King Tut

In the second volume of his Egyptian trilogy, Nick Drake is in a groove when it comes to his narrative, material, and protagonist.  In Tutankhamun: The Book of Shadows, Drake gives us another adventure and complex mystery that the determined Medjay detective, Rahotep endeavors to solve.  At the end of his first volume, Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead, we are briefly introduced to two of the main characters in this story- Tutankhamun and his queen and half sister, Ankhesenamun.
In the previous text, Ankhesenamun is a young girl who is one of several sisters who is upset over the disappearance of their mother, Nefertiti.  However, in that story she is not even the most prominent of the sisters.  Tutankhamun is introduced in one of the last scenes of the book, though as the son of the King Akhenaten, he is then known as Tutankhaten.  What makes the dynamic intriguing at the opening of this narrative is the fact that as a dynastic couple, Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun represent two strands of the royal family.  He is the son of Ankhaten and she is the daughter of Nefertiti. So while they are a couple, they are much more companions and survivors then a typical romantic couple.  Of course, given that it was much more common to arrange marriages for dynastic purposes then for love, this arrangement is not surprising.
Drake brings back most of the characters from the first book, but adds a few too.  Rahotep now has a son, Amenmose, and his three daughters, Sekhmet, Thuyu, and Nedjmet.  His assistant from the last book, Khety, has been brought back by Rahotep to Thebes, where he serves Rahotep still.  Drake adds a new character, Nebamun, who is the Head of the Thebes Medjay.  Drake adds this petty and heartless bureaucrat as a nice foil for Rahotep.  Drake indicates that this position as Head of the city Medjay was something that Rahotep could have earned, however, Rahotep claims that he would not want such a boring desk job.  Nevertheless, by adding Nebamun, Drake provides another obstacle that Rahotep must navigate in pursuit of his latest mystery.
The book begins with Rahotep being summoned to the scene of a gruesome murder.  Before he can really have an opportunity to investigate this crime, there is an incident during a public ceremony involving the young royal couple.  Rahotep is discouraged from investigating the cause of this public act of rebellion by his supervisor Nebamun.  The real action of the novel begins when Rahotep returns home late after this public disturbance to encounter an official from the Royal Household who asks Rahotep to accompany him to meet someone who he cannot name.  Rahotep agrees and eventually finds himself in the company of Ankhesenamun, the Queen and daughter of Nefertiti.
In this second installment, I sense a confidence in his writing and in the handling of Rahotep that I did not sense in the initial novel.  Drake seems to me to have figured out who Rahotep is and how he is going to act and respond in various situations.  I had the nagging feeling in the first novel that Drake didn't quite know what a Theban detective would sound like or how to portray him in his surroundings.  Drake has allowed himself to also expand some of his discussions behind the mere exposition of plot or the rather mundane and formulaic action found in most detective/mystery novels.
During light dinner party banter, Rahotep has the following dialogue: "'Why don't you accompany me one night, and find out?'" I said. 'I could show you the back streets and the shanties where honest but unlucky people survive on the rubbish we throw out without thinking. And I could introduce you to some very successful career criminals, experts in viciousness and cruelty, who trade in humans as a commodity. Many of them have fine offices in the city, and beautiful wives and children set up in lovely homes in the comfort of the new suburbs. They throw lavish dinners. They invest in property. But their riches are made in blood. I can show you the reality of this city, if that is what you are looking for.'"
There is an honesty and credibility to this speech that shows Drake firing on all cylinders in this novel.  Rahotep is asked by Ankhesenamun to help investigate the appearance of some odd objects that are being left around the royal household despite guards and other safety measures.  At the same time, a series of grisly murders are being perpetrated by someone who might be connected to the events in the royal household.  All the while Drake is providing a credible portrait of what life could have been like for a young monarch like Tutankhamun.
At the center of the political action in the novel is the issue of who is the true ruler of Egypt.  Ay, who we met in the previous volume of this series, is still serving as regent and de facto ruler of Egypt.  However, age and bad health are taking their toll on him and Tutankhamun is chafing under his regency.  The young rising general, Horemheb, is asserting himself too since he has already married into the royal family as the husband of the unstable and mysterious Mutnodjmet, the sister of Nefertiti.  A power struggle is playing out with the King and Queen seemingly being more witnesses than actors in this drama.  However, Drake deftly shows that these two young rulers have more ability and bravery than they are given credit for.  Their marriage is often compared, though not necessarily directly, with the marriage of Rahotep and his wife Tanefert.  Drake writes:
It often seems to me that all troubles and all crimes begin with families. . . . And so it is with marriage. We have a good marriage. If I have disappointed Tanefert by my lack of worldly success then she has disguised it well. She says that she did not marry me for my fortune. And then she gives me one of her knowing smiles. But I know there are half-understood things between us that we keep in silence, as if words would somehow make them too painfully real. Perhaps it is so between all couples whose relations have survived for many years; the unnoticed influences of habit, and the perils of domestic tedium. Even the familiarity with each other's bodies, once so obsessively desired, leads to an undeniable hunger for the surprise of a stranger's beauty. The beauty and the contempt of familiarity . . . perhaps that is what I need to escape, when I relish the excitement of my work?"  There is some real understanding of humanity in that passage and it is so elegantly written.
In Tutankhamun: The Book of Shadows, Nick Drake has created a rich and intriguing work of mystery.  He makes excellent use of the historical backdrop of the life and death of King Tutankhamun.   From this historical scaffolding, Drake builds an intricate puzzle that Rahotep works to solve going through secret societies, astronomical phenomena, professional jealousies and disappointments, and the often ultimately unfathomable mysteries of desire, cruelty, and passion.  It was a great read and I would highly recommend it.