Drinker of Blood
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A spy in ancient Egypt investigates who killed Queen Nefertiti in “one of the most engrossing and sophisticated historical mystery series running” (Publishers Weekly).
Lord Meren serves as mentor—and eyes and ears—to the boy king Tutankhamun. But to keep the young pharaoh safe, he’s keeping his investigation into the death of Nefertiti a secret. Meren has concluded succumbed to poison, not the plague, and he’s narrowed his potential suspects down to three men. His clandestine efforts are interrupted when Tut asks him to look into a mysterious fatality at the royal zoo, but Meren remains focused—even when someone uses his own knife to make an attempt on Tut’s life . . .
“The story has a dark, romantic power. . . . It’s always a pleasure to negotiate the treacherous corridors of power with Lord Meren and his wily associates, eavesdropping on the priests in Pharaoh’s court, ducking the knife fights on the back streets of Memphis—and picking up beauty tips from Nefertiti.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A mesmerizing blend of tantalizing suspense, high-speed action, and gripping historical intrigue . . . An outstanding thriller.” —Booklist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Robinson's books about Lord Meren, Eyes and Ears of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, have been justly praised as one of the most engrossing and sophisticated historical mystery series running. This fifth entry (after Eater of Souls, 1997) is the first to disappoint, one in which the ever wily Meren conducts two investigations that never quite come together satisfactorily. First, he's secretly consumed with finding the person who poisoned Queen Nefertiti. He's narrowed the suspects to three men, but, to prevent the assassin from attacking the current pharaoh, he doesn't want to tell the teenage Tutankhamun about his investigation. Meanwhile, Tut commands Meren to investigate the death of a favorite guard who mysteriously died in the baboon pit at the royal zoo. Because he doesn't want to be deflected from his clandestine investigation of Nefertiti's death, Meren delegates the task to his aide Abu, who delegates it even further. While Meren relentlessly tracks down his three suspects, he must accompany Tut on a war party at the border. There, someone who sounds like Meren tries to kill Tut with Meren's own knife. Accused of the attempt, Meren escapes arrest and finds asylum with a crafty pirate, leaving his adopted son, Kysen, and daughter, Bener, to prove his innocence. The story is told from the alternating third-person viewpoints of Meren and Nefertiti, but the unmasking of Tut's assailant and his guard's killer are tied only peripherally to the former queen's murder. The plot, then, ends with an anticlimax that might have some readers feeling that, uncharacteristically, Robinson has led them through her usual intricate maze of political intrigue and religious infighting for naught. Major ad/promo.
