Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters

Amelia Peabody Emerson, her grouchy, brilliant husband Radcliffe Emerson, her son Ramses, his wife Nefret and their children Charla and David John return to the Valley of the Kings for another season of Egyptology and uncovering tombs.

But this season will be different, as Howard Carter and his Patron, Lord Carnarvon, are determined to unearth the tomb of Tutankhamun, which Emerson is certain lies within the Eastern part of the Valley of the Kings. In fact, Radcliffe Emerson worked out its location the year before, but lost the firman, the right to work on that particular part of the Valley, to Carter, due to an argument with M. Lacau. Now, Emerson offers to take back the Firman from Carter, but Carter is alerted by this that Emerson thinks or knows that something is there.

So Emerson is left out, and is infuriated by this, so he keeps a surreptitious watch on the area the tomb is located in and is there for most of the major discoveries. But when he discovers that Carter and Lord Carnarvon have entered the tomb in the night, and that Carnarvon has removed some of the objects from the tomb, he is wroth, and this causes an argument, the end result of which is Emerson and his family being banned from the tomb site.

But they have other problems to deal with besides the Gurneh Tomb robbers and the crowds of gawkers drawn to the discovery of the first nearly intact tomb ever discovered. Sethos has returned to Egypt, and he's been injured and is suffering a relapse of malaria. He's been working for the British Government as a spy, and has uncovered a cipher wanted by many parties. Knowing Ramses' predilection for riddles and puzzles of all types, he wants Ramses' help in deciphering it. Ramses agrees to try, but his expertise in that area is slight, having only been interested in such puzzles when he was a boy. Unfortunately, he fails in everything he tries.

And it isn't just Sethos and the British Government who are interested in the cipher. Rough men stalk the Emersons and even kidnap Ramses and Radcliffe to try and get them to tell where "he" is. But when they bribe David's daughter, Charla, with candy to try and get information out of her, Ramses is infuriated, and no man can stand before Ramses, Brother to Demons, and Radcliffe Emerson, Father of Curses, when they are determined to bring someone down. Add in Sethos' estranged wife Margaret Minton, and the usual host of characters and its more dead bodies and intrigue for the Emerson family!

I did enjoy this book, but I have to say that I am getting tired of the Emerson family, at least, the first generation. I'd much rather read about Ramses and his wife Nefret, and his friend, David Todros and David's wife Lia than listen to Amelia fling about more timeworn clichés and have Radcliffe "Hmph!" and "Harrum"ing his way through another book. Sometimes coming back to them is like being back amongst family, but by the end of the book, you remember why the same family you thought you missed makes you want to tear all your hair out by the roots!

Even though the books move along in time, and this one concerns the whole Tomb of Tutenkhamun, that's really what I wanted to read about, not the political intrigue that underlies the plot of the book. I read these books because I enjoy archaeology, but the family doesn't really do that any more, and I am running out of enjoyment for this series. What used to be interesting and fun is becoming dreary and dull, and I'm not sure how much longer I will be willing to put up with it.

For those that enjoy this series, this is more of the same. For those that don't, you can join me in hoping for a change in tone soonest.