Colorado Parks & Wildlife Research Library

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 with...

For the first time in more than a decade, New York Times bestselling Grand Master Elizabeth Peters brings beautiful, brainy Vicky Bliss back into the spotlight for one last investigation. But this time the peerless art historian and sleuth will be detecting in Amelia Peabody territory, searching for solutions to more than one heinous offense in the ever-shifting sands of Egypt's mysterious Valley of the Kings.Who stole one of Egypt's most priceless...

Vicky Bliss, a beautiful brainy art historian, is embroiled in a mystery involving a forgery ring, meticulously produced antique jewelry and a handsome English rascal.

The story finds university historian Vicki Bliss and her colleague, Tony, trying to track down a lost piece of German art, the last work of a master wood carver who died in the 16th century. Most of the story takes place in a medieval castle in a small German town, complete with a mysterious late-night spectre, secret passageways, and a bloody history reaching clear back to the time when the missing carving was created.