Published: August 20, 2008 11:06 am            

Library Shelf 8-20-08

Finally, after more than a decade of holding their collective breath, fans of the Vicky Bliss series rejoice.

The newest installment of this mystery suspense series, titled “Laughter of Dead Kings” will be released Aug. 26. “Laughter of Dead Kings” is the sixth book of the series by Elizabeth Peters. Other titles in the series are “Borrower in the Night,” “Street of Twelve Moons,” “Silhouette in Scarlet,” “Trojan Gold” and “Night Train to Memphis.”

The series is centered on Dr. Victoria Bliss, a former art history professor who works as assistant curator at the Munich National Museum. Bliss travels across Europe and Africa to investigate antiquities and various mysterious, often criminal plots.

When we last saw Bliss in “Night Train to Memphis,” she was posing as an Egyptian art expert to track down an art theft ring. The main action of the new novel is set in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, a familiar setting for the author.

Elizabeth Peters is a pseudonym for non-fiction writer and Egyptologist Barbara Mertz. She received a doctorate in Egyptology from the famed Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.

As a result, she always pays great attention to historical and archeological detail and her books never fail to educate as well as entertain.

As Elizabeth Peters, Mertz also writes the Amelia Peabody series about a Victorian Egyptologist and her family. She is also the author of more than 30 gothic suspense titles written under the pen name Barbara Michaels.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.