The Vicky Bliss Series by Elizabeth Peters

The Vicky Bliss Series by Elizabeth Peters

Borrower of the Night
Street of the Five Moons
Silhouette in Scarlet
Trojan Gold
Night Train to Memphis
The Laughter of Dead Kings


Vicky Bliss is a modern day heroine in every way. She is smart, a PHD in Art History, self sufficient, brave and usually practical. She also finds her looks a handicap. Blond hair, blue eyes, just under six foot tall, thin is some places and broad in others. As she puts it, no one ever looks at her and believes that she could possibly have a brain.

We first meet Vicky in “Borrower of the Night”. She is teaching History in a small Midwestern college and dating Tony who doesn’t believe that she really doesn’t want to get married. He decides that he has to prove his intellectual superiority in order to win her and proposes a contest to find a missing piece of medieval art. So off they go to an old German castle, he to impress her with his superior brain and she to bring him down a peg. But they aren’t the only ones looking for treasure and the game quickly turns dangerous .
In the next book “Street of Five Moons” our heroine is now working for the German National Museum in Munich. When a the body of a vagrant is found in an alley with an almost perfect copy of one of the museum’s valuable pieces of antique jewelry in his pocket Vicky is off in search of the maker. Her boss, Anton Schmidt, believes that it is a mystery that only Vicky can solve so once again she is off and running. Her quest takes her to Rome where once again she finds herself in danger. The question is, will she lose her life, her heart or both.

“Silhouette in Scarlet” opens with Vicky receiving a rose, a one-way to Stockholm and a cryptic message. It can only be from the very charming and very crooked John Smythe. From Stockholm to a remote island Vicky finds danger, excitement, and trouble with a capital T.

“Trojan Gold” also starts with a mysterious message. This one is a picture of a woman dressed in the gold of Troy, which disappeared at the end of WWII. The picture is contemporary and arrives in a blood stained envelope. This time Vicky isn’t the only one to get a message. Several of her colleague have also received a similar message. As they all join Vicky, John Smythe and Schmidt in the hunt it soon becomes apparent that someone is willing to go to extreme lengths to win the gold.

“Night Train To Memphis” takes Vicky out of her of art history and into the world of Egyptology. This time she has been asked by the police to work as their operative on a luxury Nile cruise because they have ‘certain’ information that a major heist of Egyptian antiquities is being planed. Vicky suspects that the person they want her to find is her occasional lover and thief extraordinaire, John Smythe. What she doesn’t expect is to find him traveling with a beautiful young girl. As she tries to concentrate on “crime” she finds herself distracted by the other passengers but mostly by her own feelings for John. When one of the crew members is murdered her dream cruise really turns into a nightmare that threatens all that she loves.

“The Laughter of Dead Kings” is the latest of Vicky Bliss’ adventures. When a priceless treasure is stolen in Egypt the authorities believe that they know who did it, John Smythe. John on the other hand swears that he has retired from his life of crime. The only way to prove his innocence is to find the real culprit. With Schmidt in tow Vicky and John head to Egypt. With each clue they find John looks more and more guilty and when murder is added to the list of crimes they know that time is running out.

Elizabeth Peters also writes the Amelia Peabody series, the Jacqueline Kirby series and several stand alone mysteries. All of them are written tongue in cheek and are amusing as well as excellent mysteries.

Elizabeth Peters is a pseudonym for Dr. Barbara Mertz, one of the leading authorities on ancient Egypt and author of “Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt” and “Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt.” She has also written several suspense novels under the pseudonym Barbara Michaels.