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Summary: Murder in the Place of Anubis
Review: A wonderfully detailed look at the people and life of a distant past. The characters are presented to us on several levels and none are as simple as they first appear. Each is good and evil in his/her own way. But they are searched by the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh and his adopted son. As the story unrolls, it is possible to solve it as you read if you pay careful attention to detail and the motivations of the characters. I strongly recommend the book and the series.
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Summary: Excelent
Review: Absolutely fantastic. The first in a great series and maybe the best of the five, although all are very good. The language, setting, and description of ancient Egypt, lord Meren, and the plots are all totally believable.
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Summary: The start of a Fascinating Series
Review: Ancient Egypt comes to life again in this book. I enjoyed the period details and the relationships among the characters. The glimpses we get of court life follow what we learn about royalty and their courts from history rather than fairy tales. They didn't live "happily ever after." After reading what our young pharaoh and Lord Meren, his "eyes and ears" have to put up with, the sensible reader will give thanks for being a nobody. Even though I knew that people didn't live as long back then, it still seemed a bit strange to have Lord Meren, soon to be a grandfather, consider himself as getting up there in years when he's only 34. Meren's son, Kysen, has been a father for several years at an age where young American men today would just be turning old enough to vote. The only quarrel I have with this series is the portrayal of Queen Ankhesenamen. I first "met" her as a very sympathetic character in Morrison's *The Lost Queen of Egypt*, so the harsh portrait of her that Robinson draws is difficult for me to swallow. However, neither that nor knowing that Lord Meren must lose his beloved Pharaoh at a young age, prevented me from reading the other books. This is one of the authors for whom I am unwilling to wait for the paperback. Even now I can hardly wait for the next book. Ann E. Nichols
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Summary: A light, fun read...
Review: If you are intrigued by Ancient Egypt or a light mystery novel at all, then by all means purchase Murder in the Place of Anubis. This is the first mystery in a series that follows the adventures of Lord Meren, the Eyes and Ears of Pharoah (to use modern terms - something like a high ranking FBI agent who enjoys investigating himself as opposed to delegating to a subordinate.) Meren serves the Pharaoh Tutankhamun during what is an uncertain time in Egypt's history. Tutankhamun's predecessors, the Pharoah's Akhenaten and Smenkhare, created a tremdous rift in the country by forcing a religous conversion to the worship of one god, the Aten. Tutankhamun, in an effort to regain stability and control, has returned Egypt to traditional polytheism. There is one question that remains: do those who were wronged by the previous reigns want revenge or even trust the new Pharoah? Needless to say, Robinson has a wealth of possibilties for future novels...If you are seeking an indepth recreation of Ancient Egypt with detailed character study that will "take you there," may I suggest a few options - anything by Pauline Gedge, Margaret George's The Memoirs of Cleopatra, Sylvia Shults' The Golden Horus, Naguib Mahfouz's Akhenaten or either of Christian Jacq's series: Ramses or The Stone of Light. If however, you are willing to overlook a few historical details and enjoy a good mystery that's a quick light read, give Lynda Robinson a try...
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Summary: Intrigue in the court of Pharaoh
Review: Lord Meren is the typical detective hero, steadfast, honest, and with his faults though they seem minimal. The setting in ancient Egypt gives the novel (and the series) a rich historical background that the author puts to very good use. In the first novel you hit the ground running. Much has occurred in Lord Meren's life and you wonder if you have missed a novel or two in the series. You haven't. Each novel in the series has a specific mystery to be solved, but they will be part of a larger mystery that runs through the series. Robinson does shade in the background of life with a sure hand and does not simply dwell in the pharaoh's court. She takes you along to see a bit of the day-to-day life and then for an occasional trip to the darker recesses of the many temples. If you want a sense of life in Egypt in the time of Pharaoh, you should find this a rewarding read. If you want a good mystery, she serves it up with the standard fare of red herrings, dead ends, and other stylistic reglia demanded by the genre. As with most series, try to read them in the order they were written, as each supports the next as the plot progresses.
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Summary: New series bring Ancient Egypt to life
Review: Lord Meren, the "Eyes and Ears of Pharoah," must deal with the murder of a royal scribe in a sacred place, where bodies are prepared for their travel to the afterlife. The task seems to Meren to be an easy one, until we learn that there is more to this mystery than simple hatred. Robinson's extensive knowledge of ancient Egypt (she has a Ph.D. in Anthropology) creates an unforgettable picture of a complex and fascinating society. Readers of historical mysteries will appreciate this latest contribution to the genre, and should look forward to the further adventures of Lord Meren, Pharoah and the other inhabitants of Egypt, circa 1330 B.C.
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Summary: Murder in the place of Anubis
Review: Ms. Robinson does recreate the life and times of ancient Egypt quite well. While I found the book interesting, I feel that it is historically inaccurate. Ms. Robinson seems to follow the 12-year co-regency theory of Cyril Aldred too much. Examples: 1) She makes Akhenaten a villian and dictator when he was not. This opinion is based on the books that I've read. 2) By all the evidence I've read on Amarna, there was most probably only a 2-year co-regency between Amenhotep III and Akhenaten. 3) Tutankamen was Akhenaten's son, not his brother; Tut's mother was probably a lesser wife or a harem woman. Interpretation of the personalities of the main people at Amarna is difficult as the evidence is often too fragmentary. It requires reading many books and articles over a number of years to get some idea of these persons.
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Summary: First in the "Lord Meren" Series a Real Find.
Review: Robinson does a great job of making her ancient Egyptian characters accessible to a modern audience. Lord Meren, the "Eyes and Ears" of the Pharaoh, is a very complicated character and makes for a very intriguing, if unlikely, detective. This book, which I picked up entirely out of curiosity, is quite different from my usual diet of dark, hardboiled detective fiction, but I'd still recommend it unreservedly. I'll definitely be looking for others in the series
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Summary: Action and intrigue with the 'eyes and ears of Pharoah'.
Review: Robinson has filled the Egyptian desert with people who work for a living, drink a little much, and just want to get ahead - you'll never look at the ruins in the same way again. Lord Meren, the eyes and ears of Pharoah, must sort through these people to find, not only a murderer, but an enemy who threatens the very soul of the Pharaoh. The writing is very clear and moves right along. Fun to read
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Summary: Ancient Egypt, Murder & Fascinating Characters
Review: Robinson weaves a historically detailed, well-paced murder mystery set in and around the ancient city of Thebes. Robinson's investigator is Lord Meren, the 'eyes and ears' of the boy-king, Tutankhamun. Meren is an accessible, deliberate man who, through his observations and actions, reveals the ancient beliefs and ethos of Egypt. Meren's world is peopled with historical and fictional entities that come to life in the pages of these books. This is not the most tightly plotted mystery, but Robinson's development of the characters and environs of the ancient world, makes it an absolutely delicious read.
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