| "Night Train to Memphis" is the fourth (and most recent) volume in Elizabeth Peters' "Vicky Bliss" series.
Art historian and detective Vicky Bliss is bemoaning the worrysome absence of communication from her occasional lover Sir John Smythe, when she receives an urgent request to act as a police informant on an exlusive luxury cruise down the Nile. One of the passengers is reported to be planning an attempt to rob the Cairo Museum, and she is supposed to find out who. She accepts and takes on the job of guest lecturer aboard ship, but as soon as she tours her first Egyptian attraction, she spies Sir John strolling not yards away, and with a delicate new wife on his arm. She immediately fears that he is the would-be thief since his past includes an illustrious career as an antiquities fraud. Vicky is livid, and spends the next days on the cruise attempting to avoid Sir John or wound him with cutting remarks. Soon, attempts to kill or injure her pile up, and Sir John grows more and more distant. Vicky's attempts to either prove or disprove John as the villain remain stagnant, but her feelings are far from even. At midnight, midway through the trip and during a formal ball, Vicky is at her wits end watching John whisper and fondle his wife Mary, so she leaves to inform her contact that John is the crook even though she has no evidence. He steps out of the shadows on deck and after cruel words, kisses her. She is angry, both at him and at herself for clinging to memories of his words to her before this trip. The ship unexpectedly docks near Luxor, hundreds of miles south of Cairo, and the passengers take to land to wait out repairs to the vessel. Vicky is invited to stay at the mansion of the ship's owner, a wealthy art benefactor, and things at the house quickly grow colder and more dangerous. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical Time/era of story: Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes General Crime (including known murderer) Yes Who's the criminal enemy here? - stolen goods organization Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - revenge The antagonists are: - foreign organized crime How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting Africa Yes Part of Africa: - Arabic Africa Water? Yes Water: - pleasure/love boat Misc setting - fancy mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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