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Ancient Egypt Murder Mysteries #1
Death of a Poet
Hanufer follows a trail of revenge…
275 BC, Alexandria
Hanufer of Crocodilopolis, newly appointed Overseer of the Police in Alexandria, is keen to prove himself worthy to both the citizens of the city and to the Pharaoh, Ptolemy Philadelphus.
When an altar is desecrated with a poem intended to insult the Pharaoh and his wife, Queen Arsinoe, Hanufer and his trusted sergeant Sabu are tasked with discovering who committed the outrage.
As the poet himself, Sotades the Obscene, was recently executed, Hanufer sets about finding out who else is familiar with his poetry.
Before long another poet is found murdered – a poem by Sotades left near the corpse as a macabre calling card.
With a growing number of murders to be investigated, Hanufer must make his mark and solve the mysteries.
But just where — and how high up — will the clues lead him?
Did Sotades really drown? Is there a serial killer on the loose in Alexandria?
And can Hanufer appease both the Pharoah and the gods?
DEATH OF A POET is the first book in the Ancient Egypt Mystery series: historical thrillers set in Alexandria and featuring Overseer of the Police, Hanufer.
275 BC, Alexandria
Hanufer of Crocodilopolis, newly appointed Overseer of the Police in Alexandria, is keen to prove himself worthy to both the citizens of the city and to the Pharaoh, Ptolemy Philadelphus.
When an altar is desecrated with a poem intended to insult the Pharaoh and his wife, Queen Arsinoe, Hanufer and his trusted sergeant Sabu are tasked with discovering who committed the outrage.
As the poet himself, Sotades the Obscene, was recently executed, Hanufer sets about finding out who else is familiar with his poetry.
Before long another poet is found murdered – a poem by Sotades left near the corpse as a macabre calling card.
With a growing number of murders to be investigated, Hanufer must make his mark and solve the mysteries.
But just where — and how high up — will the clues lead him?
Did Sotades really drown? Is there a serial killer on the loose in Alexandria?
And can Hanufer appease both the Pharoah and the gods?
DEATH OF A POET is the first book in the Ancient Egypt Mystery series: historical thrillers set in Alexandria and featuring Overseer of the Police, Hanufer.
334 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 14, 2022
114 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Keith Moray
25 books45 followersPen name of Keith Moray Souter, also writes as Keith Souter and Clay More.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 28, 2022
Egypt!
Smooth easy reading. Well written. A taste of life in Egypt, of the all the Gods that are worshipped, add a tail of mystery an you have a great story. Bring on the next.
Smooth easy reading. Well written. A taste of life in Egypt, of the all the Gods that are worshipped, add a tail of mystery an you have a great story. Bring on the next.
November 11, 2022
‘It all falls into place, yet at the same time it falls apart.’
275 BC, Alexandria. Hanufer of Crocidilopolis is the newly appointed Overseer of Police in Alexandria. He has been personally appointed by the Pharoah, Ptolemy Philadelphus. He is called to investigate an outrage when an altar is desecrated with a poem which is intended to insult Ptolemy Philadelphus and his sister-wife, Queen Arsinoe. The author of the poem, Sotades the Obscene, was recently executed by drowning. Who used his poem in this way?
Hanufer and his sergeant Sabu are investigating, but it is not long before a poet is found murdered. And yes, a poem by Sotades is found near the body. Several people seem to be familiar with the poetry of Sotades the Obscene, but who is using his poems in this way? Or, as some think, has Sotades somehow survived drowning?
As the body count increases, Hanufer and Sabu are tested. Autopsies provide some answers, as do the interviews they conduct.
I’ve not read a lot of fiction set in Ancient Egypt, and I enjoyed the way Mr Moray brought the setting to life and explained the procedures used. I’ll definitely line up for the next instalment.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
275 BC, Alexandria. Hanufer of Crocidilopolis is the newly appointed Overseer of Police in Alexandria. He has been personally appointed by the Pharoah, Ptolemy Philadelphus. He is called to investigate an outrage when an altar is desecrated with a poem which is intended to insult Ptolemy Philadelphus and his sister-wife, Queen Arsinoe. The author of the poem, Sotades the Obscene, was recently executed by drowning. Who used his poem in this way?
Hanufer and his sergeant Sabu are investigating, but it is not long before a poet is found murdered. And yes, a poem by Sotades is found near the body. Several people seem to be familiar with the poetry of Sotades the Obscene, but who is using his poems in this way? Or, as some think, has Sotades somehow survived drowning?
As the body count increases, Hanufer and Sabu are tested. Autopsies provide some answers, as do the interviews they conduct.
I’ve not read a lot of fiction set in Ancient Egypt, and I enjoyed the way Mr Moray brought the setting to life and explained the procedures used. I’ll definitely line up for the next instalment.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
October 13, 2022
275 B.C. Hanufer of Crocodilopolis has been appointed Overseer of the Police in Alexandria. Desecration of an altar with a poem by disgraced and presumed dead poet Sotades is soon followed by a death. Then another death with nearby another poem ascribed to Sotades.
What us the motive behind these deaths and the ultimate aim. Hanufer and his Sergeant Sabu investigate.
An entertaining, well-written and well-plotted historical mystery. A good start to this new series with its likeable and interesting main characters.
What us the motive behind these deaths and the ultimate aim. Hanufer and his Sergeant Sabu investigate.
An entertaining, well-written and well-plotted historical mystery. A good start to this new series with its likeable and interesting main characters.
January 11, 2025
Set in Alexandria under the reign of the second Ptolemy pharaoh, the investigator Hanufer is hired from his home city of Crocodopolis. In Alexandria he is given the position of overseer of what is effectively the police, and he is launched immediately into several murder investigations which are part of a large conspiracy.
The book is written with multiple small scenes of the villains acting and plotting, but these scenes are not divided well between the main text and it can be a bit confusing to tell when they begin and are not a continuing narrative of the main story, at least in the kindle edition.
The author Moray uses a device I really dislike in mysteries, where he has the investigator recap what they know so far several times, basically a rehash of previous chapters, but without actually revealing anything. The solution is a bad faith one, because it includes information that you are the reader don't have.
Hanufer is a likable sort, although the oddly compressed and rushed romance story doesn't flow well. Of the other characters, none particularly stand out except an especially dislikable crude poet with less wit than he thinks he has which features strongly in the story but is a very minor figure in the actual mystery.
The tale is very well researched, but perhaps overly so such as the tale of Sotades, who really isn't significant but is given a lot of ink because he's a real figure with real poetry that has passed down through the ages. Much is made of his poetry being "Palindromatic" but it isn't an important plot point and the feature didn't really appear in its translation to English; maybe its more apparent in the original Greek. The book is packed with historical information about Alexandria and the nearby nations, much of it of little significance to the story but somewhat interesting.
The book is written with multiple small scenes of the villains acting and plotting, but these scenes are not divided well between the main text and it can be a bit confusing to tell when they begin and are not a continuing narrative of the main story, at least in the kindle edition.
The author Moray uses a device I really dislike in mysteries, where he has the investigator recap what they know so far several times, basically a rehash of previous chapters, but without actually revealing anything. The solution is a bad faith one, because it includes information that you are the reader don't have.
Hanufer is a likable sort, although the oddly compressed and rushed romance story doesn't flow well. Of the other characters, none particularly stand out except an especially dislikable crude poet with less wit than he thinks he has which features strongly in the story but is a very minor figure in the actual mystery.
The tale is very well researched, but perhaps overly so such as the tale of Sotades, who really isn't significant but is given a lot of ink because he's a real figure with real poetry that has passed down through the ages. Much is made of his poetry being "Palindromatic" but it isn't an important plot point and the feature didn't really appear in its translation to English; maybe its more apparent in the original Greek. The book is packed with historical information about Alexandria and the nearby nations, much of it of little significance to the story but somewhat interesting.
November 15, 2022
As a light historical mystery, this book was perfect. The author gave every sign of knowing his subject and his era, and although I don't know much about ancient Egypt under the Greeks, I received no sense that the author didn't either. Rather, he showed an in-depth knowledge of the religious beliefs as well as the social structure and mores of the times.
Not exactly high literature, the story was interesting enough as far as it went, even though it was a tad predictable. Some scenes where a tad clumsy, where the author used conversation between two characters as a device for providing background information. Ptolemy and Arsinoe speaking to each other refer to 'our half brother' several times, and mentioned details of their background and relationships. Surely, as these three people are siblings, it is unnecessary for such details to be explained to each other at such length as they would already know to all concerned. It is clear why this is done, but the book is somehow diminished by the use of such a transparent and cumbersome device.
Some character development regarding Sabu would have been a nice addition. We saw almost everything from Hanufer's perspective, and received only brief reports of Sabu's investigations, which were equally as important to the solving of the mystery, after all. There was a lot of 'tell' and not 'show' in terms of Sabu's characterisation, which was a shame. Also, while I am not one for romance in my mystery stories, the romance here was subtle and superficial enough to pass muster.
All in all, not a bad first book despite the rough edges, and I will be interested to see if and how things develop.
Thanks to Netgalley for a free review copy of this book.
Not exactly high literature, the story was interesting enough as far as it went, even though it was a tad predictable. Some scenes where a tad clumsy, where the author used conversation between two characters as a device for providing background information. Ptolemy and Arsinoe speaking to each other refer to 'our half brother' several times, and mentioned details of their background and relationships. Surely, as these three people are siblings, it is unnecessary for such details to be explained to each other at such length as they would already know to all concerned. It is clear why this is done, but the book is somehow diminished by the use of such a transparent and cumbersome device.
Some character development regarding Sabu would have been a nice addition. We saw almost everything from Hanufer's perspective, and received only brief reports of Sabu's investigations, which were equally as important to the solving of the mystery, after all. There was a lot of 'tell' and not 'show' in terms of Sabu's characterisation, which was a shame. Also, while I am not one for romance in my mystery stories, the romance here was subtle and superficial enough to pass muster.
All in all, not a bad first book despite the rough edges, and I will be interested to see if and how things develop.
Thanks to Netgalley for a free review copy of this book.
August 6, 2023
This first mystery in a new series takes us on an immersive visit to third century BCE Egypt, a place the author shows us to be far-removed from our times and customs. The Greek Ptolemys are trying to consolidate power by adopting Egyptian customs - specifically, the king marrying his sister! Resistance and resentment to this change is at the heart of this mystery. In fact, the eponymous poet of the title has composed particularly offensive (to the ruling couple) satirical verses that result in his death in the opening pages.
Events are described mainly through the perspective of Hanufer, the newly-arrived and newly-appointed Egyptian Superintendent of Police. We get to experience places such as the Library of Alexandria vicariously as three murders occur successively involving scholars related to the library. The poet’s verses are found at the murder site in each case suggesting his revenge (in person or as a ghost) as a motive.
Hanufer doesn’t show much of his hand as events progress which is both good as there is so much of Ptolemaic Egypt to absorb and bad, because the ultimate resolution came out of the blue for this reader. Is the author playing fair? A little more character development (especially the women) would be good in subsequent novels in the series. Well worth reading on a Sunday afternoon! Previously published in the Historical Novel Society’s Review magazine
Events are described mainly through the perspective of Hanufer, the newly-arrived and newly-appointed Egyptian Superintendent of Police. We get to experience places such as the Library of Alexandria vicariously as three murders occur successively involving scholars related to the library. The poet’s verses are found at the murder site in each case suggesting his revenge (in person or as a ghost) as a motive.
Hanufer doesn’t show much of his hand as events progress which is both good as there is so much of Ptolemaic Egypt to absorb and bad, because the ultimate resolution came out of the blue for this reader. Is the author playing fair? A little more character development (especially the women) would be good in subsequent novels in the series. Well worth reading on a Sunday afternoon! Previously published in the Historical Novel Society’s Review magazine
October 16, 2022
This is a procedural complete with crime scenes, suspect interviews and autopsies that would not be out of place in a contemporary setting. Being set in Ancient Egypt makes it very original. Hanufer is the new Overseer of Police in Alexandria, appointed personally by the Pharaoh after solving an impossible case in his native Crocodilopolis. He has to hit the ground running when a series of gruesome murders point toward an obvious culprit. The problem is that said suspect is dead. Did he come back from the afterlife to avenge himself? Being that this is a time when people believed in a whole Pantheon of gods, coming back from the dead didn’t seem too far-fetched. The influence from Greece has come to Egypt and there is conflict between both cultures. There is political and cultural turmoil. But Hanufer also has the help of natural philosophers ahead of their time. These characters are real historical figures, so it’s interesting to read about their methods. There is a lot of information to add historical background, I am very interested in Ancient Egypt so all this was enjoyable. For more casual readers, this may bog down the action. The characters were not three-dimensional and seemed too modern for their time. That said, it’s an engaging read.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Sapere Books!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Sapere Books!
November 10, 2022
I've upped my rating from 3.5 stars to 4 because I've really enjoyed Keith Moray's books in the past. This is the first in a series, and I thought he tried a little too hard to explain Ancient Egypt while trying to set the scene rather than letting the environment develop naturally. For me, it detracted from the plot; the historical aspect should aid the story-telling, not feel like a history lesson. But, having said that, discovering a different historical era is always good. The characters are likeable, particularly Hanufer and Sabu, and I'm sure they will grow in coming books; I will look out for more in the series because of that. The plot in this particular book was interesting, and not predictable, which I enjoyed. It unfolded easily, and I found myself totally intrigued. My thanks to Sapere Books for giving me the opportunity to read it.
January 2, 2023
I had a hard time getting into the story because of all of the Greek and Egyptian names. They just got jumbled in my head and kept me from enjoying the story for the first 2 chapters. I felt the story was well-written and fit with the author's style, even though he changed to a new cast of characters and a new setting. The mystery kept me guessing and I got close to the eventual solution. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see how the inspector came to the conclusion he did, but maybe I just missed something. I would read more in a series if they are written.
October 22, 2023
As a lover of historical mysteries, I am particular about which mysteries I recommend. Moray's research into the Ptolemaic era of Egypt added to the atmosphere of this book. the protagonist, Hanufer, was well-developed and realistic. The mysteries intertwined with the political dynamic of the time, making this an enjoyable, fast-paced read. I am happy this is a series and will definitely read Moray's next Ancient Egypt mystery.
February 21, 2024
I bought this mystery because I was going to tour Egypt and I thought it would be an easy way to familiarize myself with the history. And it was! Lots of detail mentioned by the guides were in the book. The mystery itself was good and I enjoyed reading it. The detective is from the made-up town of Crocodilopolis and we visited the Crocodile Museum in Kom Ombo, on the Nile. There is mention in the book and in the museum of the crocodile god Sabek.
November 19, 2022
I love Keith Moray's historical mysteries and hope to read other set in Egypt and featuring these characters.
This one is well plotted and well researched. An entertaining historical mystery that kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
This one is well plotted and well researched. An entertaining historical mystery that kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
June 2, 2024
Yes
For me a new genre,glad I brought it and 2ill start number two shortly.A good story and the ending was brilliant,I knew about the Pharaohs being brothers and sisters but the entwining of it all was excellent,well worth it.
For me a new genre,glad I brought it and 2ill start number two shortly.A good story and the ending was brilliant,I knew about the Pharaohs being brothers and sisters but the entwining of it all was excellent,well worth it.
December 4, 2022
I like this one. Interesting main chats and good plot. Good crime novel located in Ptolomy Alexandria.
December 4, 2024
Difficult read
The continued use of Greek titles makes for a uneven pace and makes the language more important than the story.
The continued use of Greek titles makes for a uneven pace and makes the language more important than the story.
February 1, 2025
Good story, but a little slow...
February 7, 2023
As a fan of historical fiction, especially Egyptian historical fiction, I really enjoyed this "who dun it" featuring some favourite gods, goddesses, and ancient royalty. I always enjoy when authors use actual figures throughout history as minor players in the story and I loved how these were woven into the book.
In terms of readability, it was pretty evenly paced with a few unknown vocabulary words thrown in there that I could find definitions for on my Kindle as I went. Had I been reading a physical copy, this might have annoyed me. The plot flowed along nicely with twists, turns, and mystery in appropriate places. It wasn't deep or thought-provoking but I don't believe it was trying to be.
I'd recommend this book to a fellow Egyptian historical fiction lover who is looking for a fun mystery to read without having to devote too much brain power to it and just enjoy!
In terms of readability, it was pretty evenly paced with a few unknown vocabulary words thrown in there that I could find definitions for on my Kindle as I went. Had I been reading a physical copy, this might have annoyed me. The plot flowed along nicely with twists, turns, and mystery in appropriate places. It wasn't deep or thought-provoking but I don't believe it was trying to be.
I'd recommend this book to a fellow Egyptian historical fiction lover who is looking for a fun mystery to read without having to devote too much brain power to it and just enjoy!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews