Cbr14bingo Font The main character is an Egyptian scribe turned investigator
The Eloquent Scribe is the first book in a mystery series set in ancient Egypt and features a pair of unlikely investigators — Sitehuti the junior scribe and Nefer-Djenou-Bastet (aka Neffi), the sacred cat of the Temple of Bastet in capital city Pi-Ramesses. While the “mystery” in this novel is pretty straight forward and not terribly hard to solve for the reader, the charm of the story is in the characters and the potential for future stories. T. Lee Harris introduces us to the various classes, political intrigues, religious beliefs, and everyday jobs of Egyptians in the capital as well as other cities and small towns. There is a good deal of humor in the story thanks especially to Neffi, who terrorizes most of the people who meet him, earning him the nickname “Demon cat.”
Sitehuti is one of the oldest students of his Master scribe, and so one morning, when the Master has fallen and hurt himself, he sends Sitehuti to the Temple of Bastet in his place in order to do scribe work for the High Priest Pedibastet. Sitehuti is surprised and somewhat terrorized at the prospect of writing for such an eminent man. What he quickly figures out is that his Master faked his accident so that he wouldn’t have to deal with Neffi, the sacred cat who has the run of the temple and is not afraid to use his claws on just about everyone except Pedibastet. To the surprise of everyone, Neffi immediately takes a liking to Sitehuti, going so far as to follow the scribe home to the crowded inner city apartment he shares with his aunt and cousins. Pedibastet takes this as a sign of divine favor, and when his servant Huya is found nearly pummeled to death the next morning and his lector priest Paseti missing, he turns to Sitehuti for help in investigating. Pedibastet is not just the high priest of the temple but also the son-in-law of the Pharaoh and brother-in-law of Crown Prince Merenptah. Merenptah and Pedibastet reveal to Sitehuti that they have reason to believe Huya was attacked because of a scroll he carried with information about a possible assassination being planned by enemies of the crown. Sitehuti feels he is in over his head, but with Neffi as his sidekick and “muscle”, he begins to investigate the attack at the temple as well as a string of related crimes, including murder.
Neffi and Sitehuti make a great team. Sitehuti is well aware of his limitations but also shows great sense and resourcefulness. Neffi is a star. Everyone knows who he is and the ladies just love him. Neffi has a knack for finding treats and for sniffing out clues during the investigation. More importantly he is an excellent judge of character and does not hold back when he feels the people he cares about are threatened. Neffi is a bad ass.
This novel is full of interesting information about daily life in ancient Egypt. We learn about Sitehuti’s background as a native of West Thebes, which is known for its craftsmen and artisans. He hasn’t seen his family in 10 years since he became an apprentice to the master scribe in the capital. Harris shows us the variety of people living in the big cities, including Nubians, Hittites and Assyrians, plus the inner workings of the Royal family, the military and the various security forces surrounding the crown. There are also some great side characters who will most likely play a role in future stories, including the princess Iaret and Banufre, the son of a prosperous farming family as well as Djedmose, the Nubian captain of the Crown Prince’s security force. This series promised to be quite entertaining and would be a good choice for anyone interested in Egypt, mysteries and bad cats.