Robinson, Lynda S. Books

Murder in the Place of Anubis (Lord Meren Mysteries)

Lynda S. Robinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Who has dared to desecrate the sacred place of embalming with a murdered corpse? Pharaoh Tutankhamun orders Lord Meren, his chief investigator, to find out quickly, before power-mad priests use the incident to undermine his royal authority.
Everyone is a suspect, for the body belongs to the notorious scribe Hormin, hated by all who knew him. However, Lord Meren is no mere courtier but the Eyes and Ears of the living god. In the terrifying Place of Anubis, where unquiet spirits dwell, in the sunstruck city of Thebes, where Hormin's sons and his beautiful concubine plot, and in the royal court, where intrigues abound, Lord Meren hunts his quarry, peeling back the secrets of nobles and slaves in his quest for the truth. But more important by far is Meren's responsibility to protect the young Pharaoh from his enemies -- who are no farther away than the length of a dagger . . . .
"This exceptional debut melds ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and practices with court intrigue to produce a riveting mystery." -- Publishers Weekly

Eater of Souls

Lynda S. Robinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Entertaining, but simple 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

As a lover of historical mysteries, I had a great time reading Eater of Souls. Robinson's descriptions of ancient Memphis recall images of Holmes' London. The action keeps things going and the story flows pretty well. There are a few wild goose chases that are a bit frustrating, but overall the story remains focused. My only major complaint is that, outside of the main character Lord Meren, the characters are all quite simple. Most are one-dimensional and overly typed. I especially was annoyed by the other main character, Lord Meren's son Kysen, who comes across as an early day Ferris Bueller. But all in all, a fun read that brought ancient Egypt to life at a level rarely reached.

Editorial 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.

Drinker of Blood (Lord Meren Mysteries)

Lynda S. Robinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Dead men tell no tales 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This picks up the inquiry begun at the end of MURDER AT THE FEAST OF REJOICING, for which groundwork was laid in EATER OF SOULS. The title comes from Kysen's observation on the nature of the quarry, as lead after lead is snuffed by the murder of witnesses. The conclusion is in the next book, SLAYER OF GODS. I'll be assuming for the rest of this review that the reader already knows the series characters and the long-term investigation being pursued by Lord Meren, the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh, and his adopted son Kysen.

The first Meren novel to be told in a non-linear braided format, the first thread of the narrative follows Nefertiti, beginning on the day in the reign of Amunhotep the Magnificent that Pharaoh and Queen Tiye selected this minor princess to be groomed as the consort of Pharaoh's weird younger son: Akhenaten. Almost supernaturally ugly himself, Akhenaten's appreciation for Nefertiti's beauty is one of the few normal facets of his character. Scorned by his father in favor of his older, more satisfactory brother Thutmose, Akhenaten turned to religion and theology; Egypt was to reap the harvest of Amunhotep's neglect when Thutmose's sudden death marked Akhenaten as the next pharaoh - a heretic who believed in only one member of Egypt's pantheon of gods, despite the power of the priesthoods and their pivotal role in Egypt's economy.

The second thread follows Meren's 'present', in year 5 of the reign of Tutankamun, Akhenaten's youngest brother - so much younger that he remembers Akhenaten only as a kindly, if distant, guardian. However, Tutankamun adored Nefertiti - and Meren, having seen enough damage done to the country, is protecting him from the knowledge that his beloved foster mother was murdered. If nothing else, the stability of Nefertiti's father, the vizier Ay, must not be risked in the face of an impending war with Hatti. His excuses having finally run out, Meren must finally take the king on a raid, letting him gain battlefield experience against bandits before he must face Hittite armies.

Not knowing that he's diverting resources from a far deeper inquiry, the king (who finds Meren's investigations a fascinating diversion) assigns Meren an unrelated task: to investigate the death of Bahkt: a minor royal guard, to be sure, but one who always had fascinating stories for a boy prince. Tutankamun knows that Bahkt *hated* baboons, and doesn't believe he'd accidentally fall into their cage in the royal menagerie. Meren's distraction from the king's tasks draws the wrong sort of attention...

Kysen's criminal informants in the Caverns - the slum around the Memphis docks - are deployed: Tcha the housebreaker is happy to be *ordered* to rob a merchant's house in search of information - but less than happy to find that the suspect has 8 Nubian guards, being a clandestine arms dealer. :) Examination of the government's accounts on another suspect reveals a pattern suggesting corrupt manipulation of foreign aid. (The equivalent, anyway - financial aid from pharaoh to a vassal state.)

The Nefertiti narrative isn't a mystery at all, but an unfolding tragedy - the wonder isn't that Nefertiti was murdered, but that *any* of her family - or the country - survived Akhenaten's reign. The 'present' narrative, following Meren, is a suspense story studded with some investigative trappings. Evidence *is* being presented fairly to the reader, but the manner of presentation isn't that of a normal investigation. For those reasons, the book isn't as appealing as its predecessors - not a nice, detached investigation. The feel is more like that of MURDER AT THE GOD'S GATE than the other books.

Editorial Review:

With the top secret investigation of Queen Nefertitis murder in full gallop, Lord Meren is suddenly called away to investigate the death of King Tuts favourite groom, Senna. Now, in a fierce battle to save his life, Lord Meren is about to discover the very enemies who are undermining his place at court.

Slayer of Gods

Lynda S. Robinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ancient Egypt during the reign of the pharaohs is once again the setting for Lynda S. Robinson's masterfully detailed series featuring Lord Meren, the god-king's chief protector and investigator. Here the author takes a little-known incident from the 14th century B.C., when Pharaoh Akhenhaten, husband of Nefertiti, commanded the disestablishment of Amun, Egypt's chief deity, and his powerful priesthood. Meren is commanded by the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun--who undid Akhenhaten's work and revived the worship of Amun--to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding Nefertiti's untimely demise.

Aided by the beautiful Anath, Meren sets out to discover who poisoned the beautiful queen, beloved by her stepson Tutankhamun. But uncovering the conspiracy behind Nefertiti's death leads Meren to discover treachery much closer to home than he ever imagined and imperils this complex and compassionate investigator's own beloved son and daughter. This is Meren's sixth outing, and like Robinson's previous Meren books, it brings ancient history to breathtaking life, bolstered as it is by solid research, intelligent writing, and a command of the craft of storytelling. --Jane Adams

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

Lynda S. Robinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"DELIGHTFUL. . . Robinson makes ancient Thebes come alive as she describes the personalities, clothing, golden jewelry, the intrigue, and the smells of the desert, the terrors of a hippo hunt."
--San Francisco Examiner
When a priest dies in a mysterious fall from atop a statue of Tutankhamun, many consider the death a fateful one for the fourteen-year-old pharaoh and his reign.
Indeed, the Hittites are already at Egypt's borders, and the enemies of the late heretic pharaoh Akhenaten have transferred their implacable hatred to the young pharaoh. Concealed by the luxury of the court at Thebes lie viciousness, evil, and murder. Not even Lord Meren--the confidential inquiry agent who must see to the boy king's safety--can name the master plotters. But until the enemies of the living god are destroyed, neither his body nor his soul is safe from their deadly poison. . . .
"Robinson knowledgeably instructs readers in the cultural and political life of a fascinating period in history while entertaining us with a puzzling plot, accessible characters, and the domestic details of their daily lives."
--Alfred Hitchcock Mystery magazine

Murder at the Feast of Rejoicing

Lynda S. Robinson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"DELICIOUS . . . Robinson makes history live and breathe again."

*The New York Times Book Review



The small group gathered at Lord Meren's country house to celebrate his homecoming is soon to become yet smaller. Beautiful Anhai, Meren's cousin-in-law, falls victim to murder--an act of violence as inscrutable as the sphinx. True, she had myriad lovers and a scorpion tongue, but why was her body arranged so meticulously, as if for sleep? The most dreadful possibility is that the crime has to do with Lord Meren's awesome undercover mission for the pharaoh, for which his feast of rejoicing is in part a cover. This mission cannot, must not, fail. Ruthlessly stripping bare the deepest secrets of the nest of cobras who are his nearest relatives, Meren finds the thread that leads to the truth and the unmasking of a shocking crime in the court of the living god. . . .



"As Robinson deftly juggles ancient Egyptian political intrigue and a riveting mystery, she proves again her mastery of the historical whodunit."

*Publishers Weekly (starred review)


From the Paperback edition.