Mertz, Michaels and Peters

Elizabeth Peters is the pseudonym of Barbara Mertz, a real-life Egyptologist. Mertz has had two Egyptology books for the layperson released under her own name. She also writes romantic suspense novels under the pseudonym Barbara Michael. All told, over four decades, she's had over 40 books published.

As Elizabeth Peters, she has three main series: Vicky Bliss, an American art expert who lives and works in Germany; Jacqueline Kirby, a librarian; and Egyptologists Amelia Peabody and her husband, Radcliffe Emerson.

My least favorite series is the Vicky Bliss series. Although I liked the novel that introduced her, Borrower of the Night (1973), the remaining books in the series irritate me more than anything else. In Street of the Five Moons Bliss meets the charming jewel thief John Smythe, and falls in love with him, despite the fact that he's a thief. I dislike that trope, and so have never cared for these books.

Vicky Bliss
Borrower of the Night (1973)
Street of the Five Moons (1978)
Silhouette in Scarlet (1983)
Trojan Gold (1987)
Night Train to Memphis (1994)
The Laughter of Dead Kings (2008)

Jacqueline Kirby is my favorite book series now, only because I haven't cared for the later novels in the Peabody series.

The Seventh Sinner (1972)
Murders of Richard III (1974)
Die for Love (1984)
Naked Once More (1989)

The Murders of Richard III is the first Elizabeth Peters book I ever read, and my first introduction to the mystery of Richard III.

The first two...or even three...novels in the Amelia Peabody series are my absolute favorites. Loved the character. Loved the interplay between her and Radcliffe Emerson. Then, she had a child, Ramses. And soon Ramses became the focal point of the stories...or at least, the soap opera between him and their adopted daughter (would he or would he not have the guts to ask her out on a date) just really got on my nerves.)

I continue to read the books, because I continue to enjoy Amelia and Emerson, but I confess I skim through all the sections that they are not in!
Here's the Amelia Peabody series:

Crocodile on the Sandbank. 1975. (Covers the 1884–85 Season)
The Curse of the Pharaohs. 1981. (Covers the 1892–93 Season)
The Mummy Case. 1985. (Covers the 1894–95 Season)
Lion in the Valley. 1986. (Covers the 1895–96 Season)
The Deeds of the Disturber. 1988. (Covers Summer 1896)
The Last Camel Died at Noon. 1991. (Covers the 1897–98 Season)
The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog. 1992. (Covers the 1898–99 Season)
The Hippopotamus Pool. 1996. (Covers the 1899–1900 Season)
Seeing a Large Cat. 1997. (Covers the 1903–04 Season)
The Ape Who Guards the Balance. 1998. (Covers the 1906–07 Season)
The Falcon at the Portal. 1999. (Covers the 1911–12 Season)
He Shall Thunder in the Sky. 2000. (Covers the 1914–15 Season)
Lord of the Silent. 2001. (Covers the 1915–16 Season)
The Golden One. 2002. (Covers the 1916–17 Season)
Children of the Storm. April 2003. (Covers the 1919–20 Season)
Guardian of the Horizon. March 2004. (Covers the 1907–08 Season)
The Serpent on the Crown. March 2005. (Covers the 1922 Season)
Tomb of the Golden Bird. March 2006.