The Serpent on the Crown
 First edition cover for The Serpent on the Crown | |
| Author | Elizabeth Peters |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Amelia Peabody mysteries |
| Genre | Historical mystery |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 2005 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 350 pp |
| ISBN | 0-06-059178-1 |
| OCLC | 57008254 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3563.E747 S44 2005 |
| Preceded by | Guardian of the Horizon |
| Followed by | Tomb of the Golden Bird |
The Serpent on the Crown is the 17th in a series of historical mystery novels, written by Elizabeth Peters and featuring fictional sleuth and archaeologist Amelia Peabody.
Plot summary
In 1922, the Emersons are excavating at Deir el Medina when a melodramatic visitor delivers a challenge—and a solid gold ancient statuette—to them: find out where it came from and why it brings bad luck to its owners. Emerson, of course, doesn't believe in curses, but he does believe someone has robbed a find of historic proportions. When their visitor turns up dead and her stepchildren disappear, everyone except the Emersons believe the murder is a family affair.
Ramses, meanwhile, finds a papyrus which he suspects to be of historic importance, and an assistant who is not all he seems.
Title
The book's title is from the Poetical Stela of Thutmose III:
- "I have robbed their nostrils of the breath of life and made the dread of you fill their hearts. My serpent on your brow consumed them."