In this novel, which dramatizes the era of the Hittite Empire in the 13th century, a new monarch struggles to maintain his pious morality as others scheme for power.

Prince Tashmi-sharrumma becomes king after his father, Hattushili, dies after a protracted illness; henceforth, the new leader will be known as Tudhaliya, the fourth of his name. He’s haunted by doubts about the legitimacy of his ascension to the throne; his father was a usurper whose “sins had been many,” and who’d caused division among his subjects. Tudhaliya believes that his principal duty as the king is to embody the ideal of virtue, and, in doing so, to please the gods: the “ideal of justice had fired him since childhood. The gods blessed the clement, the just. An ugly man might be made beautiful by the practice of justice. And clemency was its bride.” Whenever his kingdom suffers bad fortune, whether it’s a loss of a battle or a plague, he wonders if it’s a sign of divine disfavor. However, his moral rectitude turns out to be a disadvantage in a morally murky world; he’s surrounded by people he can’t trust, including several brothers who’d like to take his place—a precarious situation that author Holmes portrays in a sensitive manner. The new king’s wife, Ellat-gula, is extremely ambitious, and his mother, Puduhepa, is a woman of tremendous power and cunning who undermines his authority. The author depicts, with great dramatic power and subtlety, the immense loneliness of the king, who comes to feel alienated from his own power and idealism. His solitude is particularly agonizing after he has a falling-out with his cousin and best friend, Kurunta, with whom he has a complex relationship that the author develops with impressive delicacy. Holmes’ command of the relevant historical context is extraordinary, and she fills in gaps of scholarly knowledge—as relatively little is known about the real-life protagonist—with literary inventiveness and plausibility.

A historically rigorous and captivating tale of royalty.

A Bronze Age Syrian kingdom is a hub for seedy politics and outright murder in Holmes’ historical novel.

It’s 1213 B.C.E., and Ehli-nikkalu is the eldest daughter of the emperor of Hatti Land (modern Turkey). The 35-year-old woman is suffering as the queen of the maritime kingdom of Ugarit (modern Latakia, Syria): The king resents her, as she’s borne no children, and he soon becomes physically abusive. When Ehli-nikkalu discovers evidence that her spouse plans to betray Hatti Land, she sends an urgent message to her father, only for someone to kill the courier; now she’s wary of what the king, or his equally deplorable dowager queen mother, may know. Ehli-nikkalu takes in the late courier’s children—teenage Amaya and her siblings, 8-year-old fraternal twins—mostly out of concern for their safety. Amaya becomes Ehli-nikkalu’s ally, as do the kingdom’s chief scribe, Ili-milku; and Amaya’s uncle, Teshamanu. Ehli-nikkalu needs people on her side, as her husband and mother-in-law are not above using kidnapping and murder to get what they want. Holmes puts this cast of characters through many difficult circumstances, including blackmail, torture, and conflict with an especially tenacious pretender to the throne. Ehli-nikkalu is an easy protagonist to admire, as she shows considerable strength despite wielding little political power. She’s also a sensitive soul, taking the blame for Amaya’s father’s death and harm that comes to an ally. Taut prose moves the plot briskly forward, whether it’s recounting a shocking demise, a tragic backstory, or moments of romance. Surprising turns abound, as when Ehli-nikkalu doesn’t get the support she anticipated, or a natural disaster rattles the kingdom. Throughout, the author packs the narrative with place and character names, often forgoing context at first; however, nearly every chapter ends with helpful notes that offer elaboration.

A detailed and engaging thriller set in ancient times.

An ancient Egyptian sleuth investigates murder and, worse, tomb robbery in this colorful period mystery.

It’s 1343 B.C.E., and Egyptian diplomat Amen-hotep, aka Lord Hani, gets the delicate assignment from his boss, Ptah-Mes, and the vizier, Aper-el himself, to investigate a series of robberies of noblemen’s tombs in his hometown of Waset. The robberies are rumored to involve a Mitannian foreigner with diplomatic immunity. These are heinous crimes warranting impalement, since the theft of the tombs’ foodstuffs, exquisite jewelry, and luxurious furniture has left the victims with nothing to eat, wear, or sit on in the afterlife. Complicating the case are the victims’ sketchy religious politics: They were all, like Hani, skeptics of King Akhenaten’s overthrow of Egypt’s polytheistic pantheon and establishment of the monotheistic worship of the sun god Aten. Further complicating matters are an outbreak of plague and the intrusions of the brutal police chief Mahu, an enemy of Hani’s who keeps showing up with his retinue of thugs and his snarling attack-baboon to interfere with the probe. Helping out Hani are his dwarf scribe and son-in-law, Maya, who wants to work the case into an adventure story; his jovial dad, Mery-ra; his good-hearted, ne’er-do-well brother, Pipi; and his teenage daughter, Neferet, an apprentice physician at the king’s harem who handles the investigation’s toxicology. (She IDs one poison by mixing it with honey and feeding it to ants.) Amid epic voyages up and down the Nile, Hani unearths hidden murders and pursues a tangle of leads that could implicate the tomb artists, claimants for the Mitannian throne, renegade priests of the old gods, the Egyptian army, or the king’s father-in-law. But before he can unravel the knot, another untimely death ends his official backing and exposes him to dangerous retaliation.

In this latest installment of her Lord Hani series, Holmes, an archaeologist, embroiders a detailed, atmospheric portrait of ancient Egyptian civilization, mores, and high fashion—perfumed wax cones affixed to one’s wig are de rigueur at dinner parties—embedded in a warm, naturalistic depiction of Hani’s life with his wife, Nub-nefer, and family. There’s plenty of exotic pageantry in the novel: “Hani thought of Nub-nefer marching along, singing hymns and shaking her sistrum rhythmically, her face alight with fervor…his brother-in-law, Amen-em-hut, in his starred leopard skin and jeweled sporran, proudly bearing the ram-headed standard of the god as the glittering procession passed from the Great Southern Temple back to the Ipet-isut”—but humble domestic scenes are just as vivid. (“Nub-nefer was standing with her hands on her hips and her skirts tucked up while two naked servants carved the bloody carcass, packed it in salt, and prepared to hang strips on lines for smoking. The reek of blood and offal was horrific.”) Holmes renders this seemingly archaic society with subtlety and realism, rendering characters’ psychologies with sharp-eyed nuance. (Ptah-mes, a cool ironist who edges into depression, is especially magnetic.) Her deft prose skillfully conveys the Egyptian worldview—“How will the murderer keep a straight face at the Weighing of Hearts when he has to say, ‘I have not sinned in the Place of Truth; I have not caused tears; I have not killed; I haven’t taken milk from the mouths of children?’...He’s damned for sure, whoever he is”—while infusing it with noirish corruption and menace. (“I hear you have nice horses, Ptah-mes. Maybe we’ll have to slit them open to see if Talpu-sharri is hiding inside.”) The result is a captivating mix of old-fashioned lore and modern suspense.

An entertaining whodunit set in a richly textured panorama of the pharaonic world.

In this historical mystery set in ancient Egypt, a career diplomat searches for his missing brother-in-law while also investigating a case of royal blackmail.

Hani is back in Holmes’ second book (Bird in a Snare, 2020) in the Lord Hani mystery series. The protagonist is a former diplomat with serious reservations about King Akhenaten’s rule. Policy disagreements have prompted him to leave active service in the diplomatic corps since he’s unable to enforce a foreign policy he doesn’t respect. But the bigger issue is religion; King Akhenaten traded observing polytheistic traditions for worshipping a sun god, “dazzling Aten, the Visible One.” The new religion makes it an uneasy time in the changing kingdom, as does a recently founded, unstable capital city, which still has “a look of rawness.” “Everything was dust and gravel except for the whitewashed splendor of the temples and palaces,” Hani observes cynically. Despite Hani’s displeasure with the new regime, he tries to keep himself and his family in the government’s good graces. Hani’s brother-in-law, Amen-em-hut, a prophet of Amen-Ra, is not as diplomatic. After openly complaining about Akhenaten’s heresy and suggesting he be assassinated, he’s gone missing. Drawing on his contacts in the capital, Hani begins his search for him, but he’s soon asked to help with another problem. Kiya, the king’s wife and a friend of Hani’s, is being blackmailed for having an affair with an artisan sculptor. As if things weren’t chaotic enough, Hani agrees to host Aziru—a newly added vassal—and his entourage as a favor to the king. A crowded house becomes more crowded. “When was the last time anything normal happened in our kingdom?” Hani asks Maya, his faithful scribe and constant companion.

The novel meticulously constructs its historical setting. The cast is equally intricate, comprising a lively circle of Hani’s family, friends, and acquaintances. The major plot threads are Hani’s investigations, but the novel also juggles several satisfying minor arcs, including Maya’s marriage to Hani’s daughter Sat-hut-haru and Hani’s youngest daughter’s interest in medicine. Holmes captures the pressures and anxieties of regime change, religious allegiances, and political jockeying, but the author never loses sight of the drama, joy, and pain within Hani’s household. Holmes expertly develops the cast and setting; for example, in a scene that vividly reunites Hani and Kiya, Hani notices that “her big almond eyes looked twice as enormous edged with kohl. She wore a short Nubian-style wig, angled below the ears to become even shorter in back.” He goes on: “It was the latest style, and it had never looked better than upon this glittering young princess.” The danger of such a carefully researched subject is that the material can capsize the plot, but Holmes ably inserts historical exposition into his storytelling. Occasionally, the Byzantine network of characters makes it difficult to connect with minor figures, but an overstuffed cast makes for more suspects and opportunities for sequels.

A satisfying mystery in a vividly realized historical setting.

In this historical mystery, a murder tests an Egyptian diplomat’s loyalties—to his family, those he serves, and allies he’s made throughout his career.

In the 1300s B.C.E., Abdi-ashirta is a leader in multiple territories that border the Egyptian empire, and his presence there has maintained a fragile peace. His mysterious murder creates regional instability, mistrust, and no shortage of work for diplomat Hani and his scribe, Maya, who are tasked with the investigation. Together, the pair travel extensively to question implicated parties only to uncover deeper scandals, lies, and a distinct unwillingness to incriminate others. A collection of suspects emerges along the way: Aziru, Abdi-ashirta’s son, ascends to power because of his father’s murder; Commissioner Yanakh-amu and Lord Yapakh-addi both have political and monetary motivations to eliminate Abdi-ashirta, but they also have alibis. Complicating matters further is the death of the king of Egypt and his replacement by his son, Akh-en-aten, who immediately begins imposing significant cultural reforms and casting aside long-held alliances; he also has a possible motive for ordering Abdi-ashirta’s murder. Still, Hani’s steadfast loyalty to his family, to his work, and to the kingdom are his constants—until the new reforms put his family at risk. Meanwhile, his eldest son and heir becomes enchanted with Hani’s rival, who works for the new king. Hani’s growing internal struggle is a recurring theme throughout the novel, which is precisely what makes him useful as a diplomat; Holmes succinctly describes his mindset: “You make the mistake of actually caring about the people you deal with.” The author’s background as an archaeologist results in vivid descriptions of the ancient settings, customs, and characters, and he provides a helpful glossary of terms for readers unfamiliar with the setting. He also includes a character list, which is necessary, as the story introduces new players at a sometimes-dizzying pace. The book could have also benefited from more descriptions of the threats that the new king’s cultural reforms pose to his citizens. However, the central mystery contains abundant twists, which lead to a satisfying and surprising conclusion.

A fine mystery tale that explores the relatable troubles of a conflicted investigator.