Friday's Forgotten Books: TROJAN GOLD (1987) by Elizabeth Peters

Friday is Forgotten Books day around here. This is a weekly meme usually hosted by Patti Abbott at her blog but for today, Todd Mason will be collecting the links at, SWEET FREEDOM.

Don't forget to check in later and see what other forgotten books other bloggers are talking about today. My entry today is TROJAN GOLD by Elizabeth Peters.

The gold of Troy has turned up again. At least that's what someone would have art historian Vicky Bliss believe. She's received a blood stained photo in the mail, a photo of the famed cache of Helen of Troy gold found by archaeologist Heinrich Schleimann in the late 1800's and then rumored lost at the end of WWII.

So of course, off goes Vicky on yet another action packed adventure full of intrigue, confusion and the occasional dead body.

American Vicky Bliss works as a curator at the National Museum in Munich, Germany. She is six feet tall, has blond hair and is stacked, which can often lead to misunderstandings. A bimbo she is not. She'd much rather be short and cuddly like Gerda, her boss's secretary, but life just isn't fair sometimes.

When she isn't curating at the museum and fending off her boss's zealous interest in her non-existent love-life, Vicky is off on some jaunt or other, tracking down some piece of art or other. Where Vicky goes, the very mysterious and devastatingly handsome art thief, John Smythe is sure to turn up and where they go, danger and adventure follow.

Vicky's boss is Herr Doctor Anton Z. Schmidt, the museum's roly-poly director who is a look-alike for Santa Claus. He loves nothing more than dressing up in costume and following Vicky himself. But when you look like Santa it's hard not to be noticed trailing down the street dressed like a peasant woman.

Elizabeth Peters has a wicked sense of humor and it's nowhere more apparent than in this series set in 'contemporary' Europe. Though these books are less well known than Peters' Amelia Peabody series, they are worth looking for, especially if you want a good laugh while dodging bullets, art thieves and other assorted bad guys as you whirl about Europe.

My two favorites are TROJAN GOLD and NIGHT TRAIN TO MEMPHIS. (Memphis, Egypt, that is.)

GOLD should be read first. There are a couple of other books in the series, but these two are the stand-outs, in my view.

5 Best Books: 5 Best Books Based On A True Story

For whatever reason, I don't normally seem to read fiction books that are based on true stories. But checking through my various lists, I've managed to come up with five. To my surprise, there are actually a couple more but I've spoken about those recently under other headings. At the risk of repeating myself, don't wan't to keep repeating myself. You know how it goes.

5 Best Books is a weekly meme hosted by Cassandra at INDIE READER HOUSTON Don't forget to check in this week to see what 5 Bests other bloggers are talking about.

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1) THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR by Josephine Tey

A story by the wonderful Golden Age writer, updated but based on the notorious 18th century case of Elizabeth Canning, a maid who claimed to have been abducted and held against her will by two women. (Read about the Canning case here.)

Robert Blair, a small town English solicitor is called upon to help Marion Sharpe and her mother when a maid, Betty Kane, accuses them of holding her prisoner in their country home known as The Franchise.

Tey's book has been turned into a film and several television adaptations followed. THE FRANCHISE AFFAIR was picked as one of the 100 Best Mysteries by the UK Crime Writers Association.

2) ELEVEN DAYS by Donald Harstad

Author Harstad was once a cop out in the Midwest himself and this story is based on a shocking real event. Written in a taut business-like manner (which I happen to like very much for this sort of story), this is a police procedural set in the fictional town of Maitland, Iowa and featuring a likable cast of characters, most especially the lead cop, Carl Houseman.

A distress call comes into the police station from a local farm. When the police arrive, they find a horrible scene, a dead family and no clues to the whereabouts of the killer or killers. But this is only the beginning of the violence. The laconic sheriff, Carl Houseman is baffled and though the story may at first appear to be a 'Fargo meets Dragnet' sort of thing, be assured the story soon takes off, resulting in a rock 'em sock 'em ending which will leave you breathless.

This is one of my all time favorite books, a debut by a guy who knew what he was doing and went on to write several more highly recommended books featuring Houseman and his stalwart cop crew.

An aside: This would make a great movie. It surprises me that no one's thought of it.

3) WHITE SHADOW by Ace Atkins

A gritty and violent re-telling/re-imagining of the famous Florida murder of mob boss Charlie Wall. The author is a former award winning reporter turned writer of extraordinary crime books. (As well as the brilliant Nick Travers series.) He takes great care to create fictional characters who will integrate smoothly with his meticulously researched facts. Few writers do this as well as Atkins.

Tampa, Florida in the 1950's was a hotbed of criminal activity -  Sicilian and Cuban mobsters had a strangle-hold on the town. It was an unseemly mix of smoky nightclubs, cigar factories , brothels and gangsters left to practice their various nefarious trades unchecked. So, when a mob boss is bludgeoned to death, the truth is the least of anyone's worries.

4) THE DAUGHTER OF TIME by Josephine Tey

Another Tey book which would easily go on my  own list of 100 Best Books. When Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant is hospitalized with a broken leg, he has enough time on his hands to seek out the truth behind the assumed guilt of Richard the III, the hunch-backed monster of a king who supposedly murdered his two nephews to usurp the British throne. The two young boys were tucked up in the Tower (for their protection) and never seen again.

While lying in his hospital bed, Grant solves 'the case' to Tey's satisfaction (and mine). This is a brilliant story told in 'modern day' detective fashion as Grant uses reason and research material brought to him by a friend, to ferret out the historical truth.

If you haven't read this, I urge you to do so, especially if you have any interest whatsoever in English history and vintage mysteries.

5) THE TOMB OF THE GOLDEN BIRD by Elizabeth Peters

Fictional characters Amelia Peabody and her irascible husband, Radcliffe (known simply as Emerson) and their intrepid family, are back in Egypt and on the verge of making the greatest archaeological discovery in history - the tomb of Tutankhamun. Unfortunately their reputation for trouble precedes them and they have been forbidden from digging anywhere in The Valley of the Kings.

Convinced the discovery of the tomb is imminent, the Emersons try to get Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter (the real-life discoverers of King Tut's tomb in 1922) to relinquish their digging rights but to no avail.

Forced to watch on the sidelines as the greatest archaeological treasure in history is uncovered, the Emersons still manage to find themselves embroiled in another mystery - "...every summer another murder." Eventually they have the satisfaction of knowing they were right in originally figuring that Tut's tomb lay waiting in The Valley of the Kings.

Read about the real life discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb here.

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Couple of other books I've recently recommended that were based on true stories:

THE PERSIAN BOY by Mary Renault

DEVIL'S GARDEN by Ace Atkins

Bones To Pick...

MURDER, MYSTERY AND MAYHEM: A Resource for Readers has an excellent list today of mysteries set within the worlds of anthropology, forensic anthropology, archeology and Egyptology. Check it out.

I've read all the Aaron Elkins mysteries featuring Gideon Oliver, professor of forensic anthropology, and recommend them highly. Oliver, known to his chagrin as The Skeleton Detective travels around the world (though he's based in Washington State) and always finds a skeleton or two and a mystery to solve.

I've also read all of Elizabeth Peters' Victorian mysteries featuring Egyptologists Amelia Peabody and Radcliff Emerson. Wonderful adventures told mostly in the style of H. Rider Haggard. Terrific stylized writing laced with humor and wit: an unbeatable trifecta.

The rest of the listed authors I'm vaguely familiar with, but haven't read. Needless to say, I've added some of the books to my ever-growing TBR List.