Reviews

The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters

doramac's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

allisoncc's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

judyward's review against another edition

2.0

Barbara Mertz received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Egyptian Studies and during her academic career, she also wrote mystery books under the name Elizabeth Peters. In this light weight romp, King Tut's mummy is stolen out of his tomb and the Keystone Kops try to find him. Well not the Keystone Kops actually, but John Tregarth, a reformed (or is he?) international antiquities thief, Vicky Bliss, a curator in a museum in Munich, and her boss, Dr. Anton Schmidt travel to Egypt to try to find the missing mummy. This book is a little short on both plot and believability. However, Elizabeth Peters has written it with her tongue firmly in her cheek. She makes a cameo appearance as an unnamed, but well known author, who will stop at nothing to gather material for her books and she makes quiet references to several of her books and one of her mystery series during the story.

megancmahon's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The last in a fabulous series. Vicky and John's emotional arc is completed with verve and love - John fully reformed, Vicky in love and unafraid. I also LOVED the callbacks to the Peabody Emersons: John as their descendent absolutely tracks, and I loved thinking of Amelia's house in Egypt being a hotbed of mystery and intrigue even long after she left it.

I'll miss this world.

mirzokhid1's review against another edition

3.0

A great mystery and action novel. Found the storyline really interesting and will probably read other books in the series. Did not realized it was the 6th book in the series. Would recommend it to everyone.

racheljoy7's review against another edition

4.0

A most satisfying ending to a fun series!

And we received a little surprise, two actually, as well. One, Peters wrote herself into the book, ever so nonchalantly. And two, she decided to connect this series to Amelia Peabody through family relation.

Very clever!

jjbaby72's review against another edition

2.0

Maybe it was the readers New Yorker accent and mispronunciations that threw me off. Maybe it was my agatha Christie like expectations. Either way, this book fell short... Way short. I might give a another Peters novel a shot (this was my first) but I need to clean my brain of this mess first.

sjgochenour's review against another edition

4.0

Exceedingly funny. Schmidt, though in fine form throughout the series, reaches heretofore unseen magnificence.

Some of the things I found uncomfortable about Night Train to Memphis upon rereading are addressed here, mostly by having a larger cast of fully-drawn Egyptian characters.

blogworthy's review against another edition

4.0

Vicky and friends are quite a bit of fun. But this book is making me jones for Amelia Peabody!! Don't know why - she's written this slightly different than the other series.

ceridwyn's review against another edition

1.0

I've always loved the Vicky Bliss novels. Now I have no idea why. This one isn't well written and it lacks the sparkling banter of the others. Plus there's an egregious authorial self-insertion and overall it feels like something to make money. This series definitely ended at Night Train to Memphis for me. And probably at Trojan Gold.