Reviews

“The central mystery (Bird in a Snare) contains abundant twists, which lead to a satisfying and surprising conclusion. A fine mystery tale that explores the relatable troubles of a conflicted investigator.”

--Kirkus Reviews

“Hani and Maya are instantly likable protagonists, and there are enough twists, turns, and court intrigues to satisfy all lovers of historical mysteries. Holmes’ writing is simultaneously colorful and informative, blending vivid depictions of Hani’s surroundings with subtle cultural histories presented mostly without judgment. Readers will find it hard to put down this tale of ancient intrigue.”

--Publishers Weekly Booklife Review

“This suspenseful (Bird in a Snare) and illuminating mystery concludes with a surprising twist, leaving readers wanting more from Hani and his misadventures. An archeologist by training, Holmes uses evocative language and seamlessly weaves in minute details about Egyptian social hierarchies, religious beliefs, family dynamics, material culture and politics. Readers will find themselves illuminated by their stay in this heady — if treacherous — realm.”

--Book Trib

“This book is part of a series, but it can be read as a standalone. Its action is set during a contentious time in Egyptian history, when changes in regime and state religion led to widespread unemployment, disrepair, and disaffection. Abandoned houses stand where important priests and vassals once lived, and angry people use the slightest provocation as an excuse to take out their frustrations on others. This is a perfect setting for a mystery series. … The Crocodile Makes No Sound is a slow-burning historical mystery set in the beautiful, dangerous world of ancient Egypt.”

--Foreword Clarion Reviews

“The author’s use of avian imagery throughout (Bird in a Snare) creates a subtle symbolic thread that inserts an additional layer to an already multi-tapestried read. … This is a highly compelling start to what could be a wildly successful mystery series.”

--BlueInk Review

“I am thoroughly impressed!.. With completely relatable characters and one of the most genuine familial relationship I have seen, Bird in a Snare is sure to draw the reader into Lord Hani’s world as he battles within himself, with his family, and with his king. 5 stars!

--Online Book Club

“A beautifully crafted historical novel from an author with a genuine flair for originality and the kind of narrative storytelling style that is inherently absorbing and captures the reader's complete attention from first page to last, "The Queen's Dog" by N. L. Holmes (the third volume in the author's simply outstanding Empire at Twilight series) is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Historical Fiction collections.”

--Midwest Book Reviews, Small Press Book Watch

“The Lightning Horse is an action-packed, exciting opener for the Empire at Twilight series. Holmes reimagines the historical figures and legacies from the Hittite Empire to create an adventurous novel that reader of all ages will enjoy.”

--Book Review Directory

“Another stellar volume in the Lord Hani Mysteries collection… Having been wowed by the sensual and immersive introduction to ancient Egypt from book one, it was wonderful to step back into Hani’s world…. I would highly recommend The Crocodile Makes No Sound for fans of Lord Hani who want to fall into these amazing political thriller mysteries of the ancient world. 5 stars.”

--Readers’ Favorite Official Review

“ A satisfying mystery in a vividly realized historical setting. (The Crocodile Makes no Sound)”

--Kirkus Reviews

“Nothing short of a towering masterwork of historical fiction, The Queen’s Dog is the third installment of Holmes’ Empire at Twilight saga, a series of standalone novels set in and around the Hittite empire in the 13th century BCE. It chronicles the story of Naheshi, a lowly eunuch slave who becomes entangled in a conspiracy that could cost him his life—and ignite a war between Late Bronze Age kingdoms.

Sold into slavery by Assyrian parents at a young age and castrated by his new owner, Naheshi is now living in Ugarit, a small but wealthy nation whose relationship to the Hittite Empire is that of a vassal: “semi-independent but owing their imperial overlords obedience, trade privileges, and military assistance.” Working as the young queen’s chamberlain, the now 38-year old eunuch is pulled into his queen’s dangerous machinations.

The queen, Taddu, is the beautiful daughter of the king of Amurru and married to the Ugarit king Ammishtamru. She’s not only having an affair with her husband’s younger brother, but she’s plotting with him to overthrow her husband and radically change the kingdom’s foreign policy. When Ammishtamru’s mother, the dowager queen, enlists Naheshi to spy on Taddu, whom she suspects of treachery, Naheshi is forced to make difficult decisions that could impact the peace and prosperity of the entire region.

While no novel is flawless, this one comes close. It offers deeply developed characters, a meticulously researched and vividly described setting, a complex plot, and relentless pacing that keeps readers turning pages. Simply put, this is a supremely gratifying reading experience.

Anyone who has had the opportunity to read Holmes’ Lord Hani mystery series or her Empire at Twilight saga will agree: Holmes should be a household name in historical fiction circles.

Hopefully, she won’t remain a secret for much longer; these novels are precious literary gems.”

--Blue Ink Reviews

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 is 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 is 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.

-- Kirkus Reviews Starred Review

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.

--Kirkus Reviews