Children of the Storm

Children of the Storm
by Elizabeth Peters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"The Great War has ended at last. No longer must archaeologist Amelia Peabody and her husband, Emerson, the distinguished Egyptologist, fear for the life of their daring son, Ramses, now free from his dangerous wartime obligations to British Intelligence. The advent of a season of joy and peace marks a time of new beginnings in Luxor, with delightful additions to the growing Emerson family and fascinating wonders waiting to be discovered beneath the shifting Egyptian sands."

This is the 15th entry in the Amelia Peabody series and despite the end of the war their lives are as crowded as ever with enemies, crimes, heroics, and puzzles for Amelia to untangle while she admires the fine physique of her domineering husband. Amelia is a wonderfully entertaining character--she has always wanted to board a pirate ship with a cutlas in her teeth but is concerned about the logistics of such a thing and the dental problems that might result--and she is voiced brilliantly by Barbara Rosenblat in the audiobook version.  There is quite a bit in this book about the character of Sethos, which I liked, and Selim has a dramatic part to play as well. 

This book counts towards my Cruisin' Through the Cozies challenge either for the mystery set outside the US--Egypt in this case--or the historical category. I will figure out where I need it when I sum up at the end of the challenge.

Review: Cross Bones

Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Great audiobook (love Barbara Rosenblat as a narrator). There was a ton of biblical archaeology in this novel which I knew nothing about before and which was fascinating. The story starts with a murder in Quebec and leads Tempe and her handsome policeman beau to Israel and a tangle of Biblical scholars and raided tombs. 
 
I am counting this toward the Canadian Book Challenge. Speaking of which, the 10th Canadian Book Challenge starts on July 1, 2016, so the time to sign up is now. 

Review: Devil Bones

Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I listened to this book read by Barbara Rosenblat--one of my favorite audiobook narrators. I enjoyed the story, and the character of Tempe Brennan is an appealing one. The foreshadowing in the novel was a bit heavy-handed though and there were perhaps more false leads than were really necessary.
The author lives and works part of the time in Montreal (as does her character Temperance Brennan) and one of the characters in this story is a Quebecois police officer. I am counting this toward the Canadian Book Challenge.

Review: A River in the Sky

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amelia Peabody just cracks me up. This was an excellent adventure with lots of situations where Peabody gushed over the marvelous Emerson and was sensible (yet ridiculous) with her plans and lists and such. A really good adventure story with a lot of humor despite the serious events. The narrator of this audio version (Barbara Rosenblat) to was just wonderful. I liked how the story was told from 2 mostly simultaneous points of view with "excerpts from manuscript H."
I am counting this as my "body of water in the title" book for the What's in a Name Challenge.