King Tut's Private Eye

by Lee Levin

A jaded archaeologist makes a stunning find on the final dig of his mediocre career. He unearths a box, carefully secured with the seal of Eye, grand vizier of Tutankhamen. Upon breaking the seal, the archaeologist realizes that he holds a sensation in his hands - the world's first murder mystery.
Eye had served as the grand vizier to Akhenaton until the death of the mad, tyrannical pharaoh brought about the transfer of the crown to his young son, Tutankhamen. Eight years later, this petulant young pharaoh orders Eye to solve the mystery of his father's murder, a near-impossible demand, as the former king was presumed to have died of natural causes. The young king grants the shamus only seven days to find the murderer. To Eye's even greater horror, Tut forbids the use of torture in his investigation. Stripped of the mainstay of Egyptian jurisprudence, Eye fears that he will not survive longer than the investigation's seven days. The odds of success are further reduced by the fact that all of Egypt hated the former pharaoh and rejoiced in his death. And so it is with a moan that the world's first private detective faces his greatest challenge. This tongue-in-cheek account, painstakingly translated by Levin's archaeologist, brings the intrigue-laden world of ancient Egypt to vivid - and hilarious - life.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery

232 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1996

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The premise is that the author is translating a scroll that has just been found on a dig. The Main character is the Eye, co-regent of Egypt, grandfather of king Tut. He is assigned to find the murder of Tut’s father. That pharaoh was the Eye’s son-in-law. At this point the murder, if it was a murder was eight years old. It is also told he must solve the crime in 7 days and he can’t use torture!
The Eye is vain, sexist, shrewd and ruthless. But he is so open about all these faults he somehow become likable, even while some of his thoughts and actions revolt you. I don’t think the author has done more but I would read them if he has.

[Karen GoatKeeper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was truly imaginative. King Tut's [Yes, that Pharaoh] grand vizier Eye is given the task of solving the murder of the Pharaoh's father's murder eight years before.
Was Akhenaten murdered? No one said so at the time. There were a number of people who wanted him dead including Vizier Eye.
Eye has no choice but to try to solve this murder, if it was a murder.
Levin does try to put humor in his book. I'm not good at his brand of humor so I missed most of it.
He was or is a history professor and the historical details are interesting. I noticed one mistake. He referred to hummingbirds which are strictly New World and unknown to the ancient Egyptians.
The ending is most satisfying and an ironic turn of events. This book is a nice relaxing read.

[Rebecca I]

This is an entertaining mystery set in the time of King Tut. The author is a historian and so the fiction is laced with details from the time period. There is a tongue in cheek sort of humor which runs through the book. Fun to read.

[Jaylee · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. The protagonist has a strong voice and he's not a good man. I was okay with that. He was pompous, vain, sexist, etc. and it made perfect sense for who he was as a character.

And then Chapter 6 rolled around in which he describes in LOTS OF DETAIL him raping his underage ("What is she, sixteen? Seventeen? It doesn't matter.") slave girl. And saying he's done this to lots of young girls. It's one thing to be aware that the character sexually assaulted his slave girls, 'cause... that was pretty on brand for slaveholders. But to spend MANY, MANY PAGES going into GREAT DETAIL of the way he "seduced" her and just -- it wasn't even erotically graphic. It was just... really disturbing, the thought process and how he chipped away at her. I don't know if I've felt this gross after reading something in a long long time.

I'm out. It was a fun book 'til this shit.

[Corvid · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book set in ancient egypt, this is just incredibly british. The sexual perversion isn't even that interesting. The murder mystery aspect is okay-ish, other than being investigated by someone whose whole thing is that he's bad at this.

[Marfita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, what can I say? There were a few groaners in there, but the author does a nice job of describing a time period in a light, bantering style. Ha ha, very funny - the Vizier Ay/Aya/Eye (Private Eye, get it?) is commanded by young King Tutankhamun to discover the murderer of his father, the monotheist Akhenaten. He has less than seven days (and six suspects) to find the culprit or he dies. Or perhaps he just loses his precious "family jewels"? Oh, and he's not allowed to use torture.
Instead, Eye plods around Thebes, Amarna, and the desert trying to use a method no one has apparently ever thought of before: asking. Eye must also take into account the possibility of magic doing the job and the interference of the gods. Boy, did he have it hard back in those days.
He also details his sexual encounters. Boy, did he ... nevermind.
Ironically, Eye's character is my age. Okay, maybe that's not all that ironic. This is like watching "Airplane!" when I was 26 and hearing the stewardess say, "And I'm 26 years old and not married yet!" or such (I am incredibly bad at details). Freaks me out.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went through a phase where I read every fiction and nonfiction about Tutankhamen I could find. Recent technology though has figured out how he probably died and it's nothing as dramatic as in this book. Doesn't matter. The book was still a ripping good yarn.

[Mike]

found at the library, looked interesting.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this quirky book. Made me howl in places.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technically I shouldn't have this book. I borrowed it from the library back when I was about 15... I still have it (sheepish grin)

[Jerrie]

sort of good, but also a little hard to get thru

[Susan Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

📖~CAVEAT LECTOR: There may be spoilers in my following review. ~