Trojan Gold: Vicky Bliss, #4 -- Elizabeth Peters

Oh my God, I'd forgotten how much I LOVE THIS BOOK!!

Okay.  So, Vicky is minding her own business (as usual), when a bloodstained package arrives for her in the mail.  The stain is so large that the return address is obscured.  So that's mysterious.

Even more mysterious is what the package contains:  A recent photograph of a woman wearing the lost gold of Troy.  Which disappeared in 1945.

So OBVIOUSLY she has to try and contact John Smythe.  Because, you know, this is right up his alley.  And even though she hasn't heard from him in the eight months since his "death", she knows he's alive.  Well... she's pretty sure.  Mostly.

One of the many awesome things about these books is that no matter how many times I read them, I forget who the bad guy is.  No exception here.  Until the Big Reveal, I really had no idea who it was -- and I didn't even care.  I was too busy enjoying Vicky sparring with John (because OF COURSE Elizabeth Peters wouldn't off His Awesomeness), John winding up Tony (from the first book, and who is now engaged to a petite woman with clouds of smoky black hair and a heart-shaped face... sound familiar?), Schmidt in his many bright snowsuits, Gerda just being Gerda, the best bedroom farce scene ever, and a ridiculous line-up of possible villains.

Another awesome thing about Trojan Gold?  No matter how many times I read it, it makes me laugh out loud and even now, I'm grinning as I type.

Some fun from early on in the book:

"You are going to look to look through the trash from the missing envelope."  Schmidt savored the phrase.  "The missing envelope . . . A good title for a thriller, nicht?"

"It's been used.  Probably by Nancy Drew."

Schmidt didn't ask who Nancy Drew was.  Maybe he knew.  As I said, he has deplorable tastes in literature.

_________________________________________________

Previously:

Borrower of the Night
Street of the Five Moons
Silhouette in Scarlet