The Laughter of Dead Kings (Amelia Peabody)

After a long silence Vicky & John are back again; they seemed tired. This book lacks the lightness of the other. I find the cobination of Egyptology and these characters uncomfortable. They seem to wander amilessly through the first two-thirds of the book before actually doing anything and the mastermind as a psychotic is silly.
The best thing in the book is the emergence of Anton Z. Schmidt; he finally gets the respect he deserves.

Vicky, John, Schimdt and the gang are at it again. I found this a very satisfying follow up to Night Train to Memphis. Vicky and the other characters are as comical as always...I especially enjoyed Vicky's comments to the reader. Plus...the on-going romance between Vicky and John does not disappoint.

Paragraph for paragraph, I find Elizabeth Peters to be one of the most entertaining authors out there. Her latest Vicky Bliss is no exception. Sure, the mystery is a little convoluted, but the interaction between the characters sparkles as always. This book wraps up a few things for Vicky and also for Peters' Amelia Peabody series, and Schmidt finally gets his turn to be the hero! If you love Vicky Bliss you'll enjoy this one too, and if you are new the series, go get yourself a copy of Borrower of the Night or Street of the Five Moons right away--you'll be hooked!

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.

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!

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!