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Hori & Nachtmin #1
Apprenticed to Anubis
Ancient Egypt: Hori and his fellow students celebrate their graduation from medical school. In a bar brawl, he accidentally kills the vizier's eldest son. For punishment, the king renders an unusual verdict: life in the service of the dead at the weryt, the walled-off embalming compound.
At the same time, young ladies at the pharaoh's court drop dead without obvious cause. When the corpses are brought to the weryt, Hori, now trained in embalming and organ removal, discovers the girls were murdered. Only he can't leave the place without turning his life sentence into a death sentence—or can he? An adventurous investigation unfolds.
At the same time, young ladies at the pharaoh's court drop dead without obvious cause. When the corpses are brought to the weryt, Hori, now trained in embalming and organ removal, discovers the girls were murdered. Only he can't leave the place without turning his life sentence into a death sentence—or can he? An adventurous investigation unfolds.
262 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 17, 2014
90 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Kathrin Brückmann
46 books3 followersHi, I'm Kathrin Brückmann. Born 1966 in Mainz, Germany, I spent most of my youth in Bremen. Since 1985, I live in Berlin.
Quite early, I developed an interest in the history of Ancient Egypt. In consequence, I chose to study the exotic combination egyptology, archaeology and Judaism.
After giving birth to two children, realization dawned on me that digging Egypt top to bottom and being a single parent might not go together all too well. So I tried something different.
In 2011, I started writing and, in doing so, returned to my roots. The novel Sinuhe, Sohn der Sykomore (Sinuhe, Son of the Sycamore, so far only available in German) is about a young Egyptian scribe in Twelfth Dynasty Egypt and tells the famous story of Sinuhe as recorded on numerous papyri. The book was received so well, I decided to become a freelance writer. Some short stories in various genres followed my debut novel, one of which won a writing contest by a well known publisher.
Since writing is a fickle business, I also work as an editor in Berlin. This was how I came to know Edith Parzefall and her novels. Soon I fell in love with her funny and quick-witted style of writing and also read some of her English novels. One day she offered me a deal: In exchange for her translation of one of my short stories I should look for typos in her latest novel. Well, why not? Good decision, I simply love what she did with my story! Our combined styles fit together like a well worn glove over the owner's hand.
In 2013, I developed the concept for a historical mystery series about two young physicians investigating murders and other crimes in Ancient Egypt—not exactly of their own free will. Apprenticed to Anubis is the first novel in this series.
The idea of Edith translating it lurked at the back of our minds. Still, I didn't think it would ever come true. One day, when she was between books and awaiting a work project, she decided to make a stab at it, no guarantees. Daily word count progress mails kept me hopeful. And she did finish the project in two months, not knowing if it will ever pay.
This is where you come into play, dear readers! You liked the novel? Tell your friends. You want a sequel? Tell even strangers.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 18, 2014
Here's a murder mystery with a different twist. It's set in ancient Egypt, in the reign of Pharaoh Senusret III, whose dates are 1878 BC to 1839 BC.
I could have just read through this book and enjoyed it, but I doubly enjoyed it because I looked up all the stuff I didn't know about this time. Which is pretty much everything. Like Maat and Anubis. The series is called In Maat's Service. Google to the rescue!
Our protagonist, young Hori has just finished his training as a doctor, and passes the oral exam. After a celebratory party held by the son of the Vizier, they all go off to a bar, where the son of the Vizier tries to molest a young serving girl. Hori, being the dutiful follower of Maat that he is, tries to prevent further abuse, knocking the guy, who trips and falls, hitting his head and dying. The father, being quite powerful, tries to bribe witnesses to claim that Hori deliberately killed the youth. Fortunately, enough witnesses tell the truth, and the young Pharaoh Senusret has to walk a fine line here between justice and the wishes of his Vizier. Instead of condemning Hori to death, or to a life sentences in the stone pit, (pretty much the same thing), he sentences him to life in The House of Death, the weryt, an intensely secret place on an island where the dead are brought, cleaned, and embalmed. However, this means that although Hori is allowed to live, he can never leave the weryt, and it would cause his death to reveal any of the secrets from the House of Death to anyone outside the weryt.
It is during his work here that young Dr. Hori discovers that several young girls who end up on his embalming table have the same kind of puncture wound. He sees a pattern, and believes they have been murdered. But by whom? And why? And so begins our tale.
A good mystery woven throughout with the thoroughly researched details of life in that time in ancient Egypt. You may learn just a bit more about the embalming practices of the Egyptians than perhaps you quite wanted to, but I loved it. So all in all, the book has all the elements that I like in historical mystery fiction: a feeling of authenticity of the period, a decent mystery, some likable characters that we can cheer for, and enough detail that I can learn something new.
And as an added bonus, at the beginning is a list of characters with a pronunciation guide for their names, and at the end, an Appendix-Glossary just chock full of great info.
Kudos to Edith Parzefall for her fine translation from the original German. I believe further adventures of Doctor Hori and his best friend, Doctor Nakhtmin are planned. I certainly look forward to reading them.
I could have just read through this book and enjoyed it, but I doubly enjoyed it because I looked up all the stuff I didn't know about this time. Which is pretty much everything. Like Maat and Anubis. The series is called In Maat's Service. Google to the rescue!
Our protagonist, young Hori has just finished his training as a doctor, and passes the oral exam. After a celebratory party held by the son of the Vizier, they all go off to a bar, where the son of the Vizier tries to molest a young serving girl. Hori, being the dutiful follower of Maat that he is, tries to prevent further abuse, knocking the guy, who trips and falls, hitting his head and dying. The father, being quite powerful, tries to bribe witnesses to claim that Hori deliberately killed the youth. Fortunately, enough witnesses tell the truth, and the young Pharaoh Senusret has to walk a fine line here between justice and the wishes of his Vizier. Instead of condemning Hori to death, or to a life sentences in the stone pit, (pretty much the same thing), he sentences him to life in The House of Death, the weryt, an intensely secret place on an island where the dead are brought, cleaned, and embalmed. However, this means that although Hori is allowed to live, he can never leave the weryt, and it would cause his death to reveal any of the secrets from the House of Death to anyone outside the weryt.
It is during his work here that young Dr. Hori discovers that several young girls who end up on his embalming table have the same kind of puncture wound. He sees a pattern, and believes they have been murdered. But by whom? And why? And so begins our tale.
A good mystery woven throughout with the thoroughly researched details of life in that time in ancient Egypt. You may learn just a bit more about the embalming practices of the Egyptians than perhaps you quite wanted to, but I loved it. So all in all, the book has all the elements that I like in historical mystery fiction: a feeling of authenticity of the period, a decent mystery, some likable characters that we can cheer for, and enough detail that I can learn something new.
And as an added bonus, at the beginning is a list of characters with a pronunciation guide for their names, and at the end, an Appendix-Glossary just chock full of great info.
Kudos to Edith Parzefall for her fine translation from the original German. I believe further adventures of Doctor Hori and his best friend, Doctor Nakhtmin are planned. I certainly look forward to reading them.
September 2, 2014
A dear friend of mine gave me a copy of this book and I certainly feel privileged to have had the chance to read it. It's one of those books that totally sucks you in. Even when I KNEW I should be doing something else, I kept getting drawn back to the book and couldn't think about anything else until I finished it.
The ancient Egyptian setting is extremely realistic and I could easily picture the setting and happenings, even without in-depth knowledge beyond what I learned in school many many years ago. The author additionally quenched my thirst for more information with her detailed back section, defining terms used and explaining more of the cultural background.
The characters were intriguing and felt like real people. The mystery had plenty of twists and turns. I read a lot of mysteries and am pretty critical of what makes one good or not. This is a good one, making it an enjoyable puzzle with proper reader access to the clues and good investigation.
Apparently the book is translated from a German original, but it was smooth and pleasant English to me. Definitely no signs of awkwardness or stiffness of language that is sometimes found in translations. The English is better quality than a lot of indies I've read.
I really hope Bruckmann is planning a sequel, because she already has at least one fan impatiently awaiting more adventures of these fascinating characters--ME.
The ancient Egyptian setting is extremely realistic and I could easily picture the setting and happenings, even without in-depth knowledge beyond what I learned in school many many years ago. The author additionally quenched my thirst for more information with her detailed back section, defining terms used and explaining more of the cultural background.
The characters were intriguing and felt like real people. The mystery had plenty of twists and turns. I read a lot of mysteries and am pretty critical of what makes one good or not. This is a good one, making it an enjoyable puzzle with proper reader access to the clues and good investigation.
Apparently the book is translated from a German original, but it was smooth and pleasant English to me. Definitely no signs of awkwardness or stiffness of language that is sometimes found in translations. The English is better quality than a lot of indies I've read.
I really hope Bruckmann is planning a sequel, because she already has at least one fan impatiently awaiting more adventures of these fascinating characters--ME.
September 20, 2014
This brilliant plot takes the reader into a past they can only imagine from recorded events in ancient Egypt. The aspects of society fascinated me and the complicated names didn't cause me any problems as I've just finished reading two novels set in Wales with a myriad of people's unpronounceable names.
The plot reveals all of the ancient society's daily affairs. An early debauchery scene nearly turned me off. Then, the character Hori's disgusted thoughts reassured me the novel wouldn't continue that way. However, the witnessed incident remains an important clue. After their world is turned upside down, two lowly young doctors mingle with royalty while they try to solve a series of murders despite difficult circumstances.
I read an ARC. Beautifully written and translated into English, the novel resembles a who-done-it by way of rowing to and fro across the river in the dark of night.
The plot reveals all of the ancient society's daily affairs. An early debauchery scene nearly turned me off. Then, the character Hori's disgusted thoughts reassured me the novel wouldn't continue that way. However, the witnessed incident remains an important clue. After their world is turned upside down, two lowly young doctors mingle with royalty while they try to solve a series of murders despite difficult circumstances.
I read an ARC. Beautifully written and translated into English, the novel resembles a who-done-it by way of rowing to and fro across the river in the dark of night.
August 21, 2014
I loved the German edition of this historical mystery so much, I simply had to translate it into English. I hope you'll enjoy the read when it will be available on September 17, 2014 as ebook and in print.
March 18, 2023
Ancient Egypt: Hori and his fellow pupils are celebrating their graduation from medical school. During a taverns scuffle he unintentionally slaughters the vizier's first born son. As penance, the king decides a not common verdict: life in the service of the dead at the walled-off embalming complex. At the same time, young ladies at the pharaoh's court drop dead without any apparent cause. When the corpses are brought to the weryt, Hori, now trained in embalming and organ removal, discovers the girls were murdered. He can't leave the place without changing his life sentence into a death sentence—or can he? An adventuresome inquiry begins. Is an interesting read, maybe a tad too long but good!
May 9, 2020
I liked this book very much. It was pretty interesting from the first page. I believe the author did extensive research on the everyday culture of ancient Egypt and how they mummified their dead. I found the details of this to be really interesting. The main characters of the book were well done and the plotting was quite good. I found the mystery part of the novel to be engrossing. I couldn't help but try to figure out who had committed the crime along with Hori and Nakhtmin. The only quibble I have with the writing is the modern language that the characters used. This usually really annoys me, but in this instance, it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book too much.
December 10, 2017
Enjoyed this book
I have always been interested in ancient Egypt. The story moved along and I felt involved in the well being of the heroes in the book. At first I thought I had the murderer figured out, but that was not the case. Since I don't want to inadvertently give away any secrets, I will end this review here.
I have always been interested in ancient Egypt. The story moved along and I felt involved in the well being of the heroes in the book. At first I thought I had the murderer figured out, but that was not the case. Since I don't want to inadvertently give away any secrets, I will end this review here.
October 28, 2018
Good characters, good plot
The pharaoh seemed not as powerful as I would have expected based on my non-fiction readings. The plot and characters were engaging and there was a real sense of history. I look forward to the next book.
The pharaoh seemed not as powerful as I would have expected based on my non-fiction readings. The plot and characters were engaging and there was a real sense of history. I look forward to the next book.
November 2, 2019
The weyret revealed
Forensic investigation in ancient Egypt. Very well written. Looking forward to the next novel and will be following this author.
Forensic investigation in ancient Egypt. Very well written. Looking forward to the next novel and will be following this author.
April 26, 2021
Loved it. Can't wait for part 2.
July 1, 2021
Review to follow
August 30, 2018
This book was utterly delightful! A very fun piece of historical fiction, though I don't know enough about that era of history to evaluate its accuracy.
As an aside, I enjoy getting a heads up about free/very cheap books from an app called Free Kindle Books and Tips, but often it's like slogging through a slush pile. This is, easily and by far, the best free book they have ever recommended to me.
As an aside, I enjoy getting a heads up about free/very cheap books from an app called Free Kindle Books and Tips, but often it's like slogging through a slush pile. This is, easily and by far, the best free book they have ever recommended to me.
November 5, 2015
This is a creative and pretty well-written murder mystery set in Ancient Egypt. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews