Who Killed King Tut?: Using Modern Forensics to Solve a 3300-Year-Old Mystery

by Michael R. King, Don DeNevi

Using historical facts, forensic information, and archaeological evidence, the authors present their thesis about who murdered Egypt's most famous pharaoh, Tutankhamen.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, True Crime, Egypt, Egyptology

258 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2004

Reviews

[64cad9 Yourmom.]

I wish this book never existed.
At first i thought, hmm maybe this book could be interesting...after reading the first paragraph, i wanted to jump out my window. Actually, burn the book, throw it out the window, AND THEN jump out for it has scarred my mind so severely.

Who Killed King Tut?
I did.
I'm macho time turning awesome girl. Fosho.
And if i wanted to, i'd turn back time and kill him again. >:]

Oh boy, it's getting late.
I'll be back to add more to this review.

Thank you and have a spectacular day!

lator

[Sarah]

The Egyptian history was interesting but the writing, asides, and speculations made this book a difficult read for me. It was chosen for a mystery book group focusing on forensics. We have read better novels.

[Johntaylor1973]

If you have a basic overview of Egyptian history (and I suppose even if you don't, but you're moderately interested in the subject), this book is for you.

It takes both criminal psychology and forensic evidence and combines it to formulate a best-guess as to how Tut died--and more importantly--WHO killed King Tut (hint: it was professor Plum with the noose in the Conservatory).

Good read. These two detectives from Utah travel, on behest of the Discovery Channel, to Egypt to help try to solve this thousands-old murder mystery.

While a little too long in several places, overall this was engaging and fun to read. I had only the basic, grade-school knowledge of Tut before reading this. Now I know a heckuva lot more about him! And part of me feels some modicum of pity for the boy king.

The book also makes me want to hear Steve Martin sing the song again "born in Arizona, moved to..."

[Erik Graff]

Two Mormons with police backgrounds penned this book upon completion of a Discovery Channel documentary about the mysterious death of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun in the 14th century B.C.E. Their goal was to investigate and solve the mystery which, in fact, they claim to have done, albeit not very convincingly--my own opinion being based, in part, upon just having finished a more recent book on the pharaoh by a British Egyptologist in which the same matter is discussed.

The authors seem nice enough guys, at pains to describe their methodology to the laity, but out of their depth as regards Egyptian history and culture. Such information as was impressive was provided by others as regards the forensic analysis of the remains by photography and radiography.

[Amy]

Those who complain about the speculation— really what did you expect from a 3000 year old mystery?!! I thought the criminal investigation was fascinating and really well thought out and presented well. I didn’t enjoy the personal notes of the author. I also had a giggle with the results from the CT scan and how the Egyptian scientists feel their results trump all others and now it’s case closed — very typical mentality for that part of the world. Would recommend for book club book and those who enjoy history and conspiracy theory books. Would also highly recommend to those traveling to Egypt.

[Rodney97]

For all the posturing about following forensic evidence, there are huge leaps of speculation. I am not convinced at all. And the possibility of death by accident is dismissed so brusquely as to attract contrary attention ....

[Eleanor With Cats]

Lots of speculation! And a bit of ego and some information.

Sometimes the information discussed in the text was poorly organized. The writer would refer briefly to a fact, sometimes saying 'as we discussed before', but on occasion this mention was the first time the fact had been introduced. I think probably the most beneficial part of the documentary and book was the medical experts assembling to examine the original x-rays of the pharaoh (whereas most scholars had previously only had access to pictures of the x-rays printed in books).

Still, the detectives are right there's certainly enough circumstantial evidence to think Ay was pretty suspicious, and if Horemheb did have Ay's burial murals defaced after he (Horemheb) became pharaoh after Ay's death, then maybe Horemheb did think Ay killed Tut. However, that is still speculation, and moreover even if Horemheb thought Ay killed Tut, that doesn't mean he did.

Definitely an interesting subject though.

[Hello Goodbye]

i would rather gouge my eyes out then read this book again

stay away from this book no matter what, jump out a window or skydive without a parachute before reading this book

and if you happen to see this book pick it up with tongs so you dont contaminate yourself and throw it in a fire and laugh while it burns

[Christina]

This is an interesting book and I did enjoy the overall concept and the general knowledge that I have gained concerning King Tut and Egypt. On the flip side, the authors are very repetitive and often their points are too vague. There also seems to be a lot of unnecessary commentary about their trip to Egypt.

[Sarah]

I get annoyed when authors write book likes this and write NOT about the topic at hand, but rather how excited they are to be studying it. That's great, how about you share what you learned, not your feelings?

[H. Givens]

It's mostly just two guys talking about what a great experience they had in Egypt and how specialized their skills are, without offering much in the way of content. Worth a read if you're researching the topic, but not for fun. (For that, I recommend The Murder of Tutankhamen by Bob Brier.)

[MissyLynne]

Interesting theory about the death of King Tut.

[Cathy]

This meandering mess had very little meat and focused more on the foreign detectives than on King Tut.