Murder at the God's Gate (Lord Meren Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Egypt's enemies are harrying the borders, but the biggest threat to the country and the young king are from within.

A temple priest is found at the bottom of an enormous statue of the pharaoh, he had been working on a platform at the top of the statue. Did he fall or was he pushed. Lord Meren "the eyes and ears of the pharaoh" sends his son Kysen to investigate the matter. Shortly after another priest of higher rank is murdered.

What secret did they know that made them so dangerous they had to be killed?

Meren knows that there is much bitterness and unrest among the most important men who surround the pharaoh. This bitterness reverts back to the pharaoh Akhenaten, whom many regarded as a monster. Is Tutankhamun to be made to pay for the misdeeds of his ancestor.

This book is one of a series written by the author and featuring Lord Meren "the eyes and ears of the pharaoh."

The installation of a new statue of Tutankhamun before the temple of Amun is a political statement as well as a pious one: fully as large as any statue of Amun, demonstrating for all to see that pharaoh as a living god dwarfs any who might serve within, not least Parenefer, high priest of Amun. Tutankhamun, despite his massive royal dignity, is still young, and his councillors are only human: he, Meren, and Horemheb made it their business to personally watch Parenefer's face. :)

But when a very junior priest of Amun is found dead at the statue's feet soon afterward, who is the blow's true target? Unas had learned something, and been silenced before he could report to anyone...but he belonged to Meren's network of spies as well as to the priesthood, and Ebana went out of his way to tell Meren that the priests knew about Unas' divided loyalties. Were the priests threatening the king, or was a traitor within their ranks threatening *them*? Who is the threat and who is the target? (It *could* be as simple as Unas' young wife and the good-looking artisan next door, of course.)

The members of the court have reason to envy and fear Meren, Friend of the King and chief of the king's spy network. Those who suffered under the heretic's rule might hate Meren for bowing to the inevitable, when under torture he gave in to Akhenaten's demand to convert - in fact, Ebana openly blames Meren for not managing to save his family.

Meren, as the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh, has enough problems dealing with the young king's desire to gain battlefield experience. Horemheb, concerned with the army's morale, is all for it; Ay, the vizier, has no stomach for risking a childless king in battle, even if he didn't love the boy for his own sake. They're running out of time; Akhenaten's disastrous disregard of foreign policy cost Egypt the friendly buffer state of Mittani, and the kingdom is headed for a major war with Hatti, with its heavier chariotry and more experienced monarch.