Book Review; The Laughter of Dead Kings

Title	Laughter of Dead Kings (Vicky Bliss, No. 6)
Author	Elizabeth Peters
Rating
Tags	mystery, series, art, theft, mummy
	Elizabeth Peters is one of the pseudonyms of Barbara Mertz, whose other synonym is Barbara Michaels. Mertz has a PhD in Egyptology, which expliais her fascination with country in many of her books. As Michaels, she writes Gothics. As Elizabeth Peters, she writes 3 series and various stand alones, all of which have in common strong women characters and an equally strong sense of humor. Peters is most known for the Amelia Peabody series, about a family of British archaeologists working in Egypt in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The series is very popular and she has written volumes in that series almost to the exclusion of her other two series and stand alones. One of the other series is the Jacqueline Kirby series about a librarian who becomes a romance writer, and the other is the Vicky Bliss series about an art historian working in a museum in Munich, Germany. I'm quite fond of all three series, and have been missing Jacqueline (she gives us librarians a good name) and Vicky. Now, after a hiatus of several years, this book brings back Vicky Bliss. Vicky has been involved with a reformed thief, now dealer in antiquities, John. The two of them, along with her wonderful boss Herr Schmidt, have had a variety of adventures. In this volume, the mummy of King Tut has been stolen and too many people think John must have done it. They are forced to find the mummy to clear his name. Vicky, John, and Schmidt are all terrific characters, and the plot is the usual Peters complexity with a strong sense of the ridiculous. It's nice to have Vicky back! Recommended.
Publication	William Morrow (2008), Hardcover, 336 pages
Publication date	2008
ISBN	0061246247 / 9780061246241