Album

Sleuth of the Nile

A religious armband is discovered in the stomach contents of a crocodile. When the hunter seeks out a divine explanation, Egypt’s noble leaders debate the significance. Differing opinions on the message amplify the rivalry between a pair of soothsayers. Investigating his own worldly explanation is Master Mahu, the disheveled but methodical aide of the sinister royal physician. Yet Master Mahu as a common servant who even knows he’s a sham as a soothsayer, explores the mystery with the understanding that should a crime point to any of his superiors he must do the proper thing and take his discovery to his grave,..., immediately to his grave. Set in ancient Egypt, in the years just prior to the reign of King Thut, the story's hero uses a combination of intuition and rudimentary forensic evidence to solve the armband’s owner’s murder mystery. All the while, he stimulates his own thought process or intimidates his suspects with the tool of a tarot deck. In the spirit of the Brother Cadfael Mysteries, Sleuth of the Nile unveils ancient Egypt, a land of exotic laws and complex hierarchy. Master Mahu as a Nubian is practical and epicurean, quite different from the stoic and superstitious Egyptians, but this separation allows him to seek more worldly answers and motivations to explain the mystery. The reader will note connections between Mahu’s search with those used by a modern detective yet via methods transposed to four thousand years ago. The narrative can be scrutinized for clues to solve the whodunit mystery, before the whole story is revealed. Sleuth of the Nile is planned as the first in a series of stories using a common setting and characters.Read more

Tracks: 22 · 2,442 plays