Elizabeth Peters Books in Order: Every Series & Pen Name

By Anna Marie CarrollMystery

Elizabeth Peters books in order include the Jacqueline Kirby, Vicky Bliss, and Amelia Peabody series, along with eight standalone mysteries. This guide also includes her gothic suspense novels and nonfiction so you can find every major book connected to the author.

Start with whichever series interests you most, but read the books within each series in publication order. The standalone mysteries can be read in any order.

Jump to:

Elizabeth Peters Books by Series

Jacqueline Kirby Books

Jacqueline Kirby is a sharp-tongued librarian who becomes a successful romance novelist and an enthusiastic amateur detective. Read the four mysteries in publication order.

  1. The Seventh Sinner (1972)
  2. The Murders of Richard III (1974)
  3. Die for Love (1984)
  4. Naked Once More (1989)

Vicky Bliss Books

Vicky Bliss is an art historian whose work draws her into international mysteries involving stolen treasures, forgery, murder, and the charming thief John Tregarth.

The Camelot Caper (1969), also published as Her Cousin John, introduces Tregarth before Vicky appears. The Vicky Bliss series itself begins with Borrower of the Night.

  1. Borrower of the Night (1973)
  2. Street of the Five Moons (1978)
  3. Silhouette in Scarlet (1983)
  4. Trojan Gold (1987)
  5. Night Train to Memphis (1994)
  6. The Laughter of Dead Kings (2008)

Amelia Peabody Books

The Amelia Peabody series follows an English Egyptologist, her husband Radcliffe Emerson, and their growing family from the late Victorian era into the 1920s. Read the novels in publication order for a first read.

  1. Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975)
  2. The Curse of the Pharaohs (1981)
  3. The Mummy Case (1985)
  4. Lion in the Valley (1986)
  5. The Deeds of the Disturber (1988)
  6. The Last Camel Died at Noon (1991)
  7. The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog (1992)
  8. The Hippopotamus Pool (1996)
  9. Seeing a Large Cat (1997)
  10. The Ape Who Guards the Balance (1998)
  11. The Falcon at the Portal (1999)
  12. He Shall Thunder in the Sky (2000) (Published in the UK as Thunder in the Sky)
  13. Lord of the Silent (2001)
  14. The Golden One (2002)
  15. Children of the Storm (2003)
  16. Guardian of the Horizon (2004)
  17. The Serpent on the Crown (2005)
  18. Tomb of the Golden Bird (2006)
  19. A River in the Sky (2010)
  20. The Painted Queen (2017) (Completed by Joan Hess)

Three later-published novels take place earlier in the family timeline. My Amelia Peabody books in order guide has the complete chronological sequence, excavation years, companion book, and short story.

Elizabeth Peters Standalone Books

These mysteries feature different characters and settings, so you can read them in any order. They range from archaeological adventures to romantic suspense set across Europe, Mexico, and the Middle East.

  1. The Jackal’s Head (1968)
  2. The Dead Sea Cipher (1970)
  3. The Night of Four Hundred Rabbits (1971) (Also published as Shadows in the Moonlight)
  4. Legend in Green Velvet (1976) (Also published as Ghost in Green Velvet)
  5. Devil May Care (1977)
  6. Summer of the Dragon (1979)
  7. The Love Talker (1980)
  8. The Copenhagen Connection (1982)

Elizabeth Peters Books as Barbara Michaels

Elizabeth Peters published her gothic and supernatural suspense novels under the pen name Barbara Michaels. These books lean into haunted houses, family secrets, romance, and psychological danger. The two connected series come first, followed by the standalone novels.

Georgetown Books

The Georgetown trilogy connects three supernatural mysteries through characters, families, and historic homes in Washington, D.C.

  1. Ammie, Come Home (1968)
  2. Shattered Silk (1986)
  3. Stitches in Time (1995)

Someone in the House Books

These two novels explore the history of Greyhaven Manor. Black Rainbow is a prequel, but I recommend publication order.

  1. Someone in the House (1981)
  2. Black Rainbow (1982) (Prequel)

Barbara Michaels Standalone Books

The standalone novels can be read in any order. Reading by publication date is still a good option if you want to follow the development of Mertz’s gothic style.

  1. The Master of Blacktower (1966)
  2. Sons of the Wolf (1967) (Also published as Mystery on the Moors)
  3. Prince of Darkness (1969)
  4. The Dark on the Other Side (1970)
  5. The Crying Child (1971)
  6. Greygallows (1972)
  7. Witch (1973)
  8. House of Many Shadows (1974) (Also published as House of Many Shades)
  9. The Sea King’s Daughter (1975)
  10. Patriot’s Dream (1976)
  11. Wings of the Falcon (1977)
  12. Wait for What Will Come (1978)
  13. The Walker in Shadows (1979)
  14. The Wizard’s Daughter (1980)
  15. Here I Stay (1983)
  16. The Grey Beginning (1984)
  17. Be Buried in the Rain (1985)
  18. Search the Shadows (1987)
  19. Smoke and Mirrors (1989)
  20. Into the Darkness (1990)
  21. Vanish with the Rose (1992)
  22. Houses of Stone (1993)
  23. The Dancing Floor (1997)
  24. Other Worlds (1999)

Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels Short Stories

The expanded collection The Locked Tomb Mystery: And Other Stories (2018) brings together four stories published under the Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels names.

  • “The Locked Tomb Mystery” (1989)
  • “The Runaway” (1989), published as Barbara Michaels
  • “Liz Peters, PI” (1991)
  • “The Vengeance of Sekhmet” (2021), featuring Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson

Peters also edited or presented Malice Domestic 1 (1992), an anthology of original traditional mysteries.

Elizabeth Peters Books as Barbara Mertz

Elizabeth Peters was the pen name of Egyptologist Barbara Mertz. She published three works of history under her real name. The first two focus on ancient Egypt, while the third surveys two thousand years of Roman history.

  1. Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs (1964)
  2. Red Land, Black Land (1966)
  3. Two Thousand Years in Rome (1968), with Richard Mertz

Amelia Peabody’s Egypt (2003), written as Elizabeth Peters with Kristen Whitbread, is a companion to the Amelia Peabody series rather than a general Barbara Mertz history book.

Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels Adaptations

Two Barbara Michaels novels became television films. The House That Would Not Die (1970), starring Barbara Stanwyck, adapts Ammie, Come Home. The Crying Child (1996), starring Mariel Hemingway, adapts the novel of the same name.

Both movies condense the books for television, but they retain the central haunted-house mysteries and family secrets. No Amelia Peabody, Vicky Bliss, or Jacqueline Kirby screen series has been produced.

About Elizabeth Peters

Barbara Mertz began publishing fiction in 1966 and introduced the Elizabeth Peters name with The Jackal’s Head in 1968. The name came from her children, Elizabeth and Peter.

Her background in Egyptology gave her unusual authority when writing about archaeology, ancient history, and museum collections. She balanced that expertise with humor, romance, suspense, and memorable amateur detectives.

Mystery Writers of America named her a Grand Master in 1998. She also received lifetime-achievement recognition from Malice Domestic and other mystery organizations.

Looking for similar books in order?

If you want more mystery authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Mystery Books in Order index.

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