Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead

By Nick Drake

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The Queen, ‘The Perfect One’, vanishes just before the festival at their new city to celebrate the new religion worshipping Aten, the Sun God, which she and Akhenaten have founded. The balance of power between the old priests, the army and the royal family is disturbed. Rahotep, the youngest chief detective at Thebes, is summoned to investigate. He has ten days to find her but, if he fails, he and his family will die.

The writing at times is poetic, and the author powerfully invokes the heat and dust of Egypt. I was carried along despite the occasional flagging of pace and the sometimes elliptical style which deprived me of information I wanted. This is a good read which will be enjoyed by those who like both ancient and modern Egypt. I shall look forward to more of Rahotep.