| When art historian Vicky Bliss receives a picture of a woman wearing the mythical Trojan gold, she is instantly intrigued. She begins searching for the origin of the picture, and her search leads her to a small German town where she and six of her colleagues had met for a meeting the year before. Vicky is at first surprised by the changes made at the resort, as well as the arrival of four of the five historians who had attended previously. When the new and newly-widowed wife of the man who sent the picture asks for help, Vicky is hesitant, but her companions insist on aiding the woman--if for no other reasons than pride and vanity and clout for their respective museums. When a body is found in the backyard of Vicky's Munich home, she knows things have gone too far, but she has begun to suspect that her recently-reappeared occasional lover, Sir John Smythe (or at least that's what he calls himself), has more to do with the plot than he let on; her ex-boyfriend Tony has been arrested, and her boss Schmidt has plopped down in the middle of things. Vicky stays, but at her own risk ... | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70% Special suspect? - best friend Murder of certain profession? Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Crime plotlets: Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes General Crime (including known murderer) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - money/treasure How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Europe Yes European country: - Germany Mountains/Cliffs Yes Mountains: - falling off - skiing off Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Misc setting - resort/hotel Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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