Download Flesh of the God (Mystery of Ancient Egypt) fb2

Gold was called the flesh of the gods in ancient Egypt, and someone has figured out a way to cheat the "unbeatable" system. Lt. Bak was a charioteer in the service of Queen Hatshepsut, but made the mistake of raiding the wrong pleasure house. The queen has him exiled to be a policeman in a border town, far from the capital. His commander is found dead, with his young beautiful widow covered in blood and standing over him. A clear case? Bak doesn't think so.

After reading a series of historical murder-mystery novels detailing what happened after Lt. Bak, a charioteer in the ancient Egyptian army, is demoted and exiled beyond the border to Buhen (in the desert of the Nile Valley, near the Second Cataract), we finally get to learn why he was demoted, and how he began his career as police chief. Bak, the "detective," is larger than before, in this recently-published but first-written book in the series: he falls in love, he resents his exile, he makes mistakes, he has a harder time judging his fellows, and he has some doubts about how much in control of matters he is. He is also smaller: his supposedly promising service in the Regiment of Amon turns out to have been all war games, his "crime" turns out to have been a minor episode of upsetting elite Egyptians' small applecarts rather than the major run-in over military policy or the failure of nerve on the battlefield (or even joining the inner circle of the young Thutmose III as he plots against his aunt, Hatshepsut) that I thought was hinted at in the other volumes.
The series' virtues continue. Lauren Haney's intricate plotting remains fascinating. She creates even-tempered, accurate (and since we know little, spare) descriptions of the features of life for ancient Egyptians and their southern neighbors in the heady times of Egypt's greatest Queen and her pushed-aside young nephew. In this book we learn about the gold mines which brought great wealth to the ruling family. We also continue to see how everyday people dressed, constructed their houses (and, somewhat, their daily lives), ate, played. Haney's for me strange refusal to depict that ancient lifestyle as harsh on the lowly and poor, as relatively full of hateful and dangerous intrigue among the powerful, as very stratified (the life of Egypt seems pretty democratic and well-off for most, especially as contrasted with that of the Hittites) continues to mark her work.
Some of this description, though unremarked upon by Haney, is startling and pleasing: the absence of money, the isolation of Egyptian civilization and its people from attack because of the enveloping desert and the consequent harmony and seeming lack of change it bred in everyday life, the absence of racism, the rotation of regular folk through the offices of the priesthood, the easy acceptance of sexual relations outside marriage. Other parts are not: there are a few remarks linking the Egyptian concept of the "ka" with modern notions of a soul which I found grating and intruded, for example, and Bak in love seems astoundingly like a modern 20-something cooing and idealizing. Haney's characterization has always been thin, and it is no different in this book. The superiority and resentment which the Egyptian conquerors must have felt towards the "natives" of this southern land--and vice versa--is briefly dealt with, but since it disappears entirely from the rest of the series it seems only an element of plot rather than the permanent fixture of Egyptian life it must have been. Haney is not strong on social upset and conflict.
It is interesting to watch Bak grow as a sleuth, and as a leader of his squad of "natives" sent to police a sleepy Egyptian colonial outpost. Haney continues to write plain, pleasant, fascinating (if not very sophisticated) mysteries.

I would have given 5 stars but I found the plot a bit hard to follow as it was much too convoluted. However I enjoyed the great writing and descriptions of Egypt. The author is very talented and I wish she would write a novel with a woman as the main character. That would be awesome. I will be purchasing more of her books for sure.

I've read Lauren Haneys entire Lieutenant Bak series at least three times. These books never lose their appeal for me. The characters become like well known friends after the first read, so I keep coming back for more. I have the whole series on Kindle as I somehow lost the hard copies during a move.

It's a good summer read. I like to change things up sometimes and reading fiction set 3000 years ago fits that well!

I found Flesh of the Gods fascinating novel for both the accurate, detailed description of everyday life in ancient Egypt, presented in a way that was unvarnished by modern attitudes; and for being an engrossing tale of mystery. I look forward to reading all of Ms. Haney's novels.

Loved it.

A must read, great series.