Customer Reviews

The Anubis Slayings

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Doherty knows how to plot a mystery and convey his setting but as a reader familiar with the history and culture of ancient Egypt, and particularly with the period of Hatshepsut, I found myself constantly distracted by inaccuracies. There's a carelessness with names and titles of historical figures. I can live with his use of Hatasu instead of the more usual Hatshepsut, however Hatshepsut's favorite, Senenmut, who figures prominently in the series, held over the course of his long and extravagently honored life something like 80 titles. He was never, however, Hatshepsut's Vizier, his principle title in the series. For another example there is a climactic scene in which the hero, Chief Judge Amerotke, confronts and captures a group of tomb robbers--the problem is the tomb robbers are riding camels. The camel was not introduced into Egypt until several hundred years after the time this story takes place. A bronze key plays a major role in the plot but (and I could be wrong on this) the Egyptians in the 18th dynasty relied on seals to keep their valuables safe. Locks as we know them hadn't been invented.

This is a shame because on the whole this is a good story in a fun series complete with an interesting take on the historical events and characters. I hate to sound like a pendantic prig--I really like historical mysteries and am willing to overlook a few howlers and anachronisms if the story's good, but in this case the factual errors really distracted from my enjoyment of the book.

I hope the author's listening.

Pharaoh-Queen Hatusu and her lover Grand Vizier Senenmut rule over a united Egypt. The Priests and the Army support Hatusu mostly because of her great victory against the Mitanni, Northern people led by King Tushratta and his sister Wanef who are now suing for peace.

While the negotiations occur, strange deaths begin happenign in the royal circle. In the Temple of Anubis, someone steals the Glory of Anubis, a large amethyst gem even with the guard in the chamber holding the key to the locked door. A person wearing the mask of Anubis kills a dancing girl. Also murdered are the Pharaoh's advisor in the treaty negotiations and two Mitanni envoys. The Pharaoh orders Egypt's Principal Judge Amerotke to uncover the truth so that Hatusus can apply her brand of justice to the culprit.

The glory of Ancient Egypt comes alive once again in THE ANUBIS SLAYINGS as the historical background makes the who-done-it that much more exciting. Especially entertaining are the chariot scenes (though a different time, place, and media think Ben Hur). The Principal Judge is a clever sleuth who seems like an Ancient era Holmes as he leaves no stone unturned in his quest for truth, justice, and the Egyptian way. P.C. Doherty is a wonderful storyteller whose historical mysteries include the awesome Anubis series and crafty Corbett medieval tales among others are all worth reading.

Harriet Klausner

As an enthusiast (not archeologist) of Ancient Egypt, I find that all of his books make Ancient Egypt come alive, as if you are really there. I don't particularly care if camels weren't introduced at that time or locks hadn't been invented yet. I don't want a history lesson, I want a book/story which you can picture yourself being alongside the characters. Paul's books have done that.
His mediaeval series with Brother Athlestan are also fantastic too. I always eagerly await the next one.....

Paul Doherty is the consummate professional when it comes to writing historical mystery novels. I for one do not know how he can be so prolific with his offering of books and yet make sure that each of them is well researched. Whether they be 13th, 14th, or fifteenth century they are always true to the period. He has also written books about Alexander the Great and is now turning his hand to novels of Ancient Egypt at the time of the most influential period in its long history.

The new Pharaoh-Queen is now settled firmly on the throne of Egypt and with her adviser Amerotke by her side sets about the task of bringing her beloved land of Egypt back to some normality after the death of Tuthmosis and the consequent chaos that took over the land. But yet more trouble is round the corner as she and her adviser have to tackle a recent spate of killings. Deaths that are ascribed by many of the more superstitious people to the God of the Dead

Bloody.
More people are killed this time around that in the first two books. The mystery is so complex that I had to read the ending over three times to put all of the pieces together.
I can't wait for the next one.

This is your run-of-the mill mystery .. just set in ancient Egypt. The historical details may or may not be acccurate but that's beside the point. The story was slow moving and I feel that the characters are not that well developed. If you're looking for some light reading, then it's ok.

I have always been intrigued by Egypt and it's history. Must come from my Dad who is an archaelogical enthusiast especially for the Middle East. Anyway, I really enjoyed finding a new author within this particular subfield of mysteries. I don't have enough background in ancient Egypt to be critical of the names or historical useage of the time period. For the most part the book was very readable, and fun, if a bit on the bloody side. I wonder if Egypt was always that dismissive of the value of a human life. I surmise that they were since the Pharoahs had no problems with using servants and slaves to build their great tombs, and then killed all of those people. That attitude must have filtered down to everyone eventually. It's amazing that this 'civilization' lasted as long as it did, when they were so uncivilized!

My only complaint about the book has to do with the author's continued use of the word 'retorted'. No one 'retorts' that much!!! Because the author used a lot of conversations to convey the story, he constantly used "he said", "she stated", and the word "retorted" seemed to be every other one. Get a thesaurus, PLEASE! Or read some more grammar books about how to write conversations. This is not just the author's fault...editors should be looking for this type of problem and making suggestions. Sounds like nitpicking on my part, but I will stop reading books and especially series, if the language is not up to par (even if the history is ok).

Otherwise, I enjoyed learning more about the time period. I hope the author is doing his research so I don't get misinformation about that particular part of world history.

Karen Sadler

Doherty knows how to plot a mystery and convey his setting but as a reader familiar with the history and culture of ancient Egypt, and particularly with the period of Hatshepsut, I found myself constantly distracted by inaccuracies. There's a carelessness with names and titles of historical figures. I can live with his use of Hatasu instead of the more usual Hatshepsut, however Hatshepsut's favorite, Senenmut, who figures prominently in the series, held over the course of his long and extravagently honored life something like 80 titles. He was never, however, Hatshepsut's Vizier, his principle title in the series. For another example there is a climactic scene in which the hero, Chief Judge Amerotke, confronts and captures a group of tomb robbers--the problem is the tomb robbers are riding camels. The camel was not introduced into Egypt until several hundred years after the time this story takes place. A bronze key plays a major role in the plot but (and I could be wrong on this) the Egyptians in the 18th dynasty relied on seals to keep their valuables safe. Locks as we know them hadn't been invented.

This is a shame because on the whole this is a good story in a fun series complete with an interesting take on the historical events and characters. I hate to sound like a pendantic prig--I really like historical mysteries and am willing to overlook a few howlers and anachronisms if the story's good, but in this case the factual errors really distracted from my enjoyment of the book.

I hope the author's listening.