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Sitehuti & Nefer-Djenou-Bastet #1
The Eloquent Scribe
The only thing Sitehuti of Western Thebes ever wanted was to complete scribal school and slide comfortably into the mid-levels of Egyptian bureaucracy. All that goes into the river the day he is adopted by Nefer-Djenou-Bastet, a highly opinionated sacred cat.
From that point on, the young scribe's life is turned upside down. Everyone sees him as special; favored by the gods.
Naturally, that makes him the perfect person to investigate a plot against the Great House of Ramesses II. Suddenly, Sitehuti is up to his neck in political intrigue, conspiracy and murder that takes him right into private heart of the royal palace.
He's been bestowed a great honor. Now all he has to do is survive it.
From that point on, the young scribe's life is turned upside down. Everyone sees him as special; favored by the gods.
Naturally, that makes him the perfect person to investigate a plot against the Great House of Ramesses II. Suddenly, Sitehuti is up to his neck in political intrigue, conspiracy and murder that takes him right into private heart of the royal palace.
He's been bestowed a great honor. Now all he has to do is survive it.
- GenresMystery
306 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 2, 2016
16 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 27, 2018
I am not usually fond of animals as sleuthing partners. However, Nefer-Djenou-Bastet is a very winning cat, who must be part leopard. The author is also very accomplished at creating human characters. Sitehuti, a very young scribe, is assigned to find a missing person who might know something about a plot against the pharaoh. After a sail down (or is it up) the Nile, he meets one of the ruler’s sons, who really knows how to party. It is not difficult to figure out who is behind the plot but it is still a fun read.
June 26, 2017
Interesting but didn't come together.
Doesn't read as smoothly as I would like. The humor is interesting. There is so much that doesn't see true to the times except the names. It did seem like a vehicle to explain some real Egyptian knowledge.
Doesn't read as smoothly as I would like. The humor is interesting. There is so much that doesn't see true to the times except the names. It did seem like a vehicle to explain some real Egyptian knowledge.
May 18, 2017
Excellent reading
Ancient Egypt, a clever scribe, gods and temples, intrigue, plotting, death among the pyramids, tragedy, mourning and eternal love. Go read this.
Ancient Egypt, a clever scribe, gods and temples, intrigue, plotting, death among the pyramids, tragedy, mourning and eternal love. Go read this.
May 20, 2017
It is a fun story that made me laugh out loud at times. The author surely knows cats. It's fun.
July 10, 2017
This is great fun! The characters, including the cat, are funny and it's a good mystery.
November 22, 2017
Really pretty good. Don't know if its historically accurate, but it has a cat in it!! I will definitely be reading the rest of the series!
March 30, 2018
One of my specially loved collection
A mystery , some murders , but an especially "feel good" story .
.I have just finished again and I believe I will return again and again .
A mystery , some murders , but an especially "feel good" story .
.I have just finished again and I believe I will return again and again .
April 24, 2018
Intriguing
Interesting and well written ; unique . Different - dot. Know much about Egypt but described cat behavior well !
Interesting and well written ; unique . Different - dot. Know much about Egypt but described cat behavior well !
December 30, 2016
This tale was thoroughly enjoyable! It has several things going for it: the exotic setting of ancient Egypt, appealing and quite human characters (even to the Pharaoh himself), a mystery that must be solved and a murder to be prevented, and most of all – one of the principals is a cat!
Ancient Egypt is so unlike our own era that it’s easy to lapse into formality and stiffness when writing about it. After all, the art of the time is quite formal and unrealistic, and the religious practices have little in common with ours of the present day. However, Harris makes the setting believable while at the same time letting us know things are different by the judicious use of description. We can feel what life might have been like in the oasis on the banks of the Nile. She has in effect created a conworld based on a historical period of our own planet. The characters speak in a relaxed manner, at times even indulging in a bit of modern slang, but not so much that it seems unnatural. One can imagine that it’s a translation of the jargon used in ancient Egypt.
I particularly liked some of the descriptive metaphors. The cat “sprawled on his back with his legs splayed wide to catch the most sunshine. He looked like he’d been squashed by a sledge.” And again, “I was feeling small, lonely and a little like a solitary clay bead in a big rattle.”
And then the cat – the big, spotted Sacred Cat Nefer-Djenou-Bastet from the Temple of Bast, who adopts our young scribe Sitehuti for no reason anyone can discern. Neffi is a wonderful cat, with special powers of prescience. He made me think a little bit of Santa Claus (maybe just because I was reading this over Christmas!) – you better watch out because Neffi knows if you’ve been bad or good and he will take appropriate action! And yet he behaves like a real cat most of the time, preferring to drink out of a footbath rather than out of his pristine water bowl. Anybody who likes cats will take delight in this tale!
Some readers may be put off by the complex and interrelated names, but that didn’t bother me, since I write conlangs and always enjoy names. I’m sure the author did extensive research and I would have liked to see a glossary included, giving the meanings of the names.
The only thing that disappointed me a little was the end, which just sort of petered out without any punch. I had thought there might be a cliff-hanger in preparation for another book in the series, but that didn’t happen; the story just sort of stopped. However, I’m sure there will be more tales about the young scribe Sitehuti and the Sacred Cat Neffi, and I’m looking forward to reading them.
Ancient Egypt is so unlike our own era that it’s easy to lapse into formality and stiffness when writing about it. After all, the art of the time is quite formal and unrealistic, and the religious practices have little in common with ours of the present day. However, Harris makes the setting believable while at the same time letting us know things are different by the judicious use of description. We can feel what life might have been like in the oasis on the banks of the Nile. She has in effect created a conworld based on a historical period of our own planet. The characters speak in a relaxed manner, at times even indulging in a bit of modern slang, but not so much that it seems unnatural. One can imagine that it’s a translation of the jargon used in ancient Egypt.
I particularly liked some of the descriptive metaphors. The cat “sprawled on his back with his legs splayed wide to catch the most sunshine. He looked like he’d been squashed by a sledge.” And again, “I was feeling small, lonely and a little like a solitary clay bead in a big rattle.”
And then the cat – the big, spotted Sacred Cat Nefer-Djenou-Bastet from the Temple of Bast, who adopts our young scribe Sitehuti for no reason anyone can discern. Neffi is a wonderful cat, with special powers of prescience. He made me think a little bit of Santa Claus (maybe just because I was reading this over Christmas!) – you better watch out because Neffi knows if you’ve been bad or good and he will take appropriate action! And yet he behaves like a real cat most of the time, preferring to drink out of a footbath rather than out of his pristine water bowl. Anybody who likes cats will take delight in this tale!
Some readers may be put off by the complex and interrelated names, but that didn’t bother me, since I write conlangs and always enjoy names. I’m sure the author did extensive research and I would have liked to see a glossary included, giving the meanings of the names.
The only thing that disappointed me a little was the end, which just sort of petered out without any punch. I had thought there might be a cliff-hanger in preparation for another book in the series, but that didn’t happen; the story just sort of stopped. However, I’m sure there will be more tales about the young scribe Sitehuti and the Sacred Cat Neffi, and I’m looking forward to reading them.
January 24, 2017
What a wonderful book!
I'm always thrilled to find a new (to me) author that writes so well. There is obviously a lot of modern that would be terribly out of place in ancient Egypt. But it is the first time I have read about Egypt that felt like day to day life, and not seen through the wrong end of a telescope. And the characters are real people, not caricatures. The plot is engaging and the pacing carries you along at a reasonable clip. I look forward to the next installment.
I'm always thrilled to find a new (to me) author that writes so well. There is obviously a lot of modern that would be terribly out of place in ancient Egypt. But it is the first time I have read about Egypt that felt like day to day life, and not seen through the wrong end of a telescope. And the characters are real people, not caricatures. The plot is engaging and the pacing carries you along at a reasonable clip. I look forward to the next installment.
February 24, 2022
Delightful. I think this is the third "mystery" novel I've read about the court plot to kill Ramses II in his old age. It's so well documented that writers of mysteries in this period seem unable to resist it. This has to be the most cheerful and enjoyable of the fictionalizations I've found. If you like cats, don't miss the sacred cat Nefer-Djenou-Bastet. As I said before - delightful.
My favorite Historical Mystery of 2017
Read 3 times
My favorite Historical Mystery of 2017
Read 3 times
April 2, 2017
You can almost see the crowds and taste the dust...
A very well-written book, it keeps your interest to the end! It is filled, carefully fused into the story line, a mass of facts about life in ancient Egypt
A very well-written book, it keeps your interest to the end! It is filled, carefully fused into the story line, a mass of facts about life in ancient Egypt
May 2, 2017
Funny & endearing
What a lovely mystery in ancient Egypt. The scribe is innocently going about his life when a cat changes everything..
What a lovely mystery in ancient Egypt. The scribe is innocently going about his life when a cat changes everything..
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews