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Crocodile on the Sandbank is a novel written by Barbara Mertz (under the pseudonym Elizabeth Peters). Released in 1975, it is the first novel featuring recurring protagonist Amelia Peabody and features her travelling to Egypt.
Characters[]
- Amelia Peabody
- Evelyn Barton-Forbes
- Radcliffe Emerson
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Publisher's Summary[]
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 . . .
Full Summary[]
Amelia Peabody meets the destitute Evelyn Forbes in Rome. Her titled and very British grandfather has cast her off. Evelyn had run off with her Italian art teacher Alberto, who did not marry her and then abandoned her. Amelia’s travelling companion falls ill in Rome and returns to England, so it is her good fortune to meet Evelyn.
Amelia Peabody is the youngest of six and the only daughter. She ran her father’s household, dealt with tradespeople, and enjoyed his interests of history and archaeology, and the British Museum. Her much older brothers lived on their own. Her father named her as his sole heir, leaving her half a million pounds upon his death, when she is 32 years old. This inheritance allows Amelia to travel abroad in 1884 to follow her enthusiasm for the places she had studied, and for antiquities.
Amelia is a determined, outspoken and unorthodox English woman. She expects that she will never marry, as she believes she is unattractive and she will neither submit to a man nor rule one.
Amelia employs Evelyn as a companion to Egypt, having bought new clothes for both in Rome. They become fast friends. In Cairo they stay at Shepheard’s Hotel. Visiting the museum, they encounter the Emerson brothers, Radcliffe and Walter, archaeologist and philologist respectively. Amelia falls in love with the pyramids at Giza.
Amelia and Evelyn decide to travel up the River Nile in a dahabeah, stopping at various sites along the way. When they reach Amarna, they discover the Emersons excavating the city which for a while was the capital of Egypt under the pharaoh Akhenaten.
Radcliffe Emerson is loud, often rude, scornful of women, determined, and single-minded about his chosen career. He has a fever; she tends him with Walter’s aid. Once Emerson is somewhat better, she works to preserve tomb artwork. Amelia and Emerson begin to respect one another. Evelyn is attracted to Walter, but is convinced her soiled reputation bars marriage.
Evelyn's cousin Lucas shows up at the site with a story about her grandfather's death, his new title, and a proposal of marriage to Evelyn, which she declines. There is the problem of a person disguised as a mummy walking at night where they sleep. The group pulls together to entrap the person. The workers have stopped work at the dig, being afraid of this intruder. Lucas shoots Walter in the shoulder, letting the intruder get away. There are more missed chances before Emerson and Amelia figure out what is happening and interfere effectively.
Rejected suitors Alberto, as the walking mummy, and Lucas Luigi, with his guns and doctored wine, teamed up to get Evelyn and her grandfather’s final will, ready to leave her dead in their greed. Her grandfather sent that will in the trunks of her clothing, which have not yet reached Evelyn. Grandfather left his money and property to her; his title goes to Lucas. The two are brought to Cairo.
Two years later, Amelia and Emerson are married and expecting their first child, as the Amarna dig season nears its end. Evelyn and Walter are also married, awaiting the birth of their second child at her estate, Ellesemere Castle, in Shropshire.
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