This is Peters at her Best!!!
First of all: If this is your first Vicky Bliss stop reading this review right now. Go back and read the others in the series starting with "Street of Five Moons" (Borrower of the Night was actually first but it isn't nearly as good as the others. Maybe I think think this because I am in love with John though....) Follow "Street of Five Moons" with "Sillouette in Scarlet" and "Trojan Gold". After those, this book will be much more fun to read. After I read Trojan Gold I thought that Ms. Peter's books just couldn't get any better. "Night Train to Memphis" is absolutely amazing. I started it and couldn't put it down until I knew what happened. The characters all seemed like old friends and even after I read it again and again I would laugh out loud at the witty remarks made by John and Vicky. If the rest of the Bliss fans are suffering as much as I am from the authors failure to produce anymore Vicky Bliss mysteries ( I hope it isn't permanent) I thoroughly recommend "The Camelot Caper". I read it before "Night Train to Memphis" and didn't recognize it until it was pointed out to me, but this is John's first scam.

A continuation of the adventures of Doctor Vicky Bliss, a museum worker in Munich, this book follows her on a cruise down the Nile, takes her all over the Egyptian countryside, and finally ends where it started --- in Vicky's German apartment. Along the way, several recurring characters show up, including old friends and villains, the irrepressible Schmidt, and of course, Sir John Smythe; the quintessential gentleman thief and Vicky's sometimes lover. This time however, there is a small complication affecting their relationship, which leads to the miscommunication, misinterpreted signals, and missed chances that characterize Peter's books ---- and make them some of the most enjoyable mysteries on the market. The insults are quick, the Egyptology casual and comprehensive, and country music references abound.

This is a wonderful book, featuring yet another strong, smart, feminist heroine, who never crosses the line from aggressive to unlikable. While "Night Train to Memphis" can definitely stand alone, I would also reccomend the first couple of books about Vicky, "Borrower of the Night", "The Street of Five Moons", "Sillhouette in Scarlet", and "Trogan Gold".

In this 1994 adventure, the 5th, and unfortunately latest, in the Vicky Bliss series Dr. Vicky Bliss is approached to foil a planned robbery of Egyptian artifacts from the Cario museum. She is asked to pose as an expert on a Nile cruise, a cruise geared for amateur Egyptolists. Vicky protested her unsuitablity for this assignment until she realized that the suspected thief was none other than her sometime lover, the mysterious "Sir John Smythe".

Naturally Vicky does join the group, and does find her lover there - along with his mother and new bride. The adventure then takes off at a typical Peters breakneck pace, filled with bodies, false identities, lies, wild chases through the desert night, fantastic escapes and....well if you've read any of Peter's work you get the picture and if you haven't you should, just don't start with this one.

For fans of Peter's work there are many wonderful little treats in this one, John claims a name from his past as his own, hints at a long family connection to Egypt (could his real last name be Emerson?), Schmidt is developed as more than a cardboard comic character, a husband and wife Egyptologist team of the past century is mentioned and a 'writer of popular Egyptian mystery adventures' makes a cameo apprearance.

This is a particularly fun read, only marred by the fact that it is the last Vicky Bliss - so far - I refuse to give up hope!

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