The painted queen Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess ; archaeological consultant: Salima Ikram, Distinguished Professor, American University in Cairo.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Egypt, 1912--Amelia Peabody and her dashing archeologist husband, Radcliffe Emerson, are once again in danger as they search for a priceless, stolen bust of legendary Queen Nefertiti and Amelia finds herself the target of assassins in this long-awaited, eagerly anticipated final installment of Elizabeth Peters' bestselling, beloved mystery series.

Arriving in Cairo for another thrilling excavation season, Amelia is relaxing in a well-earned bubble bath in her elegant hotel suite in Cairo, when a man with knife protruding from his back staggers into the bath chamber and utters a single word--"Murder"--before collapsing on the tiled floor, dead. Among the few possessions he carried was a sheet of paper with Amelia's name and room number, and a curious piece of pasteboard the size of a calling card bearing one word: "Judas." Most peculiarly, the stranger was wearing a gold-rimmed monocle in his left eye.

It quickly becomes apparent that someone saved Amelia from a would-be assassin--someone who is keeping a careful eye on the intrepid Englishwoman. Discovering a terse note clearly meant for Emerson--Where were you?"--pushed under their door, there can be only one answer: the brilliant master of disguise, Sethos.

But neither assassins nor the Genius of Crime will deter Amelia as she and Emerson head to the excavation site at Amarna, where they will witness the discovery of one of the most precious Egyptian artifacts: the iconic Nefertiti bust. In 1345 B.C. the sculptor Thutmose crafted the piece in tribute to the great beauty of this queen who was also the chief consort of Pharaoh Akhenaten and stepmother to King Tutankhamun.

For Amelia, this excavation season will prove to be unforgettable. Throughout her journey, a parade of men in monocles will die under suspicious circumstances, fascinating new relics will be unearthed, a diabolical mystery will be solved, and a brilliant criminal will offer his final challenge . . . and perhaps be unmasked at last.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Mystery surrounds the legendary Egyptian queen Nefertiti bust discovered in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. While the world may never know how the artifact ended up in Germany, we now understand the roles the great archaeologist Radcliffe Emerson and his equally eminent wife, Amelia Peabody, had in its discovery. Following the events detailed in The Falcon at the Portal, Amelia and her family are gearing up for another excavation season. No sooner do they check in to their Cairo hotel than a man tries to kill Amelia. While accustomed to danger, she and her husband must determine who is trying to get rid of them this time. After their son Ramses reports that someone tried to kill him, their adopted daughter Nefret figures out that the family of her former husband, Geoffrey Godwin, are seeking revenge for his death. When legendary author Peters died in 2013, she left behind a partially finished manuscript for this book. Her friend and fellow mystery writer Hess agreed to finish the story. Hess tries too hard to emulate Peter's style and, at times, the writing veers toward parody. VERDICT Despite a few flaws, devoted Amelia Peabody fans (this reviewer counts herself as one) will read this book with tears in their eyes as they bid farewell to these much-loved characters (and author). [See Prepub Alert, 1/30/17.]-Lynnanne -Pearson, Skokie P.L., IL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

The final novel in the Amelia Peabody mystery series features outspoken archaeologist Amelia and company dodging assassins while searching from Cairo to Amama for the stolen bust of Queen Nefertiti. Almost as challenging as Amelia's quest is reader Rosenblat's task of giving voice to these larger-than-life characters with charm and credibility intact. The actor, who plays Miss Rosa on Orange is the New Black, smartly captures Amelia's husband Radcliffe's irascibility and bombast without edging into snobbery. Her mirroring of the fragile relationship between moody son Ramses and aloof daughter-in-law Nefrit, caught just after the demise of their hasty marriage, is exemplary. And her silken, unruffled voice for"master criminal" Sethos fits both his good-bad-guy status and his flirtatious nature. He, like everyone except the assassins, has fallen under the spell of the novel's protagonist-narrator Amelia, whom Rosenblat presents with all of her romantic, confident, stubborn, feminist, witty, and intelligent flags flying. A Morrow hardcover. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Loyal fans of the Amelia Peabody mysteries will welcome this final episode, accurately reported by Peters' friend and fellow mystery writer Hess. The death of Peters (pen name of Barbara Mertz) in 2013 signaled the end of the much-loved 20-book series. Hess has done an excellent job of carrying the narrative forward in Peters' fast-paced, entertaining style, portraying the series' palpable sense of adventure and the affection and witty repartee between Egyptologist Peabody and her husband, Radcliffe Emerson. The Emersons are back in Amarna, Egypt, for the 1912-13 excavation season, where the famous bust of Nefertiti has been discovered by Ludwig Borchardt. Problems occur when the bust disappears, then reappears in duplicate. Amelia and Emerson are so distracted by the implications of this event that a gang of monocle-sporting killers seems a minor inconvenience. Everyone in the familiar Peabody-Emerson cast is present or accounted for, tying up loose ends with panache and optimism. Series devotees may choose to branch out with the exploits of Tasha Alexander's similarly clever Lady Emily Ashton.--Baker, Jen Copyright 2017 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

The 19th installment of the adventures of an archaeological family facing a vendetta as they chase a real-life artifact.Life is never dull for Amelia Peabody in her marriage to professor Radcliffe Emerson, the greatest Egyptologist of the 19th centuryand now the 20th. Even a bubble bath in Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo is anything but restful when a man bursts in on Amelia, utters "You.Murder!," and falls dead with a knife in his back. When Emerson rushes to his wife and searches the corpse's pocket, he finds a card with the name "Judas" written on it. Emerson also trips over a small carved wooden head of Akhenaton, the Heretic Pharaoh, whose capital city, Tell el-Amarna, is the next stop but one on the Emersons' itinerary. Reunited there with their son, Ramses, they learn that a man had tried to kill him, too, and that another target on Judas' hit list is the chief excavator of the Amarna site, Herr Morgenstern, who's been behaving oddly and taken himself off to Cairo. With the discovery and disappearance of a beautiful painted carving of Nefertiti comes the realization that the Emersons' foster daughter's late husband's five half brothers have sworn vengeance on her adoptive family. One brother was the Judas who was stabbed in the back; Guy (for Fawkes) dies in his attempt to blow up the Emersons; Cromwell's namesake is decapitated when he tries to kill Ramses. Subsequent murders, abductions, flash floods, camel-back races, and interventions by a supposed nemesis alternate with frequent breaks for tea, sandwiches, and whiskey as the Emersons wonder what fate's in store for them and their remaining assassins, Absalom and Flitworthy. Hess (Pride vs. Prejudice, 2015, etc.) undoubtedly had a daunting task in completing the final manuscript of the late Egyptologist Peters (A River in the Sky, 2010, etc.). Fans will cherish the legacy; newcomers will be forgiven for fidgeting through the busy plot and arch humor. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Joan Hess was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1949. She received a bachelor's degree in art from the University of Arkansas in 1971 and a master's degree in education from Long Island University in 1974. For several years, she taught art in a private preschool.

Her first book, Strangled Prose, was published in 1986. She was the author of the Claire Malloy Mystery series and the Arly Hanks Mystery series. A Diet to Die For won the American Mystery Award for best traditional novel of 1989. A short story, Too Much to Bare, received the Agatha Award in 1990 and the McCavity Award in 1991. She also wrote the Theo Bloomer series under the pseudonym Joan Hadley. She finished the final Amelia Peabody novel, The Painted Queen, using the notes of Elizabeth Peters and their conversations to finish the book. It was published in 2017. She died on November 23, 2017 at the age of 68.

(Bowker Author Biography)