This is a review of Elizabeth Peters’ six volume set of Vicky Bliss mysteries and the prequel The Camelot Caper. Bliss is a typical Peters heroine, beautiful, brainy and sexually liberated—with lots of courage and an expertise in medieval art history to boot, with her boss, a Santa-Claus type man, as a sidekick. In Borrower of the Night, she and her current boyfriend go in search of a missing carved wooden masterpiece, missing since the sixteenth century. Initially I find her less likable than Amelia Peabody in that series of mysteries by the same author; however, I did come to like her a good deal. Street of the Five Moons has Bliss taking a new job as an art historian at the Munich National Museum. Her duties take her to Rome, seeking the creator of an artifact, a replica of a Charlemagne talisman. There she meets Sir John Smythe—an internationally known jewel thief, soon to become her new boyfriend. Their relationship progresses through the next four books as they strive to solve mysteries alone and together. I enjoyed the six books of the original series, though not as much as the Peabody series; however, the prequel, The Camelot Caper, is probably the weakest of the books. I read it last and was disappointed in it. I’d have probably not completed the series if I had started with it. Essentially, it gives the back story of Mr. Smythe.
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The Vicky Bliss Mystery Series is available through Amazon.
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You can find my reviews of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mystery series here.
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