8.4 /10 1 Votes8.4
4.3/5 Barnes & Noble Language English Pages 350 pp Originally published 2005 | 4.1/5 Goodreads Country United States Publication date 2005 ISBN 0-06-059178-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback & paperback) Preceded by Tomb of the Golden Bird, Guardian of the Horizon, Children of the Storm, Lord of the Silent Followed by Tomb of the Golden Bird, Children of the Storm Similar Barbara Mertz books, Amelia Peabody series books, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Serpent on the Crown is the 17th in a series of historical mystery novels, written by Elizabeth Peters and featuring fictional sleuth and archaeologist Amelia Peabody.
Contents
Plot summary
In 1922, the Emersons are excavating at Deir el Medina when a melodramatic visitor delivers a challenge—and a solid gold ancient statuette—to them: find out where it came from and why it brings bad luck to its owners. Emerson, of course, doesn't believe in curses, but he does believe someone has robbed a find of historic proportions. When their visitor turns up dead and her stepchildren disappear, everyone except the Emersons believe the murder is a family affair.
Ramses, meanwhile, finds a papyrus which he suspects to be of historic importance, and an assistant who is not all he seems.
Title
The book's title is from the Poetical Stela of Thutmose III:
"I have robbed their nostrils of the breath of life and made the dread of you fill their hearts. My serpent on your brow consumed them."