Laughter of Dead Kings (Vicky Bliss, No. 6) by Elizabeth Peters
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Book Reviews of Laughter of Dead Kings (Vicky Bliss, No. 6)
Book Review: Disappointing after a 14 year wait
Summary: 2 Stars
Elizabeth Peters' fans have waited fourteen years for the concluding volume in the Vicky Bliss series. The Laughter of Dead Kings is the book readers hoped would link Peters' two popular series, the Amelia Peabody books, and the Vicky Bliss mysteries. Was Vicky Bliss' lover, the notorious thief, "Sir John Smythe", related to the Peabody-Emerson family? The book answers the question, but readers are tortured for over three hundred pages before the family mystery is solved.
While Vicky Bliss works in Munich as an art historian, her lover, John Tregarth, has given up his former life as a thief of antiquities. He's now an antiques dealer in London. However, when a revered Egyptian treasure disappears, John is the natural suspect for the daring theft. Even a friend, Feisal, the "Inspector of Antiquities for all Upper Egypt", suspects John. And, Vicky's boss, Herr Doktor Anton Z. Schmidt, has his doubts. Everyone thinks John is once again the mastermind behind a bold theft. Suddenly Vicky, John, and the motley crew are in a mad dash to find the treasure and the actual thief.
The problem is, the mad dash goes on, and on, and on. This story is so drawn out that it gets boring. It's a romantic caper, with little romance. Peters herself says, "Ashraf is being followed by John who is being followed by Suzi who is being follwed by Feisal and us? This is ludicrous." Yes, it is. The mountain of material readers have to plow through to get to the conclusion is ludicrous.
Some readers will be satisfied with The Laughter of Dead Kings. I've read and admired Peters' books under this name, and Barbara Michaels. This one let me down. The answer is there, telling everyone if John is connected to the Peabody-Emerson family. It's just too bad the answer wasn't at least 100 pages earlier in this unsatisfactory series conclusion.
Book Review: *sigh*
Summary: 2 Stars
in general Elizabeth Peters is one of the greatest writers i have ever come across. i have loved, adored and re-read just about everything she has ever written - so what happened with this book? maybe 14 years was too long to wait to continue the story; the characters are written completely differently then the previous Vicky Bliss novels. what happened to my beloved sarcastic, brilliant, prickly art historian? she was like a watered down version of Vicky Bliss. i enjoyed her and john's relationship a whole lot more when they were at odds.
the whole book was just... i don't know, it's missing something the previous books had.
there are parts that i enjoyed like Schmidt really IS a great swordsman and Vicky and John's mum not getting along but that was about it.
it seemed like it was rushed and not well planned out.
Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
I was very happy to hear Peters was returning to the Vicky Bliss series. Little did I realize that Vicky would be such a minor character in the story! This book was All About Schmidt, who I love, but Vicky's whole reason for being appeared to be to ask "where are we?" "when are we eating?" etc. Unlike the other books in the series, she didn't have much to do with solving the mystery. She was just dragged along and commented on things that were happening. They mystery itself was not involving. If this really is the last Bliss book, I am sad; Vicky and her gang deserve a better finale.Book Review: Not a great sequel
Summary: 2 Stars
If you enjoy the Amelia Peobody series, you will like this book. If you enjoyed the Vicky Bliss series, you probably won't. After waiting all these years for another in the series this was a real let down. Only Schmidt was still fun. Vicky and John were non-entities. I had to force myself to finish it. What a disappointment!Book Review: Not Her Best
Summary: 2 Stars
Generally speaking, I love all of Elizabeth Peters's books, but this one just didn't quite work for me. There are some highly enjoyable bits, but there is far too much travel and chasing which gets awfully boring. And the Mary Sue bit is too much!