Laughter of Dead Kings (Elizabeth Peters)

It pains me to report that Laughter of Dead Kings was not good reading and I almost wish I had stopped at No. 5, Night Train to Memphis (which is, oh, so terribly delicious). I read the first five delightful Vicky Bliss novels and was surprised to find No 6 on the "new books" shelf at my library. The fact that there wasn't an extensive wait list at our library for a new Vicky Bliss book should have warned me off. As opposed to the first 5 books (some of which I've read many times and have savored every absurd morsel, with relish) I had to force myself to finish Laughter of Dead Kings. I cringed as dialogue fell flat, was disappointed with the boring plots/subplots, and yearned for more of the wonderfully preposterous twists and turns usually associated with the series. The once-loveable character Schmidt became tedious as wealthy super-hero in the story (over and over again, he saved the day in a kind of a daddy warbucks role. Boring!) There was a remarkable paucity of the expect... Read more

loved it.I've read all her other books including the one with Amelia and family.Loved it...

When we last spent time with Vicky Bliss (about fifteen years ago for us long neglected readers) a 'few months' ago she and her mysterious 'John Smythe' were finally an item, rather than just sometime adversaries/sometime lovers. Vicky had learned that he was really Sir John Tregarth, a well known London art and antiquities dealer, complete with decaying old family estate and overbearing mother. Oh well no one is perfect, a truism that the aforementioned overbearing mother keeps pointing out in relation to Vicky. When a daring robbery takes place in Egypt though, one that appears to be the handiwork of the infamous art thief John Smythe takes place Vicky feels compelled to find the real culprit and prove the innocence, at least of this theft, of her lover, no matter what name he was using that day. Once again Vicky, John and the rest of the usual cast of characters, including of course, the ever present Schmidt set off on the trail of a missing treasure. This time it is no less ... Read more

Elizabeth Peters is one of my favorite authors and anything written with the setting in Egypt is exciting to me. Following her descriptions of this fantastic land makes her books come alive. I am not, however, an avid fan of Vicky Bliss, but I will continue reading anything of hers if it is located in Egypt.

I have to admit to being an avowed fan of Vicky Bliss ever since the first novel she appeared in, but I really, really loved it when she hooked up with her on again off again lover, Sir John Smythe, particularly Trojan Gold and Night Train to Memphis. So, I was really yearning for another in their continuing bumpy road to romance. And although this book had some good points, I was somewhat disappointed in that it seemed lacking in the snap and dash of the others in the series. I would've loved to heard more of her crossing swords with John's mother, but that was only just touched on, and the characters seemed to lack some of the panache of previous novels. A nice twist was the connection to the Emersons (even if it was just a tad bit contrived) and her beloved Herr Doctor Schmidt's surprising talent. I won't reveal the talent here, but suffice to say I sadly underestimated the old boy! All in all, it was an entertaining read, but not of a caliber of Night Train To Memphis, although in ... Read more