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Author
Elizabeth Peters, the
pen name of Egyptologist Barbara
Mertz, has created a universe
around the fictional Egyptologist
Radcliffe Emerson, his wife Amelia
Peabody, their relatives,
children, servants and Egyptian
workers. Characters such as Cat
Bastet, the Master Criminal and
the Father of Curses delight her
legions of fans. She has dozens of
pleasing mysteries spanning four
decades around the turn of the
Nineteenth Century. The doyenne of
this mystery genre, her website is
well-developed and great fun to
visit for a list and summary of
all the books. www.ameliapeabody.com
Her warmhearted support of
ARCE-OC's fundraising event "Tea
with Amelia Peabody" makes us
twice as fond of her!
 Author
Lauren Haney
establishes Lieutenant Bak as the
protagonist solving mysteries at
the gigantic real life fortress of
Buhen, on the Nile at Egypt's
southern border. There is fertile
ground for ill doing along this
trade route with Africa. She is no
longer writing these, but a small
series exists in paperback and can
be found from used booksellers. No
website.
Author Linda
Robinson's key
character is Lord Meren, a
nobleman ill treated by the late
and unloved Pharaoh Akhenaten.
Meren is part of young Pharaoh
Tutankhamen's cabinet, and solves
mysteries that threaten Tut's life
and his fragile rule. He interacts
with all kinds of high-ranking and
overly self-important nobles, army
commanders, priests in temples and
other suspicious types. Meren has
grown-up daughters who do not
always behave with the decorum he
expects. The series has ended, but
books can still be found from used
booksellers. https://www.meren.com/
 Author
Pauline Gedge does the
best job of describing the
environment of Ancient Egypt, with
lavish palaces, harem quarters,
river front estates and life among
the upper classes. Her debut novel
was a chilling mystery about the
terrible toll extracted by the
dead brought back to life by the
inadvertent speaking of a magical
spell. Mirage [US] Scroll
of Sakkara [UK]. Child
of the Morning is about
Queen Hatshepsut. The Twelfth
Transforming is about the
Amarna era told from Queen Tiye's
POV. Gedge has a two-volume series
focused on the harem conspiracy
against Ramses III, House
of Dreams and The
House of Illusion/The Lady of
the Reeds. Two other longer
series are the Lords of the
Two Lands and the King's
Men Trilogy. Later books
are still in print; earlier ones
available from used booksellers. www.paulinegedge.com/
 Back
in the 1960s, political novelist
Alan Drury produced a
two-volume set on the politics of
the Amarna heresy: A God
Against the Gods and Return
to Thebes. Fast-paced, it
features plotting by Nefertiti,
Akhenaten, the Priests of Amun,
Pharaoh Amenhotep III, the Great
Royal Wife Tiye and everybody else
on the family tree. This can be
found from used booksellers.
Wilbur Smith has
written a couple of utterly
preposterous but fast-paced
adventure novels about hunting for
treasure amidst the cataracts of
the Nile.
French author Christian
Jacq is a prolific
writer whose novels have been
translated into English. Jacq does
an exceptional job in creating the
magical worldview prevalent in
Ancient Egypt; this is not to
everyone's taste. His books
feature well-known historical
characters, along with simply
named, low-class companions who
interact with, rescue and run
errands for the royals. He has a
five- volume set on Rameses II, as
well as The Black Pharaoh,
The Tutankhamun Affair,
He has no website but is on
Facebook.
Mika Waltari's
book, The Egyptian, was
the basis for the movie of the
same name, basically a retelling
of the tale of Sinuhe.
Moyra
Caldcott is a British
Author who writes books about key
figures in Egyptian history, like
Hatshepsut and Akhenaten, infused
with mysticism. Her books can be
purchased in paperback
and in Kindle editions. www.moyracaldecott.co.uk/
Children's
Books
 Mara,
Daughter of the Nile and The
Golden Goblet by Eloise
J. McGraw are Newberry
Award winners and used in schools
in California.
Lucille Morrison's
Lost Queen of Egypt, out
of print and selling for $300
online when it does show up, is
still available at the L.A. Public
Library and probably elsewhere.
Written at the middle-school
level, it follows the life of
Ankhesenpaaten, the princess who
wed King Tutankhamun.
Two books, The
Winged Cat and Zekmet,
the Stone Carver: A Tale of
Ancient Egypt by ARCE
member Deborah Nourse
Lattimore have lush
illustrations and a nice
storyline.
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