Night Train to Memphis

The most noteworthy feature of this Vicky Bliss mystery is the breathless, almost frantic, pace at which it's read. Actress Turner is probably trying to capture Vicky's youth, impetuousness and hair-trigger emotions, but in the process she confuses the listener, blunts dramatic moments and mispronounces "ornithologist." To her credit, she manages several accents, from heavy German to light British, fairly well. Vicky is an art expert hired to foil a plot to rob the Cairo Museum. One of the suspects turns out to be her long-time lover, art forger John Smythe. By the time everything gets judiciously and romantically sorted out, the listener has gotten somewhat adjusted to the rapid-fire dialogue. Snippets of Roy Acuff's country music seem out of place in a story set mainly in Egypt, even if one of the songs is "Night Train to Memphis." Those whose ears do well in overdrive might like this production; otherwise, opt for Barbara Rosenblat's more tempered reading for Recorded Books. J.B.G. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

August 29, 1994
Comically mixing country music lyrics with Egyptology lore, this fifth Vicky Bliss tale (after Trojan Gold) focuses more on the Munich National Museum's assistant curator's love affair with a British art forger/thief than on suspense. Vicky poses as an Egyptian art expert on a cruise up the Nile in order to help the Munich police spot the leader of an art ring that is planning to rob the Cairo museum. Among those whom she suspects are Feisal, the native guide, a suspicious pair of men named Bright and Sweet, and, alas, her old lover and adversary, Sir John, who is on board with his mother and his new bride. The accomplished Peters's latest quirky, lighthearted novel sports some harrowing moments, as when Vicky, her eccentric boss, Herr Dr. Schmidt, and John attempt to escape from the villainous ring, but with its emphasis on Vicky's love life, the story remains essentially a spirited soap opera interspersed with guidebook descriptions. Author tour.