The Dead Sea Cipher [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Elizabeth Peters (Author), Grace Conlin (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996

It was the start of a grand adventure in a land of antiquity, a rare opportunity to visit biblical places shrouded in mystery. But in a Jerusalem hotel room a world away from everything she knows, Dinah van der Lyn hears angry voices through the wall, followed by a crash and a brief cry in English...for help! The brutal shattering of an evening's stillness becomes a prelude to terror. Without warning, Dinah has been unwittingly pulled into something unholy transpiring in a sacred city, and she must find answers hidden in the shadows. And she must trust an enigmatic stranger as she races through ancient, twisting streets teeming with secrets and peril, a man who may be leading her to safety...or to her doom.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Elizabeth Peters was named Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America in 1998. She earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's famed Oriental Institute. In addition to the Vicky Bliss mysteries, Elizabeth Peters is the author of the bestselling Amelia Peabody mysteries.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078611357X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786113576
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #489,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( P ) > Peters, Elizabeth
  • #48 in Books > Books on Cassette > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

More About the Author

ELIZABETH PETERS, whose New York Times best-selling novels are often set against historical backdrops, earned a Ph.D. in Egyptology at the University of Chicago. She also writes best-selling books under the pseudonym Barbara Michaels. She lives in Frederick, Maryland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Murder and mystery in the sands of the Middle East, March 22, 1998

By 

Tess Capra (Greensboro, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dead Sea Cipher (Mass Market Paperback)

*The Dead Sea Cipher* is surprisingly undated for a mystery written in 1970. In fact, the only element that gives it away is the ease with which the characters move through Lebanon, Syria, and Israel on a bus tour of Biblical sites.

Opera contralto Dinah van der Lyn is trying to soak up a little history between singing engagements when she overhears a murder in the hotel room next door. The Beirut police are at first dubious and then suspicious of Dinah's own politics -- she's the granddaughter of a rabbi and the daughter of a minister.

Other mysterious characters begin following and questioning Dinah, including handsome government agent Tony Cartwright and Biblical scholar Jeff Smith. Soon she's looking with imsgivings at every member of her multi-cultural tour group. There's an antiquities smuggler in their midst, a spy or two ... and a killer.

Elizabeth Peters uses her archeology background to illustrate the heat and backbreaking work of the scientists as well as the exhilaration of a rare find. And the "find" in *The Dead Sea Cipher* is exciting, indeed: a cave full of ancient Biblical scrolls with one special payoff.

Clear and interesting information on Sidon, Tyre, Damascus, Jericho, and other Biblical sites is well mixed with entertaining, even outrageous characters. And unlike other heroines of 30 years ago, Dinah is self reliant and intelligent as well as spunky.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Vintage Peters Reissue, August 12, 2001

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Dead Sea Cipher (Mass Market Paperback)

Much to my delight there seems to be no end to the output of Elizabeth Peters. My count of the inside cover list of this recent reissue (which was first published in 1970) lists 31 novels, which is an astounding output. Especially since they are rarely repetitious and also have plenty of the old Peters charm. While she tends to write 'comfy' mysteries, with a romantic twist, she manages to provide basic entertainment for all her readers. Another surprise for the reader is how well her stories hold up to time. Even this one, set in the Middle East, is as fresh as if it had been written yesterday

"The Dead Sea Cipher" is somewhat more serious than the Peabody series or "Summer of the Dragon," but it still has plenty of humorous touches. When singer Dinah van der Lyn overhears an argument and murder in her Beirut hotel room she finds that her archeological tour through the Middle East is to be perpetually interrupted by a procession of spies and government officials. Two of these, Tony Cartwright and Geoffrey Smith, seem to crop up everywhere but the bathroom. She knows that at least one of them is a spy, but is never sure which.

Dinah becomes more and more frustrated as her tour of sites from Byblos to Jerusalem is perpetually disturbed by the appearance of one or the other of these gentleman. Both want her to reveal what she overheard, and neither believes that she knows nothing. Despite that fact that she has no understanding of Arabic. She manages to work out that Tony, Jeff, and a whole host of other agents are chasing after rumors of a new set of Dead Sea scrolls. Even that information is of little help to her in what becomes a comic peripatetic chase through archeological sites and ancient churches.

Common to all Peters novels, there is no lack of gem-like characters. Dinah finds herself touring in a touring limousine with French newlyweds, a British widow, a priest, a doctor, and a Dutch diplomat with his attaché. Dinah suspects all of them at one time or another. Certainly, all contribute to the confusion as they seem to tumble towards the surprise conclusion. This isn't so much a 'whodunnit' as it is a 'whatisgoingon' type novel. As usual, it is all over too soon, and we find ourselves wishing for yet another Peters novel with its own fresh and audacious heroine.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful light romance/thriller, March 24, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Chesapeake, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dead Sea Cipher (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a great read, if you are looking for a romance/thriller book. I characterize it as light, because it does not bog you down with heavy espionage capers or explicit and frequent sex scenes.

The subject material for the book is interesting and well thought out. Ms. Peters touches on many different and, in some cases, volatile issues. The charm of her work is that she does not so much MAKE the reader think about the issues as much as she puts them out for the reader to explore, or not, as they choose. Issues such as: relationships between generations, traditional enemies, individuals from different walks of life, and religious dogma and tradition are all to be found in this novel. For the casual reader, the issues are can be overlooked or ignored, for the most part. The thinking reader will be intrigued and will continue to analyse the attitudes displayed in the novel.

As always, Ms. Peters writing ability is unquestioned. She has done her research regarding the Holy Land in the late 1960's, and brings the image vividly to mind for the reader. She manages to capture the humanity in her characters, which makes her work a joy to read, and the characters live.