Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead by Nick Drake

There are some great mysteries out there set in ancient Egypt such as Lynda S. Robinson’s excellent Lord Meren series, P. C. Doherty’s Amerotke and Lauren Haney’s Lieutenant Bak. All are amazing authors and I remain a loyal and devoted follower of them, but I was blown away by Nick Drake’s Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead, his debut mystery novel featuring detective Rahotep from Thebes.

Rahotep is summoned to the new capitol city being built by King Akhenaten and his wife-queen Nefertiti, whose beauty is still revered today even after many centuries. Nefertiti has disappeared and Rahotep’s unorthodox methods of investigation have earned him the assignment, chosen by the King himself to find her before the festival inauguration of the city mere days away.

He wonders why he was called from distant Thebes from his wife and three daughters, and over more senior Medjay officers. The Medjay are similar to today’s police forces. Even before he reaches the capitol city, an attempt is made on his life. Things deteriorate once he arrives. The chief of the Medjay, Mahu, takes an immediate dislike to him. Rahotep encounters obstacles at every turn and his life is threatened on a daily basis.

That was one of the least-liked parts of the book. For half of the novel, the guy didn’t seem to get a break. In a city where everyone wants to hear news of the queen, it seems nobody wants Rahotep to find her and they will keep him from his goal, no matter the cost.

However, the imagery Drake pours into the story is very vivid and gives a magnificent and unflattering view of life in ancient Egypt, where the poor are invisible and yet treated worse. Life under the desert sun is miserable except for those privileged enough to have gardens with trees for shade. Drake brings the culture, environment and the daily rigors of scraping out an existence to life for the reader.

Drake also writes candidly of the multitude of power struggles and corruption of greedy official whose only goal was to see how much money they could hoard, regardless of who was killed or how many. It shatters the images of glitz and glamour that are sometimes used to illustrate and romanticize the lives of kings, queens and their subjects. Ancient Egypt was a dangerous place to live, even for nobility.

Rahotep is almost cliché as the lowly detective being chosen for an impossible mystery on such a grand scale that is most certainly out of his league. But he quickly becomes a hero that the reader can understand, sympathize with and cheer for. Rahotep’s faithful and loyal assistant Khety is also a wonderful character for the reader to enjoy. Together, they make an interesting duo that persevere in their search for the truth against insurmountable odds.

Simply put, Drake’s Egyptian mystery Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead is an awesome read.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

I’ve read and enjoyed Michael Crichton’s novels The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, which were very technical and meticulously researched. Since I am unfamiliar with his historical fiction, I can’t make an accurate comparison to his earlier works but Pirate Latitudes is as good a pirate novel as any out there.

Unfortunately Crichton left us too early, succumbing to cancer in November 2008 and Pirate Latitudes was published posthumously last year. In some ways, it seems uncharacteristic of him. For one reason, the writing changes about halfway through the novel. For the better. It’s as if Crichton started editing the book starting from the end and working forward but didn’t finish. The first half lacks the impact and sophistication of the second.

In Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, Crichton introduced some interesting concepts such as creating dinosaurs from DNA extracted from fossilized mosquitoes or an extremely lethal organism from outer space. That level of originality isn’t found in Pirate Latitudes.

With that said, it is a very exciting and thrilling high-seas adventure. The story is set in the Caribbean in the mid-1600’s, during the golden age of piracy. Port Royal, Jamaica was in its hey-day then as a bustling seaport, popular with pirates. It was an English outpost far from the opulence and safety of the court of King Charles, so its governor had to rely on pirates and privateers for commodities, resources and protection which came mainly from raiding Spanish settlements and ships around the Caribbean. Although England and Spain were technically at peace, citizens of the two countries still viewed each other as sworn enemies.

Captain Charles Hunt has received information that a Spanish treasure galleon is anchored at the island of Mantanceros under the protection of a fort on the eastern side. The west side of the island is mountainous, too rough and impenetrable for a ground force to carry out an attack. But Hunt believes it can be done and he recruits a strange group of experts in various fields to help with the assault. During the adventure, they encounter attacks by Spaniards, a hurricane and a mysterious creature from the deep.

Crichton doesn’t gloss over or romanticize any of the details of life aboard sailing vessels in the mid-seventeenth century. Violence, death and deplorable living conditions were the norm and Crichton pulls no punches. Pirate Latitudes is bloody, gritty and unapologetically real. It’s a great pirate story, sure to please any fan of historical novels.

Tucker Peak by Archer Mayor

I was first introduced to Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther series with The Marble Mask, the eleventh novel and theone previous to Tucker Peak. I like the situation that Mayor has created with Gunther in establishing the Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI), a sort of red-headed stepchild of Vermont law enforcement agencies. With the VBI, he has introduced the element of conflict and the battle for legitmacy for Gunther and his contemporaries as they try to establish some respect in the hierarchy of Vermont state agencies. I am not familiar with how the different law enforcement entities are structured or how they fit into the overall scheme of Vermont but Mayor's world is exciting. The author is a town constable and he even pokes fun of his own position.

Tucker Peak, to me, was head and shoulders above The Marble Mask. More action/thriller than mystery, it had more page-turning excitement than the previous novel.

Joe Gunther and the VBI are summoned to the ski resort of Tucker Peak to help the local law enforcement investigate a rash of burglaries. Very quickly, it becomes apparent there is more going on than some delinquents looking to score some fast cash. Joe and fellow VBI-er Sammi Martens go undercover since the nature of the break-ins seems to be inside jobs. The resort is also under attack from an environmentalist group, who is benign but may harbor a more violent element.

About two weeks into their assignment a woman is seriously injured during an accident on the ski lift, one that was nearly fatal. Following that, there is a series of sabotage affecting the ski resort and setting back its plans for improvement and upgrades. The environmentalist group is blamed for the sabotage and the suspected mastermind behind the burglaries is nowhere to be found. Nobody has seen him and leads are coming up as dead-ends.

Mayor's writing style flows easily and leans more toward hard-boiled detective fiction. That's what sets his work apart from others I've read. Throughout the novel, Joe Gunther is interacting with other law enforcement people, cajoling, wheeling and dealing to get what he wants and keep VBI's nose in the clear and improve its standing in the state. He also knows how to get what he wants from the criminals, ne-er-do-wells and suspects. He's the perfect go-between among his co-workers at VBI, smoothing ruffled feathers and doling out big brotherly advice to ensure that everyone gets along and does their job. The result is a likeable character that you certainly want on your side.

As I mentioned earlier, Tucker Peak is a level up from the previous novel for action and excitement for fans of cozy whodunits to detective noir and everything in between.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

After my disappointment in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I decided to get the misery over and read the final installment of J. K. Rowling’s mostly excellent series. The first six novels followed Harry Potter and friends as they attend Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards. Although exciting, the stories became formulaic and predictable.

Fortunately, Rowlinbg dispensed with the step-by-step routine in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The seventh and final novel is easily the best of the series and the most exciting.

Following the death of his beloved mentor, Professor Dumbledore at the hands of Severus Snape at the end of Half-Blood Prince, Harry sets of on the quest Dumbledor charged him with friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in tow. They have chosen not to return to Hogwarts for this final year, mainly because the school is watched closely by the Dark Lord Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters. His loyal disciple Severus Snape is now headmaster and the school has the feel of a concentration camp.

Potter and company stay on the move, changing their hiding places daily while desperately trying to complete Dumbledore’s quest which should destroy Voldemort for good. However, the Dark Lord always seems one step ahead, but the three teenagers are cunning enough and manage to elude his grasp.

Along the way, Potter and his friends argue, fight, break up and make up. There have always been disagrements among them but in Deathly Hallows, they are more impassioned and emotional to a point never approached in the previous six novels.

And this last novel is packed with more action than ever. The battle at Hogwarts is one of the most exciting scenes I’ve ever read. In my posting of Half-Blood Prince, I complained that Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were all but ignored but now they are back and on the front lines. Rowling presents a good retrospective in Deathly Hallows of characters from the previous six novels in fierce battle. And it’s good to see professors fighting bravely and aggresively to save Hogwarts.

The novel’s seven-hundred and fifty-nine pages are a formidable length but the fast pace make it an easy read. It is certainly the crown jewel of the series.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

Spoiler Alert!

Okay, I know I’m way behind in finishing the Harry Potter series since the movie version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is now out on DVD. Had I known what lay in store for me as I read it, I wouldn’t have been so eager.

Did J. K. Rowling give up on this one to focus on the last book? After three exciting installments of the series, this one was a big disappointment. I’d rank it on a par with the first one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The Half-Blood Prince seemed formulaic and didn’t contribute much to the series. At least not 650 pages worth. Consider the Harry Potter book formula:

1. At the beginning, Harry is enduring oppression under his aunt, uncle and cousin in the Dursley household until he is finally rescued. First, it was Hagrid, then its been the Weasleys. This time Dumbledore.

2. Then on the way to Hogwarts, Harry has a confrontation with Draco Malfoy.

3. Arriving at school, Harry is at once esteemed as some sort of celebrity because of some heroic deed that occurred at the end of the last novel (i.e. school year) and the resultant fall-out over the summer (always written in retrospect). Harry is unassuming and humbly tries hard to downplay his abilities and contributions.

4. Shortly after school starts, Harry realizes that something is not right. However strong his suspicions are, no one believes him. Haven’t they figured it out by now that Harry is ALWAYS right? First, it was the basilisk creeping around behind the walls of Hogwarts. Then it was the dementors. In Half-Blood Prince, he suspects Draco Malfoy is up to no good.

5. The school year passes quickly with Harry snooping around but not being able to convince anyone of his suspicions. He always has Severus Snape for a class and they hate each others’ guts. Snape always docks points from the Gryffindor house every time Harry, Ron or Hermione sneezes.

6. There are the Quidditch games, too. The other houses never play each other. It’s only Gryffindor against another house. Gryffindor may lose during the year but they ALWAYS win the championship game.

7. As the year comes to a close, things begin to happen at a rapid pace and soon everyone realizes that (gasp) Harry was right (again). They all apologize for not listening to him earlier and avoided all the death and destruction of You-Know-Who Lord He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named Voldemort.

The chain of events is exactly the same for the first 550 pages except for the particulars. However, in Prisoner of Azkhaban, Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, Rowling finished with spectacular breath-taking battles of wizards and witches. Good versus evil. There is a battle at the end of Half-Blood Prince but nowhere near the level of excitement as the previous four novels. Maybe five. And there is no build-up to the final scene until the last 100 pages.

It seemed that this story was only an epilogue for Deathly Hallows. Half-Blood Prince was written only for shock value, since the only significant incident is the death of Albus Dumbledore at the hands of Severus Snape. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood who played very important roles in Order of the Phoenix are relegated to cameo appearances as hangers-on.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the God Emperor of Dune of the Potter series. Just read it to move onto the next novel, but if you skip it, you won’t miss much.

Smoke In The Wind by Peter Tremayne

In my previous posting, I reviewed A Wicked Deed by Susanna Gregory, another historical mystery novelist. In it, I mentioned how Gregory taught the reader about fourteenth century monastic life, alchemical recipes and business transactions for universities. Peter Tremayne does the exact same thing in his Sister Fidelma series set in ancient Ireland, giving the reader interesting insights into that culture in the mid-seventh century. I’ve enjoyed this series ever since reading a Sister Fidelma short story years ago. Tremayne weaves sinister plots with vibrant characters in the beautiful backdrop of Ireland.

In Smoke In The Wind, Tremayne takes Sister Fidelma and her ever-present companion Brother Eadulf into the land of the Britons. The Britons and the Saxons have a very bloody history but have enjoyed an extended period of peace, however tenuous. But Brother Eadulf is uncomfortable because he is a Saxon, and although there is no war between the peoples, some still have axes to grind. Nevertheless, he ventures deeper into the country to follow Fidelma who has been asked by a provincial king to investigate the mysterious disappearance of twenty-seven brothers from a monastery in his realm. And Eadulf knows that she will not back down from a mystery.

On their way to the monastery, they accompany Brother Meurig who is the Briton equivalent to Fidelma’s rank of dalaigh. He has been charged by the same king to investigate the murder of a young woman in a nearby village. Accused of her murder is a young shepherd whose guilt seems to have been determined by the villagers’ opinions. It isn’t long before Fidelma suspects that the two incidents are somehow connected.

Tremayne ramps up the action in Smoke In The Wind. Fidelma and Eadulf have oftentimes found themselves on the wrong side of a bow and arrow, but this is the first time that she is nearly raped by a captor. Fortunately, the cunning Eadulf manages to prevent Fidelma from being taken, but not before an exciting, white-knuckle page-turning scene that keeps the reader on the edge of the seat.

There were a couple of aspects of the novel that diminished its enjoyability but only by a small amount. First, there were too many scenes where Eadulf is about to speak but Fidelma stops him with a look or a gesture. The poor brother is hen-pecked and they aren’t even married. It’s not the notion of her keeping him in mental submission because she is in control of the conversation, but the frequency in which it happens.

Second, in the pre-Gutenburg Press era, everyone in the novel except for the villagers seems to be well-educated and knowledgeable of events two hundred years prior to the time of the novel. Perhaps the clergy and royalty were more educated than I previously surmised from other historical whodunits, but they seemed politically savvy as well.

Nonetheless, Smoke In The Wind is an action-thriller/mystery/history book that is enjoyable and entertaining. Very difficult to put down.

A Wicked Deed by Susanna Gregory

Susanna Gregory’s series featuring physician Matthew Bartholomew just keeps getting better and better. In the fifth book of the series, A Wicked Deed, Gregory makes some significant changes to the life at the university in Cambridge in the year 1353. As in her previous works, the specter of the plague looms in the background like a stalker hiding in the shadows ready to pounce on an already devastated Europe.

Matthew is part of an entourage that travels from Cambridge to the idyllic village of Grundisburgh, where a lord has promised a lucrative gift of the church to the university. On the way, they find a man hanging from a gibbet and he’s still alive. They cut him down but despite Matt’s valiant effort he dies. Then a wrong turn takes the group through Barchester, a small hamlet that has been abandoned after the Black Death claimed nearly all of its inhabitants. But the ghosts of the dead aren’t the only ones haunting the spooky village. A white dog prowls the woods and the locals in the surrounding communities are convinced that anyone who lays eyes on it will dies shortly after. Two villagers are already dead.

Once arriving at Grundisburgh, the benevolent lord Sir Thomas Tuddenham seems very eager that the deed turning the church over to Cambridge be completed as soon as possible. Almost immediately after arrival, the student-priest who is to become the church’s priest is found murdered.

All of a sudden, the beautiful peaceful serenity of Grundisburgh is surrounded by sinister forces and subterfuge, which are trying to delay the completion of the advowson. Cambridge Senior Proctor Richard Alcote does not appear to be in any rush to finish writing the document. Matt does not think that the greedy, opportunistic Alcote’s reasons are in the best interests of the University. More likely, he is trying to figure out how to line his own pockets.

Then a witness with a potential valuable clue to the murder is found with her throat cut. The primes suspect in both murders disappears. With one disaster after another, Matthew and his friar friend Michael are very eager to put as much distance between them and Grundisburgh as possible before they end up like Unwin, the murdered student-priest.

As with other historical writers, Gregory focuses on one or two interesting aspects of life during the time period of her work. It’s what helps keep the series fresh and from becoming monotonous or too similar. In A Wicked Deed, Matt meets de Stoate, a man with similar interests in medicine as he, and the landlord of the inn where the Cambridge entourage are staying. He is very proud of his own concoctions that he claims keeps the villagers healthy. Both men have very strong opinions about their abilities to heal people, formulate medicines and make scientific progress, much to Matthew’s horror. Gregory’s novel gives us a peek into the superstitions and alchemical environment and knowledge in the fourteenth century. Some of the recipes were described in disgustingly vivid details. Not only does Gregory bring the monastic living to life but also the gruesome reality of health care in the 1300’s. In the twenty-first century age of advanced medicine and sophisticated instrumentation, it’s a stark reminder of the difficulties the people of medieval times had to endure and the lengths they had to go through to try to warding off diseases and other maladies.

Gregory also spins a very complex plot that stymies Matt’s abilities, but he manages to unravel a twisted web of greed, lies and murder in the quaint village. It’s an intriguing story that’s difficult to put down.