Silhouette in Scarlet

Vicky Bliss #3

by Elizabeth Peters

One perfect red rose, a one-way ticket to Stockholm, and a cryptic "message" consisting of two Latin words intrigue art historian Vicky Bliss—as they were precisely intended to do.Beautiful, brilliant and, as always, dangerously inquisitive, Vicky recognizes the handiwork of her former lover, the daring jewel thief John Smythe. So she takes the bait, eagerly following Smythe's lead in the hope of finding a lost treasure. But the trail begins at a priceless fifth century chalice which will place Vicky at the mercy of a gang of ruthless criminals who have their eyes on an even more valuable prize. And the hunt threatens to turn deadly on a remote island, where a captive Vicky Bliss must lead an excavation into the distant past—and where digging too deep for the truth could dig her own grave.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Romance, Mystery Thriller, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, Adventure

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Elizabeth Peters is a pen name of Barbara Mertz. She also wrote as Barbara Michaels as well as her own name. Born and brought up in Illinois, she earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. Mertz was named Grand Master at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986 and Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998. She lived in a historic farmhouse in Frederick, western Maryland until her death.

Reviews

[Lois Bujold · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Vicky Bliss, whisking us off this time to exotic 1970s Sweden. I am going to end up reading all of these this week, I can tell, my public library making them all instantly available to my tablet.

Ta, L.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

For general thoughts on the Vicky Bliss series, please see my review of Street of the Five Moons.

Like the others in this series, I've read this about a million times despite it being one of the more forgettable books. In Silhouette in Scarlet, Vicky travels to a foreign land (Sweden) to investigate a mystery involving art/antiquities. John is again involved. She finds herself isolated at the estate of a wealthy native right in the thick of the plot and surrounded by bad guys. John and Vicky become unlikely allies and plan their escape. Sound familiar? That's because it's basically the plot of its predecessor SotFM with some details changed.

I'd say skip this one (again until you decide you're a die-hard fan and need every possible interaction between John and Vicky possible), but elements of this book are referenced in later installments, so it is useful to breeze through. And breeze through you can because SiS (and SotFM) are relatively short, limiting their meatiness. Another reviewer mentioned that there were length limitations on these types of books in this era, which explains a lot.

Here are a few excerpts that demonstrate Vicky's humor:

"No matter; Max has a soft spot for you. And he has the typical middle-aged European male tendency to underestimate women.” “You can eliminate two of those adjectives,” I said.

Most heroines (in which category I account myself, of course) pick up handsome, dashing heroes as they pass through their varied adventures. I seemed to be building up a collection of critical grandpas.

“I object to murder. It’s just a silly girlish prejudice."

And one on the romance -- spoilerish.

I had always known John for what he was—a corrupt, unscrupulous man with the morals of a tomcat—and I’m not referring to the cat’s sexual habits, but to its incurable tendency to put its own interests ahead of everyone else’s. I didn’t love that man; I didn’t even like him. The one I loved was the guy with the perverse sense of humor and the peculiar brand of courage and the occasional streak of quixotry and the clever, twisty mind. But that man was part of the other, buried so deep it was hard to be certain he existed.

[Gerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having had this book on my to read shelf for some time I was quite pleased when I decided to pull it out and proceed.

What a mistake; it is dull and uninteresting from first page to last. The storyline is so poor that I struggled to come to terms with it (perhaps that says more about me than about the book) and although there are passages of good descriptive writing they do not add up to making the book a good, and understandable, read.

Vicky Bliss is a boring character, her co-conspirators and opponents are no better, and what the heck she is doing in chasing around Stockholm and remote islands is beyond me. I am therefore afraid I am unable to comment on the tale because I am not sure of its purpose.

It was far from a blissful experience and one that I do not think I will be repeating despite Elizabeth Peters' good reputation for great entertainment.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read many of Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Micheals' books. This book is not one of her best. It was an enjoyable caper that was saved from being a two star book by a good ending.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the last year, I’ve been revisiting old Elizabeth Peters’ books on audio. I was very taken with the dry wit and amusing light romantic suspense capers of the Vicky Bliss series the first time through many years ago and I’ve found that they stand the test of time, particularly in audio format.

Silhouette in Scarlet is the third of the standalone Vicky Bliss romantic adventures set in various locales around Europe of the 1960’s. Vicky is a tall, voluptuous blond with a wise-cracking attitude and a doctorate in medieval art history and working as the assistant director of the Munich art museum under the hilarious Herr Dr. Schmidt.

While the series mostly has standalone mysteries, the series is best in order as Vicky’s encounters with the suave and flirty art thief Sir John Smythe has built into an ongoing and slowly deepening relationship between the pair as the series progresses. Vicky’s latest escapade into Sweden is all thanks to John who tantalizes her with hints that he’s got something big cooking. Vicky has no idea what the cheeky reprobate is planning to steal this time, but decides to take her vacation in the ancestral homeland and poke about pretending not to hope she’ll spot John along the way and maybe stop his latest shenanigans.

But, her glimpse of John is brief and her next encounter isn’t much longer when he warns her off saying the deal has gone sour and Sweden is no longer safe for her. Naturally, Vicky ignores him, enjoys her time imbibing the local color at the side of a big handsome Viking-like man named Leif and trying to figure out what the game is. This is very light in tone, but eventually builds into the high suspense moment.

The end is full of a heart-pounding excitement and some good twists leaving me well-pleased with my revisit and eager to continue my reunion with the Vicky Bliss series.

Barbara Rosenblat is a great voice for Vicky and the others. She catches the dry wit, the comedic and suspense pacing, and voices the international and diverse cast so well.


My full review will post at Books of My Heart on Oct 30th.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may be my favorite of the Vicky Bliss stories. It's that great, almost old-fashioned combo of mystery, adventure and romance, though it's very light on the romance. Peters generally manages a bit of humor, too which is always welcome. Worth reading or rereading.

[Andree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Default 3 stars. Found a copy of this, and it fulfills a 2018 Reading Challenge prompt, so I figured I'd give it a try.

I think I need to resign myself to being an outlier when it comes to this series.
1. I grant that I would never be adventurous enough to go on a mysterious vacation just for the chance to meet up with a thief I'd met a few times and quite liked (I would be a terrible heroine in a suspense novel - I'm far too risk-averse); however, if I ever did decide to travel to another country to clandestinely meet up with a gentleman criminal, I'd like to think that I'd at least have the good sense not to call out to him by name (or at least well known alias) while he was in disguise at a crowded airport. Bad sign that one chapter in I was already shaking my head at Vicky. I mean, she's certainly self-sufficient and brave and occasionally entertaining, but sometimes, just really?
2. This whole book is essentially one big kidnapping plot. I grant you, it is one of the better types of kidnapping plots, wherein the hero and heroine get kidnapped together and so have to work together to escape. Also, I generally give kidnapping plots a bit of a pass when characters have occupations that make kidnappings more likely, but it still took up a bigger percentage of the book than is my general preference.
3. I have very low tolerance for any combination of "I am not telling you this for your own safety" or "I shall tell you later at a better time," in scheme-related narratives.
4. I have heard that Sir John and Vicky are fun. I might come to that conclusion myself if they were ever allowed to interact with each other for longer than a half a page when not in mortal peril.
5. Schmidt was the best part of this for me.

2018 Reading Challenge - A book with your favourite colour in the title (I probably don't have a single favourite colour - I like several - but red is one of the contenders, so...)

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vicky heads off to Stockholm for possible romance and naturally tumbles into crime and archaeology. Boy do these read fast on audio. I’m surprised it has been so long since I’ve read this one that it’s not on my Goodreads list. Read by Barbara Rosenblat on CD through my public library but I’m keeping my eyes peeled for this one used because I had to ILL.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this Nearly as much as the Peabody Series!!!!

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historian Vicky Bliss receives an enticing invitation to Stockholm. She knows who it is from - her erstwhile love interest, the antique thief John Smythe - and ponders what he's up to this time. She accepts the invitation, planning to ignore John and enjoy the sights...but she is ensnared into John's latest scheme despite her best efforts. John isn't the only schemer though, as far deadlier people have had a similar idea. Buried treasure...!

The Vicky Bliss series is best described as combining the comedy and banter of Moonlighting with the adventure and action of Romancing the Stone (although it was first published before either of those gems were created). The reader does not get bored as the suspense remains palpable throughout the book. Peters writes so smoothly that the reader just keeps turning the pages and enjoying the ride. She also throws in a few surprises along the way that lead to a dramatic final scene.

This series must be read in order. I did not follow that path, and I recognize that this book sets up things that come to pass in the fourth and fifth books in the series. I still enjoyed my visit with Vicky, though, and will relish a revisit of those later entries.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahaha. These are just so fun!

"Most heroines (in which category I account myself, of course) pick up handsome, dashing heroes as they pass through their varied adventures. I seem to be building up a collection of critical grandpas."


Re-read December 2018

[Debra B · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[jacqui · Rating 3 out of 5]

These do get better as they go along, don’t they

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have I really not read this in eight years??? That seems wrong.
———————
There is so much of this book I forgot about! This is not my favorite of the series, but I’m excited to get to the next one!

[Lynne-marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The trouble with having been in love with a daring jewel thief is that you're easily set up as if to reacquaint yourself with him and instead find yourself in the hands of brigands. Ever happen to you? Well you probably aren't a voluptuous blond so beautiful that you can't get people to take your impressive academic credentials seriously, are you? Vicky Bliss, to our good fortune, is all those things, including, in this volume in an outstanding pickle, which may have put her in need of saving, things are looking so bad. I've seldom enjoyed a series more or guffawed less politely as I read myself to sleep at night. Happily so.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding a good cozy can be a bit like panning for gold. You have to go through a lot of grit to find a nugget worth keeping. Elizabeth Peters' books are those nuggets.

I fully admit I'm biased. I've loved the Elizabeth Peters books since I stumbled across them in elementary school. Vicky's my favorite of her heroines, and Silhouette is a close second to my all-time favorite, Trojan Gold.

Silhouette has wit and charm. Are parts of it well, maybe a bit implausible? Yeah, probably, but for me, that just adds to the charm. It every so subtly parodies the great romances (in the adventurous sense, not the Harlequin sense) while at the same time praising them.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep trying to like the Vicky Bliss series and I just can’t. This is essentially a kidnapping plot mystery with a twist and it’s objectively pretty well done. I liked that aspect of it, and it’s why I didn’t rate it lower than 3 stars.

What I disliked was the relationship between Vicky and Sir John, and it baffles me that this is what intrigues most fans. They are, quite simply, terrible to each other. I think it’s meant to be “quippy” and perhaps the dialogue is just dated...but what I read is an almost continuous stream of disrespect or abuse. They’re being mean and pretending that it’s flirting. This is not a relationship to be fantasized about or to aspire to.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the Recorded Books cassette edition. Not as good as Street of the Five Moons but better than Borrower of the Night. I wish I could give it 3 1/2 stars - that would really be more accurate. Looking forward to listening to the next one in the series. The tone of these very much reminds me of the TV show Remington Steele and John Smythe as the charming, international art thief brings things awfully close. Since I believe the TV series came later, I wonder if the producers had read these at all.

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with the Vicky Bliss mystery series during high school, and rereading the books is like curling up on a cozy couch with an old friend -- if that old friend brings intrigue, adventure, foreign travel, a puzzling mystery, and romance all in one package.

Silhouette in Scarlet isn't one of Elizabeth Peters' most clever mysteries (she writes some absolutely brilliant ones), but it's one of my favorites because it's a mad-cap adventure that features John Smythe at his roguish best.

[Renee M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Vicky and John are like Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant in Charade, only blonde. I love the screwball comedy/mystery/romance of it all. And this one is set in Sweden! With plenty of bad guys, a bit of a treasure hunt, dash of danger, plenty of wit, and a fickle feline. Lots of escapist fun!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

#3 in the series, and John & Vicky are in true form! I'm so happy these are as fun and frothy as I remember them.

[Stephanie Mohler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why am I reading these?

[John Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

One perfect red rose, a one-way ticket to Stockholm, and a cryptic "message" consisting of two Latin words intrigue art historian Vicky Bliss—as they were precisely intended to do.Beautiful, brilliant and, as always, dangerously inquisitive, Vicky recognizes the handiwork of her former lover, the daring jewel thief John Smythe. So she takes the bait, eagerly following Smythe's lead in the hope of finding a lost treasure.
First book I have read of Elizabeth Peters. Her character Vicky Bliss has interest. But hard to fathom. She appears to like the casual relationship approach and also has this love / hate thing with John Smythe the both gentlemanly and yet conniving and at times bumbling and others very deft, well planned out and cunning character,. Vicky in a serious way is hooked into him enough to be manipulated by John and yet also resist him. And as well have an eye for other potential partners.
So Vicky and John are each in their own way characters of contrasts.
The trail of the priceless fifth century chalice goes no where and is based on just a possibility. Others with an axe to grind against John get involved which placed Vicky at the mercy of a gang of ruthless criminals who have their eyes on an illegal, forceful and impromptu excavation. John's demise is part of what the treasure hunters want to avenge past real and imagined wrongs thus turning things deadly on a remote island, where the previous two items were discovered when toiling the soil. Vicky is lured by John's devious plan to the island of the discovered treasure. The gang temporarily annex the island, take Gus the owner hostage (And Gus was the initial problem for John as he was not interested in having his land excavated thus he created a family historical link to Gus including Victory to help persuade Gus) When the gang come they make Vicky and John captives The whole endeavour was a complete non starter for all the criminals involved and started unbeknown to the gang to unravel from the get go as the villagers were suspicious when the servants were suddenly send away on leave. And the kind of project would take many months and often years. And returns, maybe none. Thus one gang maniac gets killed trying to kill John and Vicky as they make their escape from the island with Gus the owner. The others are all caught. All set in Sweden thus some interesting historical and cultural information

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always absolutely always have moments where I burst out laughing in this series. Vicky has a wonderful sense of humor. And the ludicrous behaviour that always ends up ensuing when Vicky and John are together always cracks me up. These books are not to be taken seriously. They are pure cozy mystery fun with some highly entertaining characters and always some sort of scam taking place surrounding antiquities. Somehow Vicky always ends up embroiled in some new scheme and this time is no different. Except that it is John who ends up dragging her into the fray this time. These two are well matched and when they are together it makes for some witty and amusing dialogue. I imagine Elizabeth Peters had a similar sense of humor because she always has a dry sarcastic humor mixed into her stories. I only wish there were as many Vicky Bliss books as there are Amelia Peabody because I could read her and John's antics forever.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This quickly felt like a weaker book in an interesting series. It was almost too similar to the second one. I love the travel around the world, the cultural details, and the villain in this book is a great character, but this book got boring fast compared to the others, and while the end has a fun twist I almost wished I had skipped this one and all of its sandwich making. Will give the others a go though!

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another pell-mell Vicky Bliss adventure--this time in Stockholm. The plot is much like the previous books in the series--good guys being chased by mysterious bad guys, with some art history or antiquities thrown in. The characters and dialog are what make this series so readable. It is also interesting to remember what adventures must have been like before easy communication via cell phone, etc.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this art history caper set in 1970s Sweden, but the whole traveling to another country then getting invited to some wealthy person's estate for a prolonged stay where most of the action goes down feels stale when reading this so closely following Street of the Five Moons, which used the same formula.

[Gina P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am making my way through this series and enjoying it, though this one was my least favorite thus far. It was still fun and entertaining but I felt like it pulled in the middle. The ending was the most enjoyable part. I wish she had given us more descriptions of the landscape and art history in Sweden.

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Number 3 in a series. I might have enjoyed it more had I read the previous 2 and understood better what the storyline for this series was. The idea of an antiquities expert being pulled into a heist is intriguing , however there was no real payoff - like discovering a treasure.
By the end I was pretty much just confused.

[Mary Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The relationship between Vicky and John finally starts crackling in Silhouette, making it a fun, buoyantly suspenseful romp. Max makes for a delightfully creepy villain, and the Swedish locale is more colorful than one might expect.