Ancient Egypt during the reign of the pharaohs is once again the setting for Lynda S. Robinson's masterfully detailed series featuring Lord Meren, the god-king's chief protector and investigator. Here the author takes a little-known incident from the 14th century B.C., when Pharaoh Akhenhaten, husband of Nefertiti, commanded the disestablishment of Amun, Egypt's chief deity, and his powerful priesthood. Meren is commanded by the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun--who undid Akhenhaten's work and revived the worship of Amun--to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding Nefertiti's untimely demise.

Aided by the beautiful Anath, Meren sets out to discover who poisoned the beautiful queen, beloved by her stepson Tutankhamun. But uncovering the conspiracy behind Nefertiti's death leads Meren to discover treachery much closer to home than he ever imagined and imperils this complex and compassionate investigator's own beloved son and daughter. This is Meren's sixth outing, and like Robinson's previous Meren books, it brings ancient history to breathtaking life, bolstered as it is by solid research, intelligent writing, and a command of the craft of storytelling. --Jane Adams


From Publishers Weekly
In her sixth masterful historical mystery set in ancient Egypt (Murder in the Place of Anubis; Murder at the God's Gate; etc.), Robinson presents a tantalizing what-if scenario. The story opens in the fifth year of the reign of the pharaoh Tutankhamun. The previous pharaoh, Akhenaten, the heretic king, forced the people of Egypt to abandon the worship of their ancient gods, especially Amun, in favor of a minor sun god, Aten. He moved the royal court from Memphis and Thebes to found a new city, Horizon of Aten. Tutankhamun, in an attempt to restore the old ways, once again worships Amun and has moved the court back to Memphis. Historically, Akhenaten's wife, the beautiful Nefertiti, mysteriously disappeared from the monuments and royal correspondence after the 12th year of Akhenaten's reign. In an imaginative twist, royal adviser Lord Meren discovers that, contrary to rumor, Queen Nefertiti died not of the plague but was poisoned. To give the pharaoh peace of mind, Meren determines to discover the murderer. Enlisting the help of Anath, a seductive female spy known as the Eyes of Babylon, he sets out on a dangerous quest for the truth that will threaten not only his life but also the lives of his family. With a seamless blend of fact and fiction, the author makes ancient places and historical figures seem extraordinarily real. A compelling story does the rest to keep the reader hooked. (June Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-In this sixth book in the series, Tutankhamen has been on the throne of Egypt for five years. Lord Meren has been his advisor and sworn protector since the death of his parents, the Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. Rumors have reached Tutankhamen that Nefertiti was poisoned. The boy king seeks help from his confidant to find out by whom and why. This crime must be solved or else the murdered person's soul will wander the Earth for eternity. Meren fears that the killer may represent a threat to King Tut's life. The investigation is complicated by the fact that the city in which the queen was killed has been abandoned and many palace witnesses have turned up dead before they could be interrogated. Lord Meren's teenaged children Kyson and Bener try to solve the crime; in the process, Bener is kidnapped, and the killer threatens to murder her if Meren proceeds with his investigation. Students will enjoy reading about the two amateur sleuths and the dangers that befall them. The author's narrative style makes the political and cultural details interesting, giving a face to people long gone. Ancient places and historical figures seem real in this fast-paced story of intrigue.Linda G. Sinclair, Alexandria Library, VACopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The fabulous Lord Meren series (Drinker of Blood) continues as Meren tracks the elusive poisoner of the late Queen Nefertiti. At stake is the sanity of Tutankhamun, who revered the woman as a second mother. An Egyptian treat. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Robinson mines the reign of King Tutankhamun for her historical mysteries. Her depth of knowledge (she holds a doctorate in anthropology, with a specialization in archaeology, and has done extensive fieldwork in the Middle East) is united with a clear, straightforward narrative style, making her mysteries richly authoritative in political and cultural detail as well as compellingly suspenseful whodunits. The detective here, who moves easily from court to labyrinthine back alleys, is Lord Meren, advisor to King Tut. In this, the sixth in the series, it is 11 years since the death of Queen Nefertiti--a death that still haunts the Boy King, who regarded her as a second mother. Meren discovers that Nefertiti did not die of the plague, as believed, but was poisoned. There's an urgency attached to the solving of this old crime, since a murdered person's soul is consigned to eternal restlessness and since the killer could still be at large, representing a threat to King Tut's life. Meren's investigation is complicated by the fact that palace witnesses are killed just before Meren can interrogate them. The search for the killer takes us from Memphis to the tombs of the dead kings, with suspense and peril for Meren and Tut growing with every inquiry. Based on actual historical events, this is a cunning combination of scholarship and craftsmanship. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
In the sixth novel of the celebrated series set during the reign of Pharaoh Tutan-khamen, Lord Meren recruits a clever female counterpart to help him find Queen Nefertiti's murderer. Armed with the certainty that Queen Nefertiti did not die of the plague but was murdered with poison, Lord Meren is hot on the trail of her killer. His investigation leads him from the Egyptian countryside to the mysterious tombs of the dead kings, entangling him in a conspiracy so treacherous he fears for his life. Meanwhile, back at the palace, a mourning King Tutankhamen grows more distraught each day the murderer, hidden within a network of subordinates, agents, and slaves, goes uncaptured. Desperate, Meren looks to the one person who can help him bring the assassin to justice, and appease the pharaoh. She is Anath, the fabled Eyes of Babylon, a mistress of secrets with a mind as incisive as Lord Meren's, who may--or may not--prove trustworthy.


About the Author
Lynda S. Robinson lives in San Antonio, Texas.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Lord Meren recruits a beautiful mistress of secrets to help him find Queen Nefertiti's murderer in this sixth ancient Egyptian mystery.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"A teenager on the great throne of Egypt is a dangerous thing. Tempted by debauchery, unbalanced by the murders that put him in power, King Tut is being driven mad by the question of who killed his beloved foster mother, Nefertiti." "Lord Meren is Tutankhamun's last hope. The detective and master spy is barely recovered from wounds received when he discovered who had administered the poison to the kingdom's adored queen - but not the evil mastermind behind the crime. Now he sees an imminent darkness consuming the world he knows, a conspiracy of such magnitude that the harmony and future of Egypt is threatened." "Joining with the astonishing woman warrior Anath, a.k.a. the Eyes of Babylon, Meren soon realizes that the one remaining witness to Nefertiti's murder is her old bodyguard, still alive in the up-river city of Syene. Sailing away from the majestic capital of Memphis, Meren begins a journey into a land awash in peril. For in a titanic clash of old ways and new, former gods and a new religion, a fanatical enemy is cunning and evil enough to plan the murder of a pharaoh - and waits for the right moment to destroy a glittering, incomparable world."--BOOK JACKET.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In her sixth masterful historical mystery set in ancient Egypt (Murder in the Place of Anubis; Murder at the God's Gate; etc.), Robinson presents a tantalizing what-if scenario. The story opens in the fifth year of the reign of the pharaoh Tutankhamun. The previous pharaoh, Akhenaten, the heretic king, forced the people of Egypt to abandon the worship of their ancient gods, especially Amun, in favor of a minor sun god, Aten. He moved the royal court from Memphis and Thebes to found a new city, Horizon of Aten. Tutankhamun, in an attempt to restore the old ways, once again worships Amun and has moved the court back to Memphis. Historically, Akhenaten's wife, the beautiful Nefertiti, mysteriously disappeared from the monuments and royal correspondence after the 12th year of Akhenaten's reign. In an imaginative twist, royal adviser Lord Meren discovers that, contrary to rumor, Queen Nefertiti died not of the plague but was poisoned. To give the pharaoh peace of mind, Meren determines to discover the murderer. Enlisting the help of Anath, a seductive female spy known as the Eyes of Babylon, he sets out on a dangerous quest for the truth that will threaten not only his life but also the lives of his family. With a seamless blend of fact and fiction, the author makes ancient places and historical figures seem extraordinarily real. A compelling story does the rest to keep the reader hooked. (June 6) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The fabulous Lord Meren series (Drinker of Blood) continues as Meren tracks the elusive poisoner of the late Queen Nefertiti. At stake is the sanity of Tutankhamun, who revered the woman as a second mother. An Egyptian treat. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal