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Murder in the Place of Anubis

by Lynda S. Robinson

Reviewed by Coral


Lord Meren is lucky to have survived the upheaval brought about by the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten. He did not escape unscathed: his father and his cousin’s family lost their lives while Meren will always bear the scars from the beatings he endured on his back as well as the brand of the sun disk Aten on his wrist.

Now, as Eyes and Ears to the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Meren is charged with protecting the Pharaoh and the Kingdom.

Along with his adopted son Kysen, Meren’s latest case involves investigating the murder of an un-liked scribe in the most sacred Place of Anubis, house of the dead. But with an overabundance of suspects, Meren and Kysen will have their work cut out for them to apprehend the killer and remove the stain of evil from the land.

I first read this book a long time ago and only recently was able to buy the last two books in the series (thank you used book stores!). I bypassed my normal stack of books to read these so I can finally get to the end of the series.

The main draw to the series for me was the atmosphere and the characters. For me, the author has written the books in such a way that they draw you in right away to this country trying to put itself back together after a Pharaoh that nearly tore them apart. Both Meren and Kysen have lived through their own share of horrors and come out of the other side, scarred but alive.

The supporting characters on the political side of it (Ay, Horemheb and, of course, Tutankhamun) are all well-written as well (though maybe less so Horemheb in this book).

There was one part of the mystery surrounding the scribe’s death that I thought was pretty obvious, which made it frustrating when it took so long for Meren and Kysen to reach the same conclusion. Though, to be fair, I am not sure if I only thought it was obvious because I had read the book before and remembered this part of the story.

I can’t wait to read the other books in the series.

Grade: B (should be an A, but I have to mark down because of the mystery thing. If I can figure something out, then it is too obvious)