R.I.P. Barbara Mertz AKA Elizabeth Peters

May she rest in peace. I loved her Amelia Peabody books. Victorian-era feminism and Egyptology! What an improbable and wonderful combination.

I know at least five women who went on to earn Ph.D. in archaeology or Egyptology because of her books.

*sigh*

This hurts.

Aw. I never read the whole series, but I did like the first few Amelia Peabody books.

I love her books. I'm sad.

She Shall Thunder in the Sky.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear this! I love the Amelia Peabody books. I picked up one of the books for $3 once not knowing it was a series and I got sucked in. A whole row of my bookshelf is now dedicated to her books.

AMMIE COME HOME, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THE DARK ON THE OTHER SIDE, BE BURIED IN THE RAIN, SONS OF THE

Her books were sharply written, eerie fun, and her heroines were flawed, likeable, always very real. I hope she was very proud of her work; she deserved to be.

My favorite of her books was Murders of Richard III but I also really liked the Vicky Bliss books.

Such a loss. I've been rereading the Amelia series the past couple weeks. I read all the Michaels books and own her (Mertz) NF on Egyptology. I can pick up any of the Amelia books and get pulled in all over again.

I just found out today. Doggone. I think I've read all of her books as Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. She will be missed.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

I didn't read the entire Amelia Peabody series (just the first 3 or 4) and I loved the Vicky Bliss books but my favourite was her character Jacqueline Kirby.

I also found it interesting that she was often mentioned in in the author's notes or given special thanks in the books written by other authors that I enjoy - specifically Joan Hess, Parnell Hall and Margaret Maron. It always sounded like she had such a great time with some wonderful friends in the mystery writing community.

Very sad news.

I'm very sad about the news. She is one of my top three favorite writers and I admire her ability to create memorable characters. She once said in an interview that Amelia Peabody was her alter ego, and that trying to work as a woman archaelogist in 1885 wasn't that much more difficult than when she was trying to get a job in archaeology in the 1950s.

May she R.I.P.