Author: Elizabeth Peters
Publisher: Harper Collins
Binding: Hardback
Publication Date: 2008
Elizabeth Peters took a long break from the last Vicky Bliss book before writing/releasing, The Laughter of Dead Kings. Book 5, Night Train to Memphis came out in 1994. I read it in paperback around 1995. The series remains one of my favorite cozy series of all time.
When The Laughter of Dead Kings came out, while waiting for my copy, I skimmed a couple of reviews. I was disappointed to find them lukewarm. My question was: Had the author’s style change? After all, she set this one mainly in Egypt, the same setting for her very successful Amelia Peabody series. Maybe she no longer loved the Vicky Bliss character enough to write another book with her in it. Or…had the readers changed? Had we grown up, moved on too much to be drawn back into silly, fun capers?
Peters started off with a strong personal note to readers. She explained moving Vicky Bliss to the here and now—even though time had passed, she wasn’t going to age the character, but she was going to set her down in an age of cell phones, faster travel, etc. I liked that idea and liked it more as I began reading.
Peters held true to the characters, picking up the storyline of their lives where she left off. Vicky is the same old, zany, adorable, smart Vicky. Her former-antiquities-thief boyfriend John, is the same not-sure-he-can-be-trusted guy. He’s still wonderfully protective of Vicky, but remains a dashingly handsome free-spirit.
They are in a pickle right out of the gate—there’s a valuable Egyptian object missing and the authorities are likely to suspect John. Old friends want John to either find the object – or, assuming he took it – return it. The game, as they say, is on, as John and Vicky begin scouring the landscape for clues. Who could have taken it? And who would leave signs that point to John?
Clues and subplots were layered with the same skill I’ve come to expect and love in Peter’s books. Little events here and there that seem to just blend in—later become part of the whole. Some insider jokes won’t be understood by those who haven’t read the Amelia Peabody series, but those parts won’t leave the uninitiated completely confused because they were slipped into the plot. I enjoyed this aspect because I’ve read both series.
There were more characters to juggle in this book—several of which had personalities that had to agree with past books. There were times when I felt a sudden mood shift in one character or another was thin. As with a number of authors, an unnecessary mention of the Iraq war was thrown in, but in many instances, recent real-world events were not only pertinent, they were very cleverly woven into the story.
There are parts of the book that are completely improbable, especially some of the character traits of Vicky’s boss, Schmidt. The ending did not wrap up nicely in one twist—it kept twisting and getting more convoluted until I had to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
I liked the book a lot and thought it closed the series perfectly. It’s different reading a book that you know is going to end a series—as opposed to looking forward to ongoing story lines. I think because it was the last in the series, I was more open to the characters being a bit zanier and the plot a little wilder than in earlier books. There was a delightful freedom to the story. Simply put, it was a very fun read.
As cozies go, I’d highly recommend the whole series.
