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Night Train to Memphis  By  cover art

Night Train to Memphis

By: Elizabeth Peters
Narrated by: Grace Conlin
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Publisher's summary

An assistant curator of Munich's National Museum, Vicky Bliss is no expert on Egypt, but she does have a Ph.D. in solving crimes. So when an intelligence agency offers her a luxury Nile cruise if she'll help solve a murder and stop a heist of Egyptian antiquities, all 5'11" of her takes the plunge.

Vicky suspects the authorities really want her to lead them to her missing lover, the art thief and master of disguises she knows only as "Sir John Smythe". And right in the shadow of the Sphinx she spots him...with his new flame. Vicky is so furious at this romantic stab-in-the-back, not to mention the sudden arrival of her meddling boss, Herr Dr. Schmidt, that she may overlook a danger as old as the pharaohs and as unchanging, a criminal who hides behind a mask of charm while moving in for the kill.

©1994 Elizabeth Peters (P)1996 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A clever plot combined with an exotic setting, well-crafted writing, wryly funny humor, interesting factoids about Egyptian antiquities, and lively, attractive heroine Vicky Bliss, who can hold her own against the meanest meanies." (Booklist)

What listeners say about Night Train to Memphis

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

What a difference a narrator makes.

If I hadn't already listened to all the previous Vicky Bliss mysteries -- all narrated by the incomparable Barbara Rosenblat -- maybe I wouldn't be grumping over the change of narrators for this one. However, with all apologies and respect due to Grace Conlin, she doesn't have Barbara Rosenblat's acting skill. I agree with the previous reviewer who said that Audible should be offering the Recorded Books version of "Night Train to Memphis," with Barbara Rosenblat narrating, in order to maintain continuity in the series and do justice to Elizabeth Peters' superb writing. To offer just one example of how Ms Rosenblat's version would have surpassed Ms Conlin's version: Ms Rosenblat would have 𝒔𝒖𝙣𝙜 the snatches of country songs quoted in "Night Train to Memphis," rather than merely speaking the lyrics, as Ms Conlin does. "Night Train to Memphis" marks an important turning point in the Vicky Bliss series, in that it moves into Elizabeth Peters' true area of expertise and passion: Egyptology. It also commences a subtle merging of Peters' Vicky Bliss series with her Amelia Peabody series. Vicky even mentions "Amelia Emerson" in this novel. In the following (and final?) novel in this series, "The Laughter of Dead Kings," Peters, herself, makes an appearance, à la Clive Cussler, as the researcher who is unearthing Amelia's journals from Sir John's family manse. (Oops ... I should have shouted, "Spoiler Alert!" before I said that, shouldn't I?) Long story short, "Night Train to Memphis," 𝒆𝒔𝙥𝒆𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 deserves Barbara Rosenblat's touch. Despite all my grumping about the narrator, however, I still recommend this audiobook to Vicky Bliss fans, assuming that you have listened to all the previous entries in the series, first. You will need to have listened to "Night Train to Memphis" before proceeding to "The Laughter of Dead Kings," the funnest episode of all.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Almost gave up

The narrator was just all wrong for this book. Her reading of it made it slow and dull and I almost quit listening several times. It came off as a very slow, bad romance novel. Others say this is a good story but I can't even be sure of that. I just couldn't get the sound of her voice out of my head.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Where is the Recorded Books edition?

I love the book itself and remember enjoying listening to an audio version this book several years ago. Not enjoying this narrator at all. Wait until the Recorded Books edition, narrated by Barbara Rosenblat is available before renting this title.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

The Voice

The Reader's tones are all you can hear of this book. Buy hard copy. This audiobook is almost impossible to listen to, as the reader sounds like she is so absorbed in her own tones and not focused on the material, one could go to sleep -- AND this is a good book. the Listener has to re-hear author's voice. Shame on your indulgence, Reader. Shame. Get over it.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Dl
  • 03-17-05

What was the point?

Listened through the first half trying to figure why I was listening as the story never really caught on and made you want to continue.
Not one of Elizabeth Peter's better books, wouldn't bother to buy and certainly didn't finish it myself.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Zzzzzz

I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Peters. But I could not get through this recording as the narrator sounds bored and I kept having to rewind because I could not keep my attention on what she was saying as it made me sleepy.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

What a waste of my time

I don’t know why I bothered to finish, but maybe it has something to do with wanting to write a review of this drawn out rather weak-plotted book. So unnecessarily long. So cliche. The banter between the characters is such drivel. The “romance” so pathetic, corny, yuck, as if it is an obligation for this genre to add some romance, and Peters can check off the box. I had listened to a couple of Amelia Peabody books and they were OK, not great; they seemed too similar. But now I’m totally convinced to never bother with any more of her books. So the one thing I got out of finishing this is that I know not to waste any more of my time. If giving this one away free with membership was meant to get me interested in more of this series, it didn’t work for me. Practically everyone who reviewed this said the narrator was not particularly good. She wasn’t. There were times she made John’s voice higher than the women’s voices. And, it is true that Barbara Rosenblat is an outstanding narrator. But it wouldn’t make me like the book any better. Just the performance.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration

What disappointed you about Night Train to Memphis?

Love the story, all E. Peters/Vicky Bliss. HATE this narrator

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Terrible narration. Poor pronunciation, more imitation of "accents".

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Only the book, not the narration

Any additional comments?

I did not realize this was the narrator paired with the purchase of the book. I will return this and get the Barbara Rosenblatt. Urge everyone who enjoys a well narrated audio book to do the same.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Yet another success

For fans of the Amelia Peabody series, Vicky Bliss continues in the tradition of Amelia P. Emerson. I simply became captivated with the John Smythe character and grew to love 'Papa' Schmitt. The performance enhances the story and quickly grabs the listening full attention. Start with the first Vicky Bliss and read on. You won't be sorry... until you find out that after this one, there's only one more left!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story

Not too much graphic stuff. Often WWII/Nazi stories have a tremendous amount of graphic violence. And I know it existed it’s just incredibly hard to read. While it is implied it is not detailed which made this book much easier for me to read. The performances were great pt everyone had a German accent. I truly enjoyed this book.

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