Barbara Michaels (1927–2013)
Author of Crocodile on the Sandbank
About the Author
Barbara Mertz was born on September 29, 1927 in Astoria, Illinois. She received a bachelor's degree in 1947, a master's degree in 1950 and doctorate in Egyptology in 1952 from the University of Chicago. She wrote a few books using her real name including Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs (1964), Red show more Land, Black Land (1966), and Two Thousand Years in Rome (1968). She also wrote under the pen names Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters. She made her fiction debut, The Master of Blacktower, under the name Barbara Michaels in 1966. She wrote over two dozen novels using this pen name including Sons of the Wolf, Someone in the House, Vanish with the Rose, Dancing Floor, and Other Worlds. Her debut novel under the pen name Elizabeth Peters was The Jackal's Head in 1968. She also wrote the Amelia Peabody series and Vicky Bliss Mystery series using this name. She died on August 8, 2013 at the age of 85. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Barbara Michaels
Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt (1964) — Author — 776 copies, 15 reviews
Amelia Peabody's Egypt: A Compendium (2003) — Contributor; Editor; Foreword — 568 copies, 10 reviews
Malice Domestic 1: An Anthology of Original Traditional Mystery Stories (1992) — Editor; Introduction — 185 copies
Liz Peters, PI [short story] 2 copies
The Dark on the Other Side 1 copy
Amelia Peabody, Egyptologist & Archeologist - 14 Book Set; (The Crocodile on the Sandbank, Curse of the Pharaohs, Lion… (2004) 1 copy
TEMPLES, TOMBS & HYEROGLIPS 1 copy
Crocodile on the Sandbank | The Curse of the Pharaohs | The Last Camel Died at Noon | The Snake, the Crocodile, and the… (1996) 1 copy
The Grey Beginning 1 copy
Amelia Peabody Series 1-5 1 copy
The Dancing Floor 1 copy
Associated Works
A Gothic Treasure Trove: Moonraker's Bride / The Golden Unicorn / Kirkland Revels / Wings of the Falcon / Lady of… (1987) — Contributor — 99 copies
The Curse of the Pharoahs | Spend Game | Murder on Martha's Vineyard (1981) — Contributor — 5 copies
Deadly Trap | Wait for What Will Come | The Last Sherlock Holmes Story (1978) — Contributor — 2 copies
La Balsa; Vlucht naar de heuvels; Captain te koop; Ammie, kom naar huis — Contributor — 1 copy, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Mertz, Barbara Louise
- Other names
- Michaels, Barbara
Peters, Elizabeth
Gross, Barbara Louise
Mertz, Barbara Louise Gross
Mertz, Barbara Gross - Birthdate
- 1927-09-29
- Date of death
- 2013-08-08
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Canton, Illinois, USA
- Place of death
- Frederick, Maryland, USA
- Cause of death
- pulmonary embolism
- Places of residence
- Canton, Illinois, USA
Frederick, Maryland, USA - Education
- University of Chicago (PhD|Egyptology) ∙ 1952)
- Occupations
- writer
archaeologist
Egyptologist - Relationships
- Mertz, Richard (former spouse)
Mertz, Elizabeth (offspring)
Mertz, Peter (offspring) - Organizations
- Egypt Exploration Society
- Awards and honors
- MWA Grand Master (1998)
Romance Writers of America (Lifetime Achievement Award ∙ 1991)
Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement (2003) - Agent
- Dominick Abel Literary
Members
Reviews
The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters
Very fun to read the first-person narrative of the sleuth herself.
I enjoy this one somewhat less than the preceding book, [b:The Mummy Case|9810644|The Mummy Case|Elizabeth Peters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1396184059l/9810644._SY75_.jpg|2570337]. It’s mildly amusing, but even Ramses is less funny this time. There’s another convoluted mystery, I’m not particularly keen on the new characters we meet, and in particular I’m not keen on Sethos—who will, unfortunately, appear again later.
Although Ramses is only 8 or 9 years old, he seems to be starting to take a tentative interest in the female of the species—specifically, in Miss Debenham, who’s young but adult.
The book gets its 3 stars by being sufficiently entertaining to be rereadable occasionally. However, if I wanted to read the highlights of the series, I think I’d skip this one.… (more)
Although Ramses is only 8 or 9 years old, he seems to be starting to take a tentative interest in the female of the species—specifically, in Miss Debenham, who’s young but adult.
The book gets its 3 stars by being sufficiently entertaining to be rereadable occasionally. However, if I wanted to read the highlights of the series, I think I’d skip this one.… (more)
This is not one of my favourites of the series. Much of the story consists of a convoluted murder mystery that doesn’t fascinate me. However, the character interactions are mildly entertaining, and the brief appearances of Amelia’s young son Ramses in Chapters 1 and 2 are hilarious—although he doesn’t appear again until the next book.
As usual with this series, I don’t really enjoy the crime/mystery element of the story, but the dialogue is amusing and the characters somewhat entertaining.
Unusually, this one is set in London rather than Egypt, but the change of scene doesn’t make as much difference as you might expect (except to the weather).
Unusually, this one is set in London rather than Egypt, but the change of scene doesn’t make as much difference as you might expect (except to the weather).
Lists
Scholar Novels (19)
1980s (1)
Best Audiobooks (1)
Next in Series (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 101
- Also by
- 35
- Members
- 69,093
- Popularity
- #190
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 1,520
- ISBNs
- 1,772
- Languages
- 13
- Favorited
- 55
