Borrower of the Night: Vicky Bliss, #1 -- Elizabeth Peters

I decided to re-read all of the Vicky Bliss books before reading the new one!  Hooray!

We first meet Vicky in Borrower of the Night:

When I was ten years old, I knew I was never going to get married.  Not only was I six inches taller than any boy in the fifth grade--except Matthew Finch, who was five ten and weighed ninety-eight pounds--but my IQ was as formidable as my height.  It was sixty points higher than that of any of the boys--except the aforesaid Matthew Finch.  I topped him by only thirty points.

Poor Vicky.  Her troubles don't end there:

For several years my decision didn't give me much pain.  I wasn't thinking seriously of marriage in the fifth grade.  Then I reached adolescence, and the trouble began.  I kept growing up, but I grew in another dimension besides height.  The results were appalling.  I won't quote my final proportions; they call to mind one of those revolting Bunnies in Playboy.  I dieted strenuously, but that only made matters worse.  I got thin in all the right places and I was still broad where, as the old classic says, a broad should be broad.

BotN in a nutshell: Vicky is an art historian.  She comes across evidence that the legend of a long-lost shrine carved by Riemenschneider is more than a legend and decides to go after it.  She has competitors:  Tony, her co-worker and on-again, off-again lover* and George Nolan, the millionaire sportsman/playboy/big game hunter.  So they all end up at Schloss Drachenstein, there is much Gothic fun (including a seance!!) and treasure hunting and romance, and oh, really, what's not to love?

Well, I'll tell you.

Vicky, I love you.  I love you and Elizabeth Peters.  I love you, Elizabeth Peters, and Schmidt, who doesn't have a big enough part in this book.   I love you, Elizabeth Peters, Schmidt-who-doesn't-have-a-big-enough-part-in-this-book, and Sir John Smythe, WHO ISN'T IN THIS BOOK.  How could that have slipped my mind?  That's probably exactly why I've re-read the other books in the series 40 hundred times, but only read this one, like, 20 hundred times. 

I was somewhat mollified by Doctor Blankenhagen, who is made of AWESOME, especially at the very end. 

On to Book Two!**

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*I really don't like that word.  It gives me the yicks.  But what else could I call him?  Boinking-partner?

**I'll have you know that I'm blaming Mr. Dickens for my recent over-use of exclamation marks.

Comments

[cc]

Yes, this suffers from a lack of Schmidt and Sir John. But have you heard the theory that he's the baddie in the Camelot Caper? I had to re-read it to check and I like. Especially the insight into his horrible mother.

[Leila]

SHUT UP! He couldn't be a bad guy. Okay, maybe he could. Sadly, my library has a crap selection of Elizabeth Peters and all of mine are at my dad's house. So it's either ILL or road trip. Damn.

[Julie]

Thank you! I forgot all about this series and I loved them. It will fun to reread them.

When I was browsing in Chapters a few weeks ago, I almost fell over when I saw a new Vicky Bliss! Even though it hasn't been that long since I reread the series I thiink I will read them again. Time with Vicky is a pleasure.
Pat

[TadMack]

Oh, COOL -- cool sounding series. I've missed this one entirely!

And yes, I hate the word "lover" too. It squicks me out something awful. Why IS that?

[jess]

Hey, I just did the same thing - just finished the new one this morning. And if you're a Schmidt fan, you'll love his role in the new one - he is a Mastermind, I tell you, a Mastermind with secret skills.

Of course John could be a bad guy - just no violence, right? He's in The Camelot Caper as his usual bad but noble self.

[Leila]

Oh, cc meant that JOHN was the baddie in the The Camelot Caper. I thought she meant Doctor Blankenhagen, for some reason! Ha ha!

TadMack, these are great -- perfect bathtub books! (Actually, pretty much anything by Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels fits into that category, as far as I'm concerned...)

[Angie]

I have this one on order and should be getting it soon. Can't wait to jump in.

[Kelly Fineman]

Whoa. Must look for these books.

Also, am in favor of the term "boinking partner."

[Lisa]

Just finished this and absolutely loved it. Thanks for the review. I am interested in the rest of the series and I can only hope for more seances. Seriously, that was the coolest.

[Mallory]

I just finished this today, and I LOVED it. Dr.Blankenhagen is purely amazing.