Lestrade and the Kiss of Horus (The Lestrade Mystery Series) [Hardcover]

M. J. Trow (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Lestrade Mystery Series | Publication Date: May 8, 2001

All around Chief Superintendent Lestrade men are dying. And so it was that Sholto Lestrade flew to Egypt to solve a riddle every bit as impenetrable as that of the Sphinx.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: Gateway Editions (May 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895262142
• ISBN-13: 978-0895262141
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,963,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scotland Yard vs. Tutankhamen, September 11, 2001

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lestrade and the Kiss of Horus (The Lestrade Mystery Series) (Hardcover)

I have followed the adventures of M. J. Trow's Sholto Lestrade for some time now. This Lestrade is a bit brighter and charming than the Holmesian version. He is also one of the most accident prone detectives in the entire mystery genre. When he isn't having real accidents - having his feet crushes by women in lifts, losing the end of his nose, getting poisoned, and simply standing in the wrong place - he is busy having verbal accidents. Lestrade is one of those people who is not the least put off by the fact he doesn't understand a word, leading to horrific puns and malapropisms.

"Clifford Hanger had introduced Gardiner to Lestrade as the foremost philologist of his generation. Lestrade nodded coolly. After all, a man's religion was his own affair."

Trow seems to manage to throw at least one of these stomach turners in every few pages. He reminds me a bit of Terry Pratchett, although Trow is more slapstick than Pratchett's needle sharp wit. This is the kind of stuff you either like or you don't, and if you don't, then "Lestrade and the Kiss of Horus" is to be avoided. For the rest of us pagans, the books are fun romps, to be enjoyed and then forgotten.

In this story, Detective Chief Inspector Lestrade has been retired from the yard for some time. Even though he is a full three score and ten, he still gets called in on odd cases. This time the case is the Old Fogey Murders, something one has to figure Lestrade has developed some expertise in. However, Lestrade hardly gets his investigation underway when he is called upon by Jack and Tilly Holinshed to investigate the mysterious death of Lord Carnarvon at his digs in Egypt (for the archeologically disadvantaged that's Tutankhamon's tomb). Lestrade, his daughter Emma, and several police officers are flown to Egypt to look into the case.

What Lestrade discovers is that he hates to fly, hates the desert and hates camels (who dislike him right back). He also finds several unusual uses for henbane and learns that he should never try to take a gun from a Texan tycoon. Of course, where there's henbane, there's going to be plenty of foul play. The mystery manages to stay one jump ahead of the reader right to the end when Lestrade, as usual, pulls the rabbit out of his hat, solving both the slaughter in the Valley of the Kings and the Old Fogey Murders simultaneously.

As I've already indicated one does not read these books because they are great mystery stories but because they are great comic relief. The "Kiss of Horus" is interesting as well as funny, with a whole cast of characters to enjoy and plenty of exotic scenes. As it happens, the series isn't written in any special order, so one can start here as well as anywhere else. Which I certainly encourage you to do.