Lion in the Valley, by Elizabeth Peters
Gloriously silly adventure in Victorian Egypt
(Review posted 12 Sep 2004 01:13:21)

I picked this up in (I think) the Book Exchange rack in the lobby at work, and expected it to be more or less utterly forgettable pulp or romance or whatever, at worst all overwritten and inept and barely readable (but hey, the price was right).

But in fact it was great; a romp, gloriously silly, intelligent and not insulting to the reader, taking itself no more seriously than it deserved, and having a great time doing it. It reminds me of Wodehouse, in that Amelia Peabody is a hilariously unreliable narrator with a strong British accent. But Amelia needs no Jeeves; she is a thoroughly modern and self-sufficient woman, facing the mysteries of ancient tombs and modern master criminals (and dashing impetuous husbands and frighteningly acute young sons, which we male readers can alternate identifying with), using indominatable energy, self-described good sense, and a tool-belt of her own devising.

Sheesh, sort of a flowery paragraph there, sorry about that. But it was really a surprisingly good book (although not deep or challenging; just undemanding fun), and now I want to read more of them. (Yow! Looking on the web there seem to be over a dozen of them.) Maybe someone'll leave some more in the rack; if not, I think I'd even be willing to pay money for them.