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A review by anovelreader
Street of the Five Moons by Elizabeth Peters
4.0
Street of the Five Moons is technically the second book in [a:Elizabeth Peters|16549|Elizabeth Peters|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232144920p2/16549.jpg]’s Vicky Bliss series, but I wouldn’t recommend the first unless you finish the series an uber fan. I was (somewhat bizarrely) gifted the fifth book in this adult series at my fourth grade birthday party. Despite its inappropriateness, I was allowed to keep it and devoured the book, starting what would become a life-long love affair with anti-heroes, enemies-to-lovers scenarios, and angsty romances. (I cannot rule out that it heavily contributed to me chosing a career involving frequent overseas travel/stints living abroad.)
In SotFM, a dead body turns up with a reproduction of one of the Munich National Museum’s prized jewelry pieces, spurring Dr. Victoria Bliss — a tall, blond art historian — to travel to Rome to investigate an international art forgery scheme. In Rome, Vicky meets what will be her primary love interest for the rest of the series, an art thief who goes by Sir John Smythe.
After escaping a kidnapping with John’s help, Vicky knowingly wanders into the thief’s den by accepting an invitation to Count Caravaggio’s country villa in Tivoli to further investigate the scheme. At the villa with John, the Count, his mistress, and younger son, she tries to piece together the mystery and identify the mastermind.
The mystery is nothing special, but the characters, including the secondary ones, are outstanding. Vicky, our narrator, is snarky and self-deprecating. She is also wildly impetuous, which gets her into all sorts of trouble, but she tends to handle it well. Vicky’s independence is all the more impressive given that this series started in ’73 (SoTFM was published in ’78).
John is a Peter Wimsey/Francis Crawford of Lymond type. In other words, he is a brilliant and multitalented protagonist. He is also an art thief whose motivations remain murky for most of the series. Peters introduces John in an earlier one-off mystery/romance, [b:The Camelot Caper|66525|The Camelot Caper (Vicky Bliss, #0.5)|Elizabeth Peters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421339827l/66525._SY75_.jpg|165016], which I also recommend (no Vicky here).
The repartee — particularly between John and Vicky — is unparalleled. Their exchanges reference Shakespeare, John Donne, New Yorker cartoons, and Clementine. SotFM only offers us a glimmer of this repartee but is a great stepping stone to later books in the series ([b:Trojan Gold|66504|Trojan Gold (Vicky Bliss, #4)|Elizabeth Peters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1297727918l/66504._SY75_.jpg|1861953] and [b:Night Train to Memphis|29456|Night Train to Memphis (Vicky Bliss, #5)|Elizabeth Peters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386920627l/29456._SY75_.jpg|29910]) where the romance and banter really start to shine.
In SotFM, a dead body turns up with a reproduction of one of the Munich National Museum’s prized jewelry pieces, spurring Dr. Victoria Bliss — a tall, blond art historian — to travel to Rome to investigate an international art forgery scheme. In Rome, Vicky meets what will be her primary love interest for the rest of the series, an art thief who goes by Sir John Smythe.
After escaping a kidnapping with John’s help, Vicky knowingly wanders into the thief’s den by accepting an invitation to Count Caravaggio’s country villa in Tivoli to further investigate the scheme. At the villa with John, the Count, his mistress, and younger son, she tries to piece together the mystery and identify the mastermind.
The mystery is nothing special, but the characters, including the secondary ones, are outstanding. Vicky, our narrator, is snarky and self-deprecating. She is also wildly impetuous, which gets her into all sorts of trouble, but she tends to handle it well. Vicky’s independence is all the more impressive given that this series started in ’73 (SoTFM was published in ’78).
John is a Peter Wimsey/Francis Crawford of Lymond type. In other words, he is a brilliant and multitalented protagonist. He is also an art thief whose motivations remain murky for most of the series. Peters introduces John in an earlier one-off mystery/romance, [b:The Camelot Caper|66525|The Camelot Caper (Vicky Bliss, #0.5)|Elizabeth Peters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421339827l/66525._SY75_.jpg|165016], which I also recommend (no Vicky here).
The repartee — particularly between John and Vicky — is unparalleled. Their exchanges reference Shakespeare, John Donne, New Yorker cartoons, and Clementine. SotFM only offers us a glimmer of this repartee but is a great stepping stone to later books in the series ([b:Trojan Gold|66504|Trojan Gold (Vicky Bliss, #4)|Elizabeth Peters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1297727918l/66504._SY75_.jpg|1861953] and [b:Night Train to Memphis|29456|Night Train to Memphis (Vicky Bliss, #5)|Elizabeth Peters|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386920627l/29456._SY75_.jpg|29910]) where the romance and banter really start to shine.