Silhouette in Scarlet (1983)

by Elizabeth Peters

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Vicky Bliss (3)

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adventure (4) amateur detective (4) American (4) animals (10) antiques (3) archaeology (4) art (7) art history (7) bliss (5) crime (8) Elizabeth Peters (7) fantasy (10) fiction (90) Germany (6) humor (7) imaginative fiction (10) juvenile (10) mysteries (7) mystery (195) mystery fiction (7) own (4) paperback (4) read (8) romance (11) series (13) Stockholm (7) suspense (5) Sweden (20) Vicky Bliss (72) Vicky Bliss Mystery (15)

▾LibraryThing recommendations

Street of the Five Moons by Elizabeth Peters (1978)
Same series: The Camelot Caper, The Laughter of Dead Kings (Vicky Bliss)
The Love Talker by Elizabeth Peters (1980)
Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels (1987)
Same series: Shattered Silk (Georgetown trilogy)
Amelia Peabody's Egypt: A Compendium by Kristen Whitbread (2002)
House of Many Shadows by Barbara Michaels (1974)

The Bilbao Looking Glass by Charlotte MacLeod (1983)
Same series: The Family Vault, The Palace Guard (Sarah Kelling)
The Devil in Music by Kate Ross (1997)
Same series: Cut to the Quick (Julian Kestrel Mysteries)
My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart (1960)
The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart (1962)

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▾Member reviews

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Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)

Not as fun as Street of the Five Moons, but still nice book. Couldn't really recognise Sweden in the book, but that doesn't matter much. (

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Aelianna | Jun 5, 2013 |

These books are definitely a guilty pleasure, but such a fun one! I think this is the one where John is introduced, but I could be wrong. [Dec. 2008]

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one of the Vicky Bliss mysteries. I mistakenly thought it’s where John Smythe first turns up, but it’s not. Unfortunately, I don’t actually remember the plot. I’m getting it mixed up with Trojan Gold. [Oct. 2009] (

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maureene87 | Apr 4, 2013 |

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. (

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JenJ. | Mar 31, 2013 |

This is one of my favorites of the Vickie Bliss series so far and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's all the red herrings, or the descriptions of Stockholm, or the idea of an artist who can freehand silhouettes. Whatever it was, the atmosphere and the juxtaposition of jolliness and danger all combined to give me a great read. (

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tjsjohanna | Jan 21, 2011 |

Entertaining crime/adventure caper which has Vicky Bliss following a mysterious invitation, only to find John, a silhouette cutter, and miscellaneous other shady characters trailing her pursuit of an ancient cup. Atmospheric, entertaining, intriguing landscapes and artefacts, fun characters. Light reading. (

)

Flit | Oct 22, 2010 |

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▾Other authors

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Elizabeth Peters	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Rosenblat, Barbara	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Series (with order)

Vicky Bliss (3)

Canonical title

Silhouette in Scarlet

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1983

People/Characters

Leif Andersen (Hasseltine)

Vicky Bliss

Gustaf Jonsson

Max, the silhouette cutter

Anton Zachariah Schmidt

(show all 8 items)

Important places

Stockholm, Sweden

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

Epigraph

Music I heard with you
was more than music,
And bread I broke with
you was more than bread.
Conrad Aiken

Dedication

To Paula and Jim

First words

This time, it wasn't my fault.

Quotations

I object to murder. It's just a silly girlish prejudice.

His tools were the simplest imaginable--a pair of sharp scissors and a sheet of black paper. I gave him a profile, and watched out of the corner of my eye. After one long, measuring survey, he began to cut, the paper turning smoothly in his hands as he clipped, without a pause or a second look at me. It was an astonishing performance, a demonstration of the art in its most difficult and refined form of freehand cutting.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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▾LibraryThing members' description

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▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0380733374, Mass Market Paperback)

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.

(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:29:06 -0500)

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▾Library descriptions

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 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.… (more)

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