Customer Reviews

Murder at the God's Gate (A Lord Meren Mystery)

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

 

 

This is a quick read and, once Lord Meren takes the hint that there is something going on, the action really warms up. I admit that it starts out slow. The first victim is a person of no consequence and his death could have easily been an accident but it gives Kysen something to do. However, things really get rolling when the murderers start trying to cover their tracks to keep Kysen from learning something, which gets Lord Meren's attention. The setting in ancient Egypt also makes it a good escape from the everyday.

This novel of murder and intrigue revolves around the court of Tutankhamun the young pharaoh of Egypt.

Egypt's enemies are harrying the borders, but the biggest threat to the country and the young king are from within.

A temple priest is found at the bottom of an enormous statue of the pharaoh, he had been working on a platform at the top of the statue. Did he fall or was he pushed. Meren "the eyes and ears of the pharaoh" sends his son Kysen to investigate the matter. Shortly after another priest of higher rank is murdered.

What secret did they know that made them so dangerous they had to be killed?

Meren knows that there is much bitterness and unrest among the most important men who surround the pharaoh. This bitterness reverts back to the pharaoh Akhenaten, whom many regarded as a monster. Is Tutankhamun to be made to pay for the misdeeds of his ancestor.

This book is one of a series written by the author and featuring Meren "the eyes and ears of the pharaoh."

You can almost feel like you're there in the heat of the Egyptian sun as it bakes into Thebes and with the dangers of court life. It was a wonderful trip into a time and place we can never go otherwise. I recommend it strongly. The plot is intricate, strong and solvable by those who look carefully.

This book's unique storyline is enhanced by its setting in a time of great social upheaval and political intrigue. With an authentic setting, concise writing and a fast moving plot, it's as vivid a period piece as it is a solid mystery.

I think Murder at God's Gate is a really fantastic book! I had to read it as a summer assignment for a History of World Civilizations course and I absolutely loved the novel. First of all, I think the author created a great "world" for the characters to live in. She describes ancient Egypt in such details that you feel that you are actually "living" in there. However, the way she describes the surroundings is not at all boring. Some authors like to go on and on on this one "scenic moment" that it makes the book boring. Lynda S. Robinson, however, describes the scenes in a quite "natual" manner. She presents the lifestyle of ancient Egyptians in full scale and this book definately got me interested in that history course that I'm going to take next term.

The thing that really make this book great is it's characters. They are described in such a way that sometimes you feel that you know them. They are really well develo! ped and although you don't know EVERYTHING about them, you get a really good idea of what kind of a person they are. Take Lord Meren(the main character and "investigater" in this story) for instance, the reader does not know EVERYTHING that happened to him in his life. However, he is presented in such a way that he seems like a flesh-and-blood person. He has his talents, his wisdom, as well as his share of mistakes and confusion. Sometimes I even felt "hey, this guy is really not so different from some of the people I'd meet today!" I think this detailed development of characters is really what made the book great.

This book also has a great plot, although I wouldn't want to go into it here. The first thing I thought when I read the inside-cover for this book is that "This is confusing!" I think that would be what you would feel if I gave a some of the plot to you. However, if you would start reading the book you would find that the plo! t is rather intricate and sometimes entangling, but never c! onfusing. The plot also involves some action and a lot of solving. The thing I'd like to do when I read this book is to guess who is the ultimate villain. I would recommend it for you, too, if you could ever get the chance to read this great book.

Summarization: if you like novels, mistery or whatever other genre, read this book! Even if you are not so excited about ancient Egypt, try this one. You'll enjoy it!

Murder at the God's Gate is a sweeping and altogether believeable transportation to the land of ancient egypt and the kingdom of Tutankhamum. I thoroughly recommend this book for those who enjoy a really good mystery

Set during the reign of the boy-king, Tutankhamon, "Murder at the God's Gate," is not only a good detective story, but gives a feel for life in the Eighteenth Dynasty. A priest of Amon, the king of the gods, has been found dead beside a colossal statue of Tutankhamon. It's unclear if the priest has been murdered, or had an accidental fall and Lord Meren, the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh, is asked to investigate. At first he has hard time finding any leads, but when his son and aide, Kysen discovers some pottery shards that have some tantalizing clues on them, the action heats up. Meren discovers that what may have originally appeared as an unrelated crime reaches into the royal court. The princes and noblemen of Egypt each has their own agenda for the near future, and is intent on pulling the strings of the 14 year old king. Meren's task is therefore complicated, because he not only has to solve a murder, but also protect the king from an unknown threat close to the throne. Lynda Robinson tells a good tale, and has researched her period fairly well, although she has taken some literary license by giving Tutankhamen several half-brothers. Egyptophiles will have a hard time with the king's half-brothers, but will enjoy the story immensely.

On the surface, young Tutankhamun - at age 13, in the 5th year of his reign - is the answer to the prayers of the priesthoods of Egypt: restorer of temple dignities, image of a young warrior, healer of the kingdom after the disastrous rule of his brother, Akhenaten. But underneath runs a hidden war, as some priests cannot forget Tutankhamun's kinship with the heretic pharaoh who drove them into hiding, despoiling the treasuries of their gods, pillaging their estates - and in some cases, such as Lord Meren's estranged cousin Ebana, murdering their families.

The installation of a new statue of Tutankhamun before the temple of Amun is a political statement as well as a pious one: fully as large as any statue of Amun, demonstrating for all to see that pharaoh as a living god dwarfs any who might serve within, not least Parenefer, high priest of Amun. Tutankhamun, despite his massive royal dignity, is still young, and his councillors are only human: he, Meren, and Horemheb made it their business to personally watch Parenefer's face. :)

But when a very junior priest of Amun is found dead at the statue's feet soon afterward, who is the blow's true target? Unas had learned something, and been silenced before he could report to anyone...but he belonged to Meren's network of spies as well as to the priesthood, and Ebana went out of his way to tell Meren that the priests knew about Unas' divided loyalties. Were the priests threatening the king, or was a traitor within their ranks threatening *them*? Who is the threat and who is the target? (It *could* be as simple as Unas' young wife and the good-looking artisan next door, of course.)

The members of the court have reason to envy and fear Meren, Friend of the King and chief of the king's spy network. Those who suffered under the heretic's rule might hate Meren for bowing to the inevitable, when under torture he gave in to Akhenaten's demand to convert - in fact, Ebana openly blames Meren for not managing to save his family.

Meren, as the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh, has enough problems dealing with the young king's desire to gain battlefield experience. Horemheb, concerned with the army's morale, is all for it; Ay, the vizier, has no stomach for risking a childless king in battle, even if he didn't love the boy for his own sake. They're running out of time; Akhenaten's disastrous disregard of foreign policy cost Egypt the friendly buffer state of Mittani, and the kingdom is headed for a major war with Hatti, with its heavier chariotry and more experienced monarch.

The second in this series of books involving Lord Meren finds him investigating another murder. A giant statue of King Tutankhamun is being erected inside the temple of Amun. Early one morning before most workers have begun their tasks, a pure one falls from the scaffolding and is killed. This man was one of Merens informers inside the temple, and Meren concludes that the death was no accident.

As Meren investigates, he exposes a rift between the priests of Amun and Pharoah. The priests, most notably Meren's estranged cousin, do not like him meddling in something they consider to be an internal affair. They thwart his attempts to discover the murderer by removing witnesses and altering crime scenes.

As more evidence is uncovered, two of the suspects are murdered. Who is trying to cover their tracks, and how many people are involved? Meren enjoys some protection from political back-biting as the 'Eyes and Ears of Pharoah', but King Tut becomes angry with Meren over the young kings first military campaign. Word spreads quickly through court and temple of the kings disfavor, and Meren no longer has the safety net he needs to investigate crimes. He and his adopted son are in grave danger from someone who has already killed three times and does not want to be exposed.

this second novel in the Lord Meren Ancient Egyptian series, was not as good as the first. It took me a week to slog through this book, and towards the end I had to practically force myself to finish it. The storyline was much more "court intrigue" than mystery. The main problem was the author introduced so many new characters, that it was hard to tell which was which as well as taking away from the relationship between Lord Meren and his adopted son Kysen, which was the most enjoyable thing about book one.

I'll still try the next book in the series as I've already invested so much in the series, but I wouldn't suggest this particular book as a stand alone.
2 stars.