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This is the 6th book featuring Lieutenant Bak, set in Ancient Egypt during the dual reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose. Lieutenant Bak arrives in the capital city of Waset where he's met at the harbour by his friends and fellow Medjay officers from the Fortress of Buhen. Waset is bustling and alive - preparing for the eleven day festival of the Beautiful Feast of Opet. People from all over Egypt have gathered to see their rulers and participate in the revelries. Bak has hardly set foot on dry land when he discovers the body of a Hittite horse trader on a nearby ship. Bak is outside his jurisdiction and the murder falls to the harbour patrol to investigate. However, when another murder occurs - this time a priest - within the sacred precinct of the Lord Amon, Bak's expertise is called upon. Lieutenant Bak is an intelligent, thorough, thoughtful policeman, who hates to see injustice in all its forms. My only minor gripe with Bak is that I felt I didn't get to know him as a person very well. I wanted to know more about his background and about his life outside his police work. The plot is intriguing and devilishly clever. Domestic details and wider Egyptian politics and intrigue are seamlessly interwoven. There are a lot of characters and this can become confusing at times, but a detailed cast list at the front of the book means that the players and their relationships is extremely useful. The rich detail and descriptions in this book really bring the city of Waset and its inhabitants and visitors alive. The sights, sounds and smells are served up in a wonderful feast for the senses. The traditions of a long dead civilisation are magnificently described, but so are the lives of the ordinary people of the period, as Bak leaves the opulence of the temples and sacred precincts and walks the mean streets of Waset.
Reviewed by Donna Moore, November 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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