Search - Silhouette in Scarlet (Vicky Bliss, Bk 3)

One perfect red rose, a one way ticket to Stockholm and cryptic message intrigue art historian Vicky Bliss as they were intended to. Before long she is off to her ancestral homeland hoping to find a lost treasure, a priceless fifth century chalice. Soon she is at the mercy of a gang of ruthless criminals led by a handsome Viking, his drug addict brother and a man who practices the dying art of making silhouettes While Vicky and the mysterious John Smythe are on the trail of the chalice the gang has a bigger prize in mind. Taken captive on a remote island Vicky must lead an excavation into the distant past and if she is not careful she may be digging her own grave. The series by Elizabeth Peters gets better with each story and we enjoy the appearances of favorite secondary characters from previous books.

Actually creeped me out a bit adding that factor to the usual mystery and learning that takes place in the Vicky Bliss novels. Not for the faint of heart.

Vicky Bliss is an American who works in Germany. She has a scoundrel for an ex-lover who drags her into murderous hunt. The bad guy completely surprised me!