Eater of Souls (Lord Meren Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Lynda S. Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lord Meren Mysteries | Publication Date: February 1997

King Tut's Egypt is alive and deadly in this new Lord Meren mystery. The first in a trilogy that will center on Meren's investigation into the death of Queen Nefertiti, Eater of Souls is a dramatic murder mystery that opens a window onto ancient Egypt in a way that only a skilled novelist and consummate storyteller can accomplish.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Who killed Queen Nefertiti? That's just one of the problems troubling Lord Meren, chief adviser to Tutankhamen, in the fourth entry in a wonderously detailed and totally accessible series of mysteries set in ancient Egypt. Avoiding virtually all of the Hollywood High Camp treatment of the period, Lynda S. Robinson recreates a world of brutal poverty under a very thin layer of opulence--a culture obsessed with death and corpses. While Meren frightens his family by poking into the suspicious death of Nefertiti, someone--perhaps a human, perhaps the demon goddess Ammut the Devouress--is killing common people in the city of Memphis, gouging out their hearts and leaving behind a white feather. Previous books in this splendid series--Murder at the Feast of Rejoicing, Murder at the God's Gate, Murder in the Place of Anubis--are available in paperback.

From School Library Journal

YA. Set in Egypt during the fifth year of the boy king Tutankhamun's reign, this mystery packs a double wallop. Not only is there a serial killer that could, in fact, be Ammut, the Eater of Souls from the "other side," but there is also a wonderful view of ancient Egyptian culture. Lord Meren, the Eyes and Ears of the Pharaoh, investigates secrets, crimes, and intrigues in order to protect the young king. Meren is aided by his adopted son, 18-year-old Kysen, and a superhero type charioteer, Abu. Two teenage daughters and their concerns round out the characters and invite modern teens to draw comparisons. While trying to solve the riddle of Queen Nefertiti's death, Lord Meren must investigate the grotesque slayings of the "Devouress." Part crocodile, lion, and hippo, the killer slices and dices its victims and then eats their hearts. From wigs, clothing, and jewelry, to the mound of refuse and sewage outside the walls of each home, ancient Egypt comes sharply into focus. In this well-crafted book, Robinson breathes life into the two-dimensional pictures most YAs associate with Egypt of the Pharaohs. The fourth in the Lord Meren series, and first in a trilogy of Lord Meren/Nefertiti mysteries, it will send many teens looking for Murder at the Feast of Rejoicing (1996), Murder at the God's Gate (1995), and Murder in the Place of Anubis (1994, all Walker).?Carol DeAngelo, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802732941
• ISBN-13: 978-0802732941
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,502,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Eater of Souls' makes history!, May 4, 1999

By 

Billy J. Hobbs "Bill Hobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eater of Souls (Mass Market Paperback)

What is the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh to do? A series of violent murders has gripped Memphis tightly and this capital city on the Nile finds that terror has unleashed its fury on the citizens in the form of The Devourer. Sent, the people fear, by the gods because of their own dissatisfaction of the mortals in this sacred kingdom, the retribution is dispersed without pity and the victims are left horribly disfigured. Their hearts have been slashed from their bodies and a white feather is left in their stead. Clearly the goddess Ammut the Devouress, the Eater of Souls, has come for vengeance. In Lynda S. Robinson's fourth installment of her highly successful Lord Meren series, readers are treated to great suspense when intrigue, politics, and Lord Meren's own personal life come into play in "Eater of Souls." The young pharaoh, King Tutankhamun has been on the throne for only a short time. In "Eater of Souls" the boy king displays wisdom far above the average 14-year-old and Robinson easily weaves this "wunderkind" into her novels as a believable character. In addition, she establishes the strong relationship so important to Meren (his title is the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh), whose responsibility is to make certain that the pharaoh is protected under all circumstances, a chief of security, as it happens. He is also one of the king's most trusted and loyal supporters. As any student of Egyptian history knows, of course, Tut's short-lived reign was not without despair, which lends credence to Robinson's plots, intrigues, and sinister behind-the-back assassinations, real and figurative. Through this series the reader, naturally, is waiting for the inevitable, but Robinson has created such believable characters that the fiction overrides the reality. For centuries, the answers to what really happened to this dynasty has eluded us, although some very real--and very twentieth century--theories abound and the author is able cleverly to play on this. Her books include enough verisimilitude that serious Egyptologists can find her plots imaginable, believable, plausible. Dr. Robinson seems to know her Egypt, thus making the venture into this part of history, albeit a fictionalized one, an exciting ride. The Nile has never been so blue, yet never so complex. As Cleopatra might have said, this series is one you might want to barge on into, but beware of the asps. As Lord Meren knows, there's one around every corner.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll believe in the demons of the Egyptian after life!, April 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Eater of Souls (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an incredible book, and Robinson's Lord Meren series just keeps getting better. Always fascinated by ancient Egypt, mummies, and gods since I was young, this series was been more than enjoyable.

Picking up where the previous book (Murder at the Feast of Rejoicing) left off, Lord Meren, the Eyes and Ears of the Pharaoh, is beginning his covert investigation into the possible murder of Queen Nefertiti. What is she was murdered? What if these same killers decide to strike against the Living God, the teenage pharaoh Tutankhamen? Meren, already plagued by feelings that he let another pharaoh die, will not allow this to happen.

However, as Meren is beginning his investigations, brutal murders are occurring in the city of Memphis, a city composed primarily of poor people. Could the Devouress, the demon goddess Ammut actually be walking the streets, finding those she considers unworthy and devouring their hearts? From the evidence left at the scenes, it certainly does appear that way...

Lynda S. Robinson has created an Egypt that is real and alive, though most all of the daily activities of the average person at some point had to do with the dead. Robinson's Egypt is a dangerous place, where leaders of the various religions try to place themselves and their gods above the Living God. However, the most interesting and rewarding aspects of this novel, as well as Robinson's others, are the wonderful and deep characters she creates. From Meren's interactions with his practical and conceited daughters (he has one of each), to his adopted son (who is becoming more and more a man like his father), to the deep feelings of love and responsibilities he feels for the young pharaoh, the reader is constantly watching and waiting to see how this incredible and complex man will solve this intriguing mystery.

This book is excellent and well worthwhile. I'd like to highly recommend all of Robinson's books, but this one in particular.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The monster of the netherworld stalks Memphis, December 6, 2002

By 

Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eater of Souls (Mass Market Paperback)

While this story doesn't give away the solution to MURDER AT THE FEAST OF REJOICING, it continues a major investigation begun at the end of that book, so to that extent, there are spoilers. Also, I'll assume that the reader has some familiarity with Lord Meren, his family, and their fellow members of the court of Tutankhamun. Robinson has made this a stand-alone book, but as part of a greater story arc, it's best appreciated in context.

In the 21st century, many serial killers with religious delusions believe themselves to be various instruments of divine retribution: God, the Archangel Michael, and so on. But in the Egyptian pantheon, when a soul fails to measure up in the Halls of Judgement, the demon Ammut, Eater of Souls, carries out the punishment: annihilation, consuming even the heart. (In ancient Egyptian parlance, the heart, rather than the brain, was considered the seat of thought.)

In the 5th year of the reign of Tutankhamun, Eater of Souls has been called forth from the Halls of Judgement to Memphis, pharaoh's capital, to punish those who have woundsssed the nameless 'favored one'. Since part of the narrative, including the very beginning of the story, is from Eater of Souls' viewpoint, I was worried at first that Robinson had broken one of the fundamental rules of detective stories - no supernatural explanations - but the character is within bounds: the killer is a divided personality, part of which believes it is Eater of Souls.

In this series Robinson often introduces supporting characters in one book, laying the groundwork for appearances in later books. EATER OF SOULS introduces the Caverns, the rough area around the docks of Memphis where Kysen goes undercover seeking information. Ese, the beautiful but embittered tavernkeeper of the Divine Lotus, has many connections, ranging from Tcha (a floorsweeper with a night job as a housebreaker) to Othrys (Mycenaean ship's captain and crimelord). Tcha found his partner's heartless corpse after a robbery, and in a panic got the news to both Othrys and Kysen. Since the first victims were ordinary people, the lazy chief watchman has refused to see any patterns, launch any investigation, or pass any distressing facts to his superiors - but Kysen in his public persona brings in Meren. Then to the tally of killings 'not of the city' is added a devastating victim: the Hittite ambassador.

Meren is greatly troubled; he fears that various events in his own past will find him wanting in life's final judgement, and like many others in Memphis, he's afraid that this may be the *real* Devourer, after the troubles the kingdom has had of late years. If that weren't enough, his younger daughters are back in Memphis after their training in estate management by his sister. Bener is perceptive, clever, and wants to participate in her father's investigations. (She has talents in that direction - watch her inquiry into some suspicious purchases on the household books.) Isis, the younger, is preoccupied with attracting suitors; worse luck, she's developing a mutual interest with the irritating Reshep. (The king ordered Meren to sponsor him to get him away from the royal princesses; his attraction for women is a deeper mystery to Meren than any murder.)

The Nefertiti investigation takes a back seat to the 'heart thefts' - not because it's less important, but because 1) the pharaoh and the vizier must be kept stable for the kingdom's sake, so they're kept in the dark, and 2) anyone who seems to know too much about the matter tends to come down with a serious case of death. The slow start is believable, but maddening. The various dissatisfied courtiers and half-brothers of pharaoh at court tended to blur together at first. Finally, for any fans of THE LOST QUEEN OF EGYPT out there, Ankhesenamun is not a sympathetic character from Meren's viewpoint; her strained relationship with the king has kept her mostly off-stage in the series until now. In this book, she begins attempting reconciliation with Tutankhamun, but he and Meren both doubt her motives.