Ape Who Guards the Balance [Import] [Unbound]

Elizabeth Peters (Author)

Product Details

• Unbound
• Publisher: Perfectbound (May 2002)
• ISBN-10: 0060523255
• ISBN-13: 978-0060523251
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)

More About the Author

ELIZABETH PETERS, whose New York Times best-selling novels are often set against historical backdrops, earned a Ph.D. in Egyptology at the University of Chicago. She also writes best-selling books under the pseudonym Barbara Michaels. She lives in Frederick, Maryland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "The Perils of Peabody", May 5, 2000

By 

Justin Anderson (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ape Who Guards the Balance : An Amelia Peabody Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

Adventurous Egyptologist Amelia Peabody is embroiled in another affair of intrigue and homicide in Elizabeth Peters' "The Ape Who Guards the Balance." Fans of the series will be pleased to know that Peabody and her eccentric family are involved in more adventures and excavations in Egypt, but new readers will quickly warm to Peters' engaging characters. Indeed, in this book Peters devotes almost as many pages to the romantic misadventures of Peabody's extended family as she does to the mystery itself. Readers won't mind, however; Peabody's son Ramses, stepson David and stepdaughter Nefret emerge as full bodied characters in their own right, and they are every bit as willful as their archeaologist parents. Fans of the series will also be pleased to know that "Ape" represents the return of master criminal Sethos, one of the few individuals in the series who can match wits with Peabody. The novel opens with an ingenious robbery where Sethos uses a suffrage demonstration (attended, coincidentally, by a Peabody unaware of the impending theft) as a screen for his operation. When the scene shifts to Egypt and Peabody's clan begins another season of digging, Sethos appears to follow. Soon horribly mutated bodies begin to turn up in the Nile, and it will take the talents of the whole family to crack the case. The "Ape" of the title refers to a figure on amulets worn by the criminal gang involved, and represents an Egyptian god that observed the weighing of an individuals heart after death, an act which determined if the soul was worthy for a place in the afterlife. Peters obviously has a great love for her characters, and her writing is infused with an infectious enthusiasm for the adventures of Peabody and Co. An accomplished student of Egyptology (with a PhD from the prestigious Univ. of Chicago) who weaves historical references into her narratives, Peters the author is just as comfortable describing the dusty streets of Cairo as she is detailing the events of a swanky European dinner party. Peters entertains as well as educates, wisely choosing to keep the Egyptology as the background scenary to her story. "Ape" is an enjoyable trip through turn-of-the-century Egypt taken with good company, and will meet the expectations of old fans while winning some new converts. If there is a weakness to the novel, it is that the mystery appears almost secondary to other plot lines, and the mechinations of the main villain appear so shadowy that the reader is left to wonder if there really is any threat to Peabody. Amateur sleuths may find themselves disappointed, as clues are few and far between. Nonetheless, "Ape" is another solid addition to the Peabody series, and should only add to the popularity of the Egyptologist super sleuth.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a pleasure!, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ape Who Guards the Balance : An Amelia Peabody Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

I have yet to be disappointed by Elizabeth Peters. I love the way that she manages to include ample information about the Victorian period and about archaeological exploration in Egypt while providing a compelling mystery. The family members are engrossing, and this time I was interested in the recurring issue of women's "place" in the society of the time. We heard about the suffrage movement in England and the literacy movement in Egypt, both portents of things to come. I am ready for the next in the series!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing (no-spoiler review), December 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ape Who Guards the Balance : An Amelia Peabody Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

I will admit, I don't read much fiction. Especially not modern fiction. But, being something of an Egyptology enthusiast (small wonder, since I am mother to one) I decided to give this book a go. And I am so glad I did! It actually kept me so interested that I couldn't sleep until I had finished it. I stayed reading till after three a.m. What a pity that this is the only book of the series that my library has!