 17 October 2003
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Littlehampton Book Services Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[Shreela]

Somewhat modern book trying to sound early 20th century, ugh. Especially stretching the story to the point of being tedious. But since this series seems to be beloved, I'll try the 2nd book, but won't force-finish like I did with this one.

[bookperson]

Strong beginning and ending, but not so interesting middle. I was tempted to DNF this book, but glad I didn't. Could be definitely read as a standalone.

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

4.5★⎮I'm not crying, you are! Don't mind me, I'll just sit here composing myself after being destroyed by a completely unexpected (and premature?) HEA. I don't normally get like this over mushy stuff and this isn't exactly "mushy", it's just that I became so totally invested in Amelia Peabody, as well as Emerson, Walter, and Evelyn that any little victory of happiness for them has me in a heap on the floor.

I began listening to Crocodile on the Sandbank because I find egyptology and archaeology fascinating. I think I've seen every documentary that exists on the subject of egyptology, but I haven't read that many books pertaining to it. Going into Crocodile on the Sandbank, I thought the Egyptian setting and archaeology premise would be my bread and butter, sustaining me throughout the book. And although that didn't disappoint, it was actually the Peters' characters that proved most interesting.

While listening to Crocodile on the Sandbank, I related to Amelia Peabody hard. First of all, she's hilarious in a dry, sarcastic manner that oddly reminded me of Stephanie Plum, but in a more civilized 19th-century way. Amelia also kind of reminded me of Claire Fraser, in that she seemed at ahead of her time (in Claire's case, she is literally ahead of her time...).

Amelia was clearly written to be an avant-garde protagonist and she nearly pulls it off. Perhaps in the 1970s (when Crocodile on the Sandbank was written), Peabody would have been considered a strong female lead, but in the 21st-century, she doesn't entirely fit the bill. When Emerson enters the story, Amelia "no man is as sensible as me" Peabody slowly morphs into a more traditional 19th-century woman, gradually playing second fiddle to Emerson, personally and professionally. Still, my slight disappointment at this was largely overwhelmed by the hilarious banter between Emerson and Peabody and the fact that they still call each other by their surnames right up to the end of the book. Seriously, that cracks me up.

Overall, I liked Emerson as a character. Sure, he infuriated me to begin with, just as he did Amelia. But he played the role of 19th-century man with a British superiority complex perfectly. Honestly, it was almost hard to stay mad at him because he was being so ridiculously pigheaded that I couldn't help but laugh. And Amelia always put him in his place. But my favorite thing about Emerson was the growth he showed over the course of the book. The effect of Amelia's presence on him was obvious and refreshing. He hadn't done a complete 180 by the end of the book, because that would be unrealistic, but he had mellowed enough to show Amelia's affect on him and that' was adorable.

Minor spoiler: This was the ultimate enemies-to-lovers sub-plot and I am all about that trope! I really didn't see it coming until about 75% into the story. It was that well-developed, almost like a slow burn romance. The last few minutes of the book acted as an epilogue (which gave me all the feels), but also seemed premature, given that 19 more books follow in the series. It makes me wonder if Crocodile on the Sandbank was originally intended to be a standalone.

With all things considered, the mystery was the weaker part of the story for me. It wasn't necessarily a "weak" mystery or plot, just not as strong as the character development (which I was more interested in anyway). I thought the "who" part of the mystery was relatively obvious. It was rather comical when the characters made a big deal of revealing what I had basically known for the last three hours, but there were still some smaller details of it that I hadn't put together (the "how" and "why").

By the 75% mark, I was glued to the story, hanging on every word and fully invested in the characters. That's my biggest take away from Crocodile on the Sandbank. This is a 20 book series- If I'm going to be spending so much time with these characters, I'd better like them and care what happens to them. They are the common denominators between the installments. They are the cornerstone of the series. In Crocodile on the Sandbank, Elizabeth Peters has laid a sturdy foundation for my enjoyment of the rest of the series.

Narration review: As many audiobooks do, Crocodile on the Sandbank opens with an introduction from an unknown reader, setting the scene and telling you what you're about to hear. However, in this case, the introductory reader was not so unknown to me. It was none other than Davina Porter, narrator of the Outlander series. Trust me, after spending literally hundreds of hours listening to her voice, I can recognize it at the drop of a hat. Anyway, I remember thinking that I wish I hadn't heard Davina's voice right before listening to an audiobook narrated by someone else, because that someone else had no hope of comparing to Porter... Boy, was I wrong.

There are two recordings of Crocodile on the Sandbank. I purposefully chose the one narrated by Barbara Rosenblat because I recognized her name from Orange is the New Black (she played Miss Rosa). After exactly one sentence, I knew I was in good hands. Audiobooks narrated by experienced actors are generally amazing anyway, but Rosenblat exceeded my expectations. She is incredible. I haven't even heard the sample of Susan O'Malley's version of Crocodile on the Sandbank, but I'm going to go ahead and recommend Barbara Rosenblat's to you because there's no way anyone could have done it any better.

Update- I just listened to O'Malley's sample and I was totally right. Besides, O'Malley only narrated the first six audiobooks in the series, so you would have to eventually switch over to Rosenblat's narration anyway. You may as well start with her from the beginning. ♣︎

[nitzan_schwarz]

This was a pretty fun historical adventure on the backdrop of Eygpt and the pyramids.

It kind of reminded me a little bit of Gail Carriger's [b:Soulless|6381205|Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1)|Gail Carriger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1314020848s/6381205.jpg|6569140] in that we have a serious, smart, no-nonsense spinster who goes against the Victorian traditions and normalities and ends up tangled in a messy adventure. No supernatural elements, though, and I think I like Soulless quite a bit better, as I liked the pace and relationship there more. Also, this makes me want to re-read that lol

What I mean by that is that here everyone fell in love in a week. And, yes, kudos to Peters for managing to make that time seem a LOT longer with everything that has been happening. But still, Evelyn is pretty much in love with Walter from day one, and that's kind of a pet peeve of mine. Also, Emerson's final love confession ruined a lot of it for me. I mean, I ABSOLUTELY loved their "marriage proposals". The banter and their fake "I'm doing this to further my goal" (from both of them) was so On Brand and perfect for this series. So I was bummed that it was followed with an out of character exclamation of love and devotion.

I also figured out the entire plot from a considerably early point. It was still a good one, if a bit convoluted. I'm interested in reading more of these but they are also not high priority.

[jamiereadthis]

This book is ridiculous and awesome. Every bit as much fun as sneaking Nancy Drew under the covers with a flashlight when I was a kid. Possibly more so. And that’s fitting since Nancy Drew is the reason I’m extra-inclined toward a book set in Egypt.

[MurderByDeath]

Ms. Peters is a master, there is no doubt about it. An excellent story, very well written, but I tend to prefer her Vicky Bliss books over Ms. Peabody. Still, I enjoyed the audiobook enough to buy the next one in the series. The narration was outstanding, although the narrator made Evelyn such a whispery girl I wanted to smack her. Still, if you like audiobooks and you're looking for a good old fashioned traditional mystery, I can recommend this one as worth the time.

[Mystereity Reviews]

Really liked this, it was a nice, suspenseful mystery, good characters, and an exotic setting. I thought it was a little drawn out (especially the end, which seemed to go on forever) but at less than 300 pages, it wasn't too tedious to get through.

[inlibrisveritas]

When I saw this series I just knew I had to give it a try. It combines three things I love: reading fiction, ancient Egypt, and archaeology. So right away this was already appealing. The add in the fact that the author is actually really knowledged in the history of these spectacular place is even better. It is a rare thing to have a fiction book about the ancient sites written by someone who has probably been there numerous times. It's also nice to read a book centered around the archaeology as opposed to having the story in ancient Egypt itself.

I found that the main character Amelia, is a character where you simply can't like her to begin with because of their immediate strong personality. She is a strong willed and independent woman, but after about a chapter or two she was beginning to grow on me because of those. In the time period that this is set I found that her personality was perfect and different enough that she wasn't just another woman of the time.

The writing style is in the first person, which typically can become annoying since it's only from one point of view and it makes it difficult to connect with the other characters but Peters does it wonderfully. It's definitely one of those cozy mysteries that you could easily pick up and read on a rainy weekend. You get a great idea as to what the others are really like because Amelia is quite vocal on what is thinks of them and her situation. As for the "whodunnit" part of the book it's not terribly hard to figure out who is behind it all, in fact I would be surprised if someone didn't figure it out before the final three chapters. But surprisingly that really didn't detract from the story for me, because there were still somethings that I wondered about that made it so it didn't matter to me that I had it figured out. Overall I enjoyed the book alot and I am pretty sure that once I manage to shrink my to-read list a little more the second book in this series will have earned it's place on the must have list for me.

I recommend this to those who love cozy mysteries with a historical twist, or someone who loves historical fiction dealing with archaeology or ancient Egypt.

[ibeforem]

This was a must-read on my vacation, because what better series to read when you’re going to see the Pyramids? I’ve read several books in this series, so it was nice to see how Peabody and Emerson meet. The mystery is simpler than the later novels, but enjoyable. There’s seven years between this book and the second one, and I wish there was another book in there covering the first years of their marriage and Ramses’ early childhood.