Trojan Gold

Elizabeth Peters is one of the best writers around. Her books are consistently funny-her plots are fantastic, the characters are people you want to meet and the settings/background are consistently interesting. Trojan Gold features Vicky Bliss-an art historian who is, to her chagrin, a beautiful buxom blonde (she wants to be respected for her brains, which are formidable, not her beauty). Vicky is a curator at a Munich museum where her boss, Schmidt, is an equally renowned art historian (but one who wants to be respected as a great detective-he's more Santa Claus than Sherlock Holmes). Vicky's sometime lover, "Sir John Smythe," is equally renowned-as a great art thief. The three of them come together in a frantic search to find Schleiman's lost treasure, the gold from Troy. This has been missing since 1945-when it disappeared in the collapse of Berlin. The search leads Vicky, John and Schmidt to an Alpine village (where they encounter several of Europe's and America's foremost art historians-all searching for the same thing). Just a note on historical background: the gold went missing in 1945 and it was relocated in the former U.S.S.R. after its collapse (Trojan Gold was written before 1989). It's hard to say who is the best character-Vicky, John (who really is every woman's fantasy of the perfect lover) or Schmidt. The relationship between the three is great (Schmidt is deeply enamored of "Sir John"-whom he does not know is an art thief) and the dialogue will leave you in stitches. Do not miss out on this one! It's truly great-one of the best books Elizabeth Peters has ever written (and that is saying a lot because she is a fantastic writer!).

Although, I've been a long timer reader of Barbara Michaels, and have also read books published under her pseudonym, Elizabeth Peters, I somehow missed the Vicky Blair books. This is the first one that I've read but definitely not the last.In this story, Vicky Blair who is an archaeologist at the Munich National Museum receives a photograph in the mail that shows a woman dressed in what is called the gold of Troy. The envelope has no informative letter and shows no return address. Of course Vicky is interested since the Trojan gold had disappeared right after World War II and its whereabouts has been a mystery. As it turns out, Vicky was not the only one to receive a copy of the photo and she and five other world class archaeologists all come together in Bavaria and compete to be the first to find the treasure for their respective museums.It did take me a chapter or two to get into the story and obtain some understanding of the main premise. I think that readers might be better off starting with the first book in this series. I must say that once I got a grip on Vicky and the other characters, I really enjoyed this story. The most intriguing character is that of John Smythe or Sir John as Vicky sometimes refers to him. Again, I guess there is more of an explanation of his character in the earlier stories. Well, John was great and we just got enough of him to make him mysterious, charming and in many ways the most interesting character in Trojan Gold. This author has the ability to combine love and mystery, add some historic facts, mix them all altogether and give us some really good books. She also never goes too far with her romantic passages, and she has the good sense to know that a light touch of romance is much more captivating and exactly what her readers want. Since, I plan to read the other books in this series, I've looked up the titles and here they are in the correct reading sequence: 1. Borrower of the Night, 2. Street of the Five Moons, 3. Silhouette in Scarlet, 4. Trojan Gold and 5. Night Train to Memphis.

I love the Vicky Bliss series, but I rate this book and its sequel, Night Train to Memphis, as the best. Vicky and Sir John Smythe team up yet again in the snowy mountains of Bad Steinbach. The chemistry between the two is better than ever, I love their constant banter. If you like Vicky Bliss books or if you're looking for a book that you will read over and over again, this is it! You'll be glad you tried it.

I've just reread this book for about the 8th time and *still* I laughed aloud--when I could catch my breath from the fast pacing. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Now that Ms. Peters has finally gotten Ramses and Nefret together in her Amelia Peabody series, maybe she will return to Vicky Bliss. I'm hoping.

I must admit that, as much as I loved Street of 5 Moons and Night Train to Memphis, this is the best of the series. The humour is wonderful: I had to put the book down several times due to hysterical laughter. However, this is not the only reason to read this exceptional Book! The mystery is compelling, the setting is beautiful, and the characters gain much more dimension. After being dissapointed by Silouhette in Scarlet, this book more than reaffirmed my faith in Elizabeth Peters. And for those of you who are also in love with John, he's back in top form here with very few traces of the obnoxious twit he was in Silouhette. He's absolutely charming and romantic. How lucky Vicky is!