Rating: 
Summary: Elizabeth Peters is as good as ever
Review: I always eagerly await the next Amelia Peabody adventure, and this was worth the wait. Peters had plateaued for awhile, but her latest Amelia tales have recovered the charm and excitement of the earlier ones. Ramses and Nefret are growing as characters of their own. Dare I hope that she will start a new series with Ramses alone? There seems to be the hint of that possibility, but maybe it's my imagination.... An abduction attempt at Amelia in England leads them to suspect the Master Criminal once again, and this year's Egyptian expedition is off to a lively start. Emerson is frustrated at not being allowed to start any new digs in the Valley of the Kings, but discovers another tomb anyway. Ramses, David and Nefret are more involved in this one, and both Ramses's and David's romantic interests add an interesting spice to the story. Wonderful as usual, and if you have met Amelia and her family before, I don't need to explain. If you haven't, it's time you got acquainted.
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Summary: One of the best in the series
Review: Highly regarded archeologist Professor Radcliffe Emerson has recently alienated too many administrators. In retaliation, he has been relegated to wandering around the Egypt's Valley of the Kings, which by 1907 has been explored too many times for any individual to get excited about it. However, having his beloved wife Amelia Peabody, their adult son Ramses, and their foster children (Nefret and David) along with him will ease the tedium. In a slummy section of Cairo, the children purchase a papyrus of the Book of the Dead. Abruptly what was to be a dull season has become very exciting because two people are murdered and the Master Criminal has surfaced. This time he defeats Amelia in his game of cat and mouse, but fails to account for her now maturing allies, the next generation of Emersons, who just might tip the scales back in favor of the good guys. The tenth Peabody novel, THE APE WHO GUARDS THE BALANCE, demonstrates why Elizabeth Peters recently was the recipient of the Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America. The novel, like all the Peabody tales, is complicated but humorous and loaded with interesting historical references from two eras (antiquity and the first decade of the twentieth century) that surround an intriguing mystery. However, what makes the latest entry so refreshing and fun to read is the maturing of the next generation of Emersons. This will elate fans of the series and bring in new readers as well. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: PHARAOH EMERSON & FAMILY
Review: Elizabeth Peters writes with an assured cadence. Her stories seem to unfold as though revealed in a handwritten letter and with elegant penmanship. Having read two delightful short stories set in Egypt I was ready to immerse myself in a full length book. For the first time the clerk in my bookstore approved of my choice. She was a devoted fan of the Amelia Peabody series. I was sure to love it. Before this she had failed to comment on any of my bi-weekly mystery selections. I sensed I was in for something special. The quality of writing did not disappoint. The archeology felt authentic. I learned a lot about excavating Egypt. The settings seemed appropriate to the times and circumstances. I even lamented the intrusion of industrialization upon gentler traditions. I was reminded of Merchant & Ivory. The Emersons could have been so much more compelling. They are a liberally-collected rainbow group who would be welcomed and entertained at most sophisticated social events of OUR time, but would xenophic and racist Londoners toward the end of Victoria's reign been so kind to compatriots who had "gone native"? Yet it was the mixed backgrounds of two of the "children" that I thought could have yielded the most interest. What was uninteresting to me was how physically attractive they had to be. Emerson's "steely arms" and "muscular chest"; Ramses' physical stature and attraction for women; David's appearance being similar to Ramses with "the long-lashed dark eyes"; and "strikingly pretty, extremely intelligent" Nefret was even blessed with laughter "like sunlit water bubbling over pebbles". Peabody herself was able to look good in any outfit while being the object of a Master Criminal's desires. Did they also have to be rich and well-bred? Then I was reminded of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. I much prefer Elizabeth Peters' short story characters: Senu, the carpenter, and Rennefer, the weaver, or Baenre, the potter, "a scanty little man with thin hair and sharp bones", to these pharaoh-like protagonists. Without the lordly Emersons the short stories are able to plunge the reader directly into that heat and dust where, due to the humble (or average) circumstances of the characters, there is no escaping the mystery, but to solve it. The Emersons were in Egypt by choice. Their wealth, background, and physical stature distinguished them from the masses. They were even more privileged and rarified than their "lesser" countrymen, some whose careers kept them in Egypt. Throughout the book it occured to me that if situations turned too ugly The Emersons could have decamped to London for a season of ablutions and liberal causes. I hope Elizabeth Peters, with her knowledge of Egyptology and excellent writing skills, will give us a book length mystery involving Egyptians in their own country.
Rating: 
Summary: "The Perils of Peabody"
Review: 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.
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Summary: The Return of the Master Criminal, Sethos
Review: The Master Criminal, one of the best characters in the Amelia Peabody series, returns in The Ape Who Guards the Balance. I also enjoyed hearing parts of the story from different points of view (in addition to Amelia's).
Rating:
Summary: Flawed Entry in a Usually Delightful Series
Review: A series as long-running as the Peabody books is bound to contain a few duds. The Lion in the Valley, The Deeds of the Disturber, and The Hippopotamus Pool all had their share of problems, but The Ape Who Guards the Balance manages to offend in a way none of these earlier works did. It has excellent sections, particularly in the interactions between Ramses, David, and Nefret, and the Emersons' presence at the botched excavation of KV55 was a nice touch, but both the central mystery and the key emotional events of this volume are wasted effort. The mystery is not a terribly interesting one; the opening chapter makes it clear that Sethos is back and that there will be even more people creeping about in various disguises than usual (this is possibly the weakness of this series in general). Sethos I can handle, but the villain of this book was tiresome the first two times she popped up and is even worse in this round. Peters undercuts any feminist agenda she might have by inadvertently making a key villainess far less compelling than one-shot villains like Riccetti and Pesanker. Bring back Lady Baskerville, if you must, but no more of this! As for the personal travails of the Emerson clan... the troubles foreshadowed in the previous book are hinted at more and more strongly here, and then the images of a fratricidal tangle over Nefret resolve abruptly in a way that might be realistic in life but is unsatisfying as fiction. Some people fall in love, some are revealed as latent racists who turn upon their loved ones in times of stress, some die, and some stay the same. None of this turmoil is terribly affecting-and this is in the tenth volume of a series I've devoted much time and mental energy to, a series whose characters are 'people' I enjoy spending time with! I feel the series soared back on course with Falcon at the Portal, and reached higher still with He Shall Thunder in the Sky, but Ape just didn't cohere.
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Summary: Check out Ms. Rosenblat's performance
Review: I've been listening to the Amelia Peabody series while commuting for the past couple of months and have enjoyed the tapes so very much. I've been lucky enough to be listening to the Barbara Rosenblat version of the series. Samantha Eggar is fine as a reader, but Barbara Rosenblat makes each character distinct and easy to recognize. She has a warm, clear voice, seems completely at ease with this series and has no problem with any of the characterizations Elizabeth Peters throws her way. At the end of the Rosenblat version of "Ape Who Guards the Balance" is an interview with Peters and Rosenblatt which is well-worth listening to.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst book I have ever read!
Review: I have never written a negative review, but this book is the worst I have ever read! I cannot stand any of the characters. The author belittles the readers ability to understand plot without explaining every thought (and she labels it "clever" so as to dumb down the reader) as if we would never be smart enough to understand unless she s-p-e-l-l-s it out for us. You probably wonder why I kept reading it. Metaphorically speaking, it was like a train wreck, or the car wreck that you have to slow down and observe (by the way, notice how I just spoke down to you because your limited intellect would have NEVER known that I was speaking metaphorically unless I told you!). I thought that nobody could be this bad at telling a story. You know, I was wrong! This book made the The Celestine Prophecy seem good in comparison (another book that I have issues). So, I really feel sorry for the readers that think this is good writing! If you do, you might want to check out The Celestine Prophecy (very preachy and you don't have to think).
Rating:
Summary: It depends on what you're looking for . . .
Review: Fans of Amelia Peabody and her willful entourage will enjoy this addition to the series. As a stand-alone story it leaves much to be desired. There's a lot more talk than action, more brute violence than sophisticated mystery, more accounting of trivial social events than archaeological puzzles. And if you haven't read the previous books, you'll probably be confused by the recurring characters and their agendas. Still, aficionados won't want to miss the latest chapter in the lives of a unique and very entertaining family.
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Summary: Enticing Cavort in Edwardian Egypt
Review: I do not read many mystery novels - generally, I read the first and last five pages, to see the problem and its solution. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie were about the only mystery writers I ever read - until I read "The Ape Who Guards the Balance", by Elizabeth Peters. I could not put it down, and am now a confirmed Peabody enthusiast. The story is well-crafted, delivered with wit, charm, and elegance of style. The characters are all believable (some feat, surely, for people of such fondness for peroration) and framed with precision and allure. I shan't give away any details, as I hate to ruin a good yarn, which this surely is. One note: while I do not generally exhort strict adherence to sequential structure, I would advise that the Reader would get more enjoyment from reading the Peabody series in chronological order than hodgepodge. The development and maturation of the characters is more easily displayed and ascertained through sequential order.
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