Year of the Hyenas: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Egypt
2 journalers for this copy...
I found this fair-condition ex-library hardcover on the charity-sale shelves at a local Hannaford's, and thought it looked interesting. Will see how it compares to another ancient-Egypt-setting mystery I read recently, The Right Hand of Amon.
Later: I enjoyed the book, in part because its flawed and tragic hero Semerket felt like a traditional film noir character, complete with the drinking problem and the misunderstandings and the beatings-up - oh, and the near-death experiences! But there's more to the story, including lots of period detail about politics, the military, tomb-building (and robbing), and religious beliefs in ancient Egypt, with touches of the supernatural mixed in with the all-too-real bits. In some ways it reminded me of Waltari's The Egyptian, which also featured a flawed hero sent wandering on various quests, though that one didn't have as much focus on solving a murder mystery.
This story opens with the brutal slaying of an elderly, much-beloved, nearly-blind priestess, and it's this crime that the "man of Set", Semerket, is assigned to solve, even though he's currently in the throes of drunken misery over the fact that his wife divorced him to marry another man whom she hoped could give her children. With the help of his brother (who has marital problems of his own), Semerket drags himself into sobriety and starts to investigate, but finds himself stonewalled at every turn - until a clever cat and a mysterious young prince lead him to clues that uncover a much more serious crime-in-the-making. There's even a key subplot involving Semerket's acquaintance with the King of the Beggars, which reminded me of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Lots of fascinating characters, some sympathetic, some evil to the core; an intriguing plot; very colorful scenes; and a tormented yet decent hero - good story! I'd read more from this author.
Later: I enjoyed the book, in part because its flawed and tragic hero Semerket felt like a traditional film noir character, complete with the drinking problem and the misunderstandings and the beatings-up - oh, and the near-death experiences! But there's more to the story, including lots of period detail about politics, the military, tomb-building (and robbing), and religious beliefs in ancient Egypt, with touches of the supernatural mixed in with the all-too-real bits. In some ways it reminded me of Waltari's The Egyptian, which also featured a flawed hero sent wandering on various quests, though that one didn't have as much focus on solving a murder mystery.
This story opens with the brutal slaying of an elderly, much-beloved, nearly-blind priestess, and it's this crime that the "man of Set", Semerket, is assigned to solve, even though he's currently in the throes of drunken misery over the fact that his wife divorced him to marry another man whom she hoped could give her children. With the help of his brother (who has marital problems of his own), Semerket drags himself into sobriety and starts to investigate, but finds himself stonewalled at every turn - until a clever cat and a mysterious young prince lead him to clues that uncover a much more serious crime-in-the-making. There's even a key subplot involving Semerket's acquaintance with the King of the Beggars, which reminded me of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Lots of fascinating characters, some sympathetic, some evil to the core; an intriguing plot; very colorful scenes; and a tormented yet decent hero - good story! I'd read more from this author.
Journal Entry 2 by 
GoryDetails
at Little Free Library, Green Needles Rd. in Littleton, Massachusetts USA on Thursday, October 1, 2015
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Green Needles Rd. in Littleton, Massachusetts USA on Thursday, October 1, 2015
Released 8 yrs ago (10/1/2015 UTC) at Little Free Library, Green Needles Rd. in Littleton, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the Little Free Library at around 3:20; hope the finder enjoys it!*** Released as part of the 2015 You're Such an Animal release challenge. ***
*** Released as part of the 2015 TICK TOCK release challenge. ***
Hi Gory, Just fyi spotted this book today Monday 3/14/16 on the community bookshelf in my office building's cafeteria, lower level One Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108--I leave a lot of BC books there, sometimes they are journaled, etc. Well today I went to leave a book and I saw this book with the BC sticker and saw it was your release/book plate so I wanted to give you an update! Take care, best regards Dena (edithdoll) Boston Bookcrossing.com
