Tearful goodbye to beloved series – but look, here’s more!

Review of: The Painted Queen

Authors: Elizabeth Peters & Joan Hess
Publisher: Harper Collins
Source: Purchase, Barnes & Noble
Grade: C

With an iconic (and contentious) ancient artifact to track down and a string of bizarre murders to solve, Victorian-era archaeologist Amelia Peabody Emerson goes out in a blaze of glory in The Painted Queen, author Elizabeth Peters' final book of her beloved Egyptological series. The story’s exploration of the famed portrait bust of Queen Nefertiti was the manuscript Peters (aka Barbara Mertz) was working on at the time of her death in 2013. Later fleshed out by Mertz's friend and fellow mystery writer Joan Peters, it carries the saga of the Peabody-Emerson family into the 20th century. 

Hess's ability to channel her late friend's spirit in dishing up a final dashing spoof of late Victorian adventure novels is evident as Amelia and her irascible husband Radcliffe Emerson (known affectionately as Peabody and Emerson) fend off assassins, tomb robbers and master criminals with the aid of Peabody’s every-handy parasol while also tackling a mystery surrounding Nefertiti's portrait.  

The story begins with the intrusion of a sinister-looking man who utters the word "Murder" before collapsing with a knife in his back as Peabody is enjoying a well-deserved bath. But was murder what the deceased really said or only an artifact of her vivid imagination? 

"I assure you, Emerson, my hearing is unimpaired," Peabody responds when questioned about her recollection. 

"No doubt,” her husband replies, “but the ability of a dying man to articulate clearly is impaired." 

Alas, this reader must admit that the ability of a dying author to write clearly may also be impaired. And although Amelia's longtime fans will delight in her last adventure, the numerous health issues that plagued both Peters and Hess (who died shortly after the manuscript's publication) mar the telling of this final story.  

I'd like to have seen another pass (or two) by editorial eyes, while acknowledging that more effort probably would have been beyond the strength of Hess, already struggling with serious illness. And despite the charming and informative foreword by another Peters' fan, Egyptology professor Salima Ikram, I wonder whether newcomers to Amelia's saga will understand the enigmatic insertions of "Manuscript H" within the text of The Painted Queen. (In the world of the series, Manuscript H were editorial insertions from the diary of Peabody's and Emerson's son, Ramses.)

Although I was tempted, as were many other reviewers on Amazon and Goodreads, to give this final volume of the Peabody-Emerson saga a lower than three-star review, the words of a “how to review books” page came to mind: review the book in front of you, not the book you hoped to read. I hoped to read a full-fledged, fuller-blooded Elizabeth Peters’ mystery, but the book in front of me, although far below Peters’ best, was still a workmanly novel full of the deliciously-gossipy archaeological tidbits for which Peters is famed. Still, readers new to the saga who may wonder what all the fuss was about would do better to explore the more than a dozen earlier books of the Peabody-Emerson saga, beginning with its initial volume, The Crocodile on the Sandbank. 

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I had no sooner hit “publish” on last week’s post about classes to reenergize writerly souls than more delightful items hit my inbox.

First – NaNoWriMo has again renewed its partnership with Wesleyan University for a second year of online NaNo prep classes  beginning September 1. I raved about the quality (and low cost) of this class last year, and am thrilled to see it return. Wesleyan has a wonderful creative writing heritage. The cost of $29 per each of the five approximately two-week long classes represents a 50 percent discount available only to NaNoWriMos. 

You say you’ve never participated in NaNoWriMo? Announce your intention to join this November and give yourself the benefit of the half-off cost. (Or check with NaNoWriMo) if cost is still an issue for you, but don’t miss out.) 

Next – Carve Magazine has added online writing classes, beginning August 30. I haven’t tried them, but as a Dallas resident, I’m proud of the reputation this Dallas-based literary magazine has acquired. Click on “classroom” at the site for details.

Finally – Lonestar INK rides again! This Dallas writing conference returns February 28-March 2, 2019, promising workshops, writing contests, agents, editors, pitches, the whole shebang! Because the enthusiastic crowd this past February overflowed the facilities available at the Dallas Public Library, organizers are working to find a more comfortable venue. The price probably will be a little higher than 2018’s, but still hundreds less than comparable conferences. Look for Lonestar INK’s website to go live the last week of August.

Cozy up to summer's mystery beach reads

As temperatures in Texas climb steadily above the 100-degree mark, I find myself reluctant to undertake anything strenuous – even in reading. Usually, I welcome books that challenge my mind, that require my undivided attention. But that was before temperatures reached stratospheric records. Now all I want are reads that can be conducted in front of a fan, that could be laid down languidly between sips of something cool.

Goodbye long reads, strenuous reads, anything that requires more than a modicum of mental effort. Give me books that don’t scare me (much) and don’t make me cry (more than a little). Books that give me a smile and a happy ending. Books that can be their own staycation.

In case anybody else is in the same place, I have some suggestions. 

Usually, I’m a thriller kind of person. Global-level stakes, strenuous action, and of course, explosions. But when summer strikes, I turn to cozies. You know, the gentle mysteries, usually featuring amateur sleuths, low body counts, and minimal gore. 

I’m not averse to re-reading old favorites, but my most recent read was a newbie, Hope Never Dies, by Andrew Shaffer. You know the latest from the satirist who brought us (under his pen name, Fanny Merkin) Fifty Shames of Earl Grey will be hilarious. Shaffer doesn’t disappoint with Hope Never Dies, a road trip/mystery featuring a Holmes/Watsonish pairing of former POTUS Barak Obama and ex-veep Joe Biden that even those of multiple political persuasions can enjoy.

image: pixabay

How much trouble can two guys who were once world leaders get into as they try their hands at solving a murder without their accustomed accoutrements of power? The answer is – plenty. For a low-tech person like me, Hope Never Dies offers another bonus -- the paperback version was easy to tuck into the bag of swim stuff I toted to the pool and dipped into while keeping an eye on my grandkids.

I’m now dipping into a relative newbie from an old favorite author: The Painted Queen, co-written by late, lamented mystery divas Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess. It's the final chapter on Peters’ fictitious old-style Egyptologists Amelia Peabody and her irascible husband Radcliffe Emerson.

Mystery lovers as well as Egyptologists mourned the death in 2013 of Peters (aka Barbara Mertz). Happily, Peters left behind notes on the final chapter of her heroes, completed by her friend and fellow mystery writer Joan Hess shortly before Hess’s own death in late 2017. (Talk about the curse of the pharaohs!) 

Now out in paperback, The Painted Queen showcases Hess’s ability to channel her late friend’s spirit in dishing up a final dashing spoof of late Victorian adventure novels as Peabody and Emerson (the couple’s pet names for each other) fend off assassins, tomb robbers and master criminals with the aid of Peabody’s every-handy parasol while also tackling a real-life mystery surrounding an iconic portrait of enigmatic ancient queen Nefertiti.

I’ve been able to sleep soundly through the nights during the reading of these cozies. But, you say, you like your readings a little chillier. For something that can make me shiver even while the mercury climbs, I love the gothic mysteries of Carol Goodman. Goodman also writes YA, but for adult readers I recommend any of her stand-alone mysteries, from the original Lake of Dead Languages, to this year’s release, The Other Mother. 

But for readers who, like me, favor exotic locales and a dash of history with their mystery, try The Night Villa (centered around the excavation of a house buried in the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius and The Sonnet Lover with its bonus of original Renaissance-style sonnets.

All include Goodman’s blend of women academics, murder, and eerie, even downright spooky effects. Mix, chill and enjoy on a long, hot summer day!