Brad Geagley

This is a historical mystery set in Egypt at the time of Ramses III. Features a pretty classic gumshoe character, the ladies like him and he's a troubled yet standup guy, determined to get to the bottom of the murder of a minor priestess though powerful forces around him don't seem to want that.Some problematic bits about strong women, and the detective's apparent alcoholism. Not sure if I'm on board with the author's treatment of both. But the interesting Egyptian historical aspects and the fast moving storyline mean I'll probably check out the second in the series.… (lisätietoja)

True to the advice of his editor quoted in the acknowledgements ("Mystery, Brad, not history"), Geagley does a marvelous job of weaving historical detail into "Year of the Hyenas," transporting the reader into ancient Egypt without bogging down the story with irrelevant details. His main protagonist, Semerket, has depth and challenges that make his progression as a character interesting to follow. Most of the other characters were also interesting, both internally and in how they related to Semerket. A few fell short--the boy Rami, for example, had much more potential than was realized. The narrator began trying to convince us that Hunro was important to Semerket a little too late to ring true.

My interest in Semerket's personal life outweighed my interest in the mystery he was solving, so the story began to fall flat for me about 3/4 of the way through, when the focus shifted to the conspiracy. The plot is ostensibly based in historical fact, but at this point Geagley seemed to be stretching to incorporate the true story into the fiction. Also, my interest in deciphering which secondary characters are culpable and which have good intentions requires a certain balance of "good guys" to "bad guys" that tipped too far, too fast. I kept reading, mostly to find out what would happen between Semerket and his ex-wife, and his brother. Then again, I'm not much of a mystery reader--maybe someone who thrives on plot twists and turns would breathe a sigh of relief at finally getting to the good part.… (lisätietoja)