I devoured this mystery. I couldn’t put it down! I loved the characters, the setting, the historical atmosphere, everything! The story kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time! I couldn’t put it down! Can’t wait for the next installment and I hope this becomes a long running series,

I had previously read series mysteries by this author. They took place in Alaska and in the present. This title was a chance for Ms. Stabenow to try something different.

Death of an Eye takes place in ancient Egypt. Many of the characters, as for example, Cleopatra, will be familiar to readers. The times were tumultuous and it was not easy to know whom to trust. It is a major blow for Cleopatra when her trusted Eye is murdered. What happened? Will the case be solved? Read this one to find out. There is a helpful character list to keep readers focused.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I've always been interested in Egyptian culture but felt it was complicated. The book introduces us to a narrative of Cleopatra's childhood friend, Tetisheri. This book was like ready a Brad Taylor spy novel but immersed in the reign of Cleopatra. I highly recommend it to any lovers of historical fiction.

This was an excellent story, good pace, engrossing and full of colour. Particularly liked the description of Alexandria and the lives of Egyptians in the time of the Romans.

This was an excellent mystery set during Queen Cleopatra's reign in Ptolemic Egypt. I liked the characters immediately, and the well written prose drew my in easily until I couldn't put this mystery down. Well done!

I didn't like the book one bit. The world building didnt entice me, the characters didnt either. The author didnt also have a precise writing style that id gush about

Diana Stabenow presents a historical mystery, the Death of an Eye, in 47 BC Alexandria. Cleopatra's chief spy, the Eye Khemit is found murdered and a shipment of new coinage has been stolen from a ship under the authority of Cleopatra. Tetisheri, merchant and childhood friend of Cleopatra, is commissioned to find the coinage and solve the murder of the Eye. Along with Apollodorus, the Queen's bodyguard, Tetisheri has to navigate the corrupt court and society to find the coinage and report whodunit to Cleopatra. An intriguing historical mystery.

I read this book in one day. It's an enjoyable read!
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. Thank you, Netgalley!
All opinions are my own.

Tetisheri is Queen Cleopatra’s childhood friend. When Cleopatra’s most trusted friend is murdered and that a new shipment of minted coins has been stolen, the queen asks Tetisheri to solve the crime and bring the murderer to justice. As Tetisheri begins to investigate the crime, she realizes that there is more to the case than meets the eye. Soon, she starts to doubt everyone near her, including her dearest friend, Cleopatra.

On paper, Tetisheri seems like an interesting character. She is smart, persistent, and strong. However, I could not get into her character. She focuses most of her time being infatuated with her co-worker than on solving the crime. Therefore, it was hard for me to buy her being a hard-working amateur detective that loves to solve mysteries. There was not a build-up in the mystery which made it seemed that she suddenly solved the case out of thin air rather than being led to the solution through a series of clues.

Overall, this is about politics, lies, and corruption. The characters were a bland and was not given much character growth. There was only a little bit of mystery involved and focused more on the romance aspect. The reveal was predictable and not very surprising at all. Still, the story was well-written, and I found the setting to be the most interesting because it involves ancient Egypt. I also liked how Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIV, and Caesar were portrayed in the novel. Thus, I am looking forward to the next novel. I recommend this for fans of The Deadliest Sport, The Ides of April, and Crocodile on the Sandbank.

As much as I claim to enjoy the adventures of one Sherlock Holmes and anything set in the Victorian era, there is another era of time that has had my interest for just as long - that of Ancient Egypt. So when I saw this book listed on Netgalley, I immediately put my name in to request said book.

I am so glad my request was granted and I was able to read this book because I personally enjoyed it from cover to cover.

Set in the ancient city of Alexandria, Death of an Eye follows the young Tetisheri as she attempts to solve a murder on behalf of her queen. The Queen's Eye has been murdered - an average woman who lives and works in the city and is charged with keeping tabs on certain individuals and reporting back to Cleopatra - and a large sum of coins has been stolen. Finding out how the Eye was murdered is simple enough, finding out who would want to murder her and why is another matter.

Stabenow has a masterful grip of the language as she creates the various settings in the novel. From the back streets of Alexandria to the home of Cleopatra herself, Stabenow's writing makes it easy to envision these places. This however is also a drawback because with so much put towards setting the scenes, there is little left for the actual mystery itself.

Names of characters can also be a bit problematic as many of them use nicknames and Stabenow uses the given names and nicknames interchangeably. There were a few times I found myself having to reread a passage just so I could get a better grasp of who was talking.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading Death of an Eye. With Elizabeth Peters' passing, there is precious little fiction dedicated to Egypt and Ancient Egypt in particular. Death of an Eye is a promising start to what I hope is an enjoyable series. Readers who liked Elizabeth Peters' series should definitely check this one out.

I have twice tried to finish this book. But I have to admit that this story isn't for me. I just can't seem to find the book interesting and that is just too bad because I found the idea of a murder mystery set in ancient Egypt fascinating.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Head of Zeus and the author, Dana Stabenow, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Death of an Eye in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
I really enjoyed reading this murder mystery set in the time of Cleopatra. The plot moves at a good pace though I felt that the characters could have been developed more. That aside, it was a good read.
For a fan of historical fiction, this book is worth a go.

I found the overall story intriguing and like that it was a mystery set in Ancient Egypt. It had a good storyline, but I felt some of tbe characters could use development.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I requested this book because I’ve not often seen a murder mystery set in the ancient world. In the end it was an alright read. The story takes place in Alexandria in a time when there was a lot of political turmoil, involving Egypt and Rome. I liked the atmosphere and changes this brought to some of the more usual scenarios in murder mysteries. The world-building and set-up was a bit confusing. Some of the history and what amounts to ‘current affairs’ was explained quite well, but there was also a lot of name-dropping and mentioning of conflicts, wars, revolutions, that meant absolutely nothing to me. I felt like you would need a more than basic understanding of that part of the world in that era to not be thrown by that (especially with that many Ptolemys!). It pulled me out of the story, or made me just completely disregard certain plotlines or motivations. There were some character reveals near the end especially where I wonder if I was supposed to know what they were hinting at, if it was some actually historical versus invented for the story. I couldn’t tell, given that I’m not that well-versed in my ancient history!

I appreciated Sheri as a character, being more experienced in the world and having a past that’s not ignored, which is refreshing, but I would one day like to see a female lead where almost all the male characters she encounters do not want to have their way with her – how did I manage to read two of these in a row? I also felt the development of the romance was way too quick – I had expected it to be a bit of a longer, more drawn out plotline, but it was pretty much settled about a third of the way in. Then it seemed to disappear about halfway through, with our pair investigating together but the tension being gone for a lot of the time.

I was enjoying the mystery until the end of the book, where again certain reveals made it all seem like a waste of time. I’m not entirely sure I would pick up the next book (as I think it will be series), I think it would depend on the nature of the mystery.

a new historical mystery series set in ancient egypt featuring Cleopatra I found the setting interesting but wish it had more character development

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Death of an Eye by Dana Stabenow from NetGalley and Head of Zeus Publishing in order to read and give an honest review.

...an original, quick and entertaining read which I enjoyed...

Fans of Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak’s series set in Alaska will be surprised by her new series Eye of Isis. In her first instalment in this series Death of an Eye seems to be a more cosy mystery than historical fiction. Not quite as gritty as her Shugak series but still quite enjoyable.  

Set in 47 BCE. A pregnant Cleopatra is the ruler of Alexandria when her trusted spy or “Queen’s Eye”, Khemit, is murdered while secretly investigating the theft of a fresh mint of royal coins.  With Julius Caesar away, Cleopatra is vulnerable and needs someone she trusts to help her so she calls upon her most trusted childhood friend Tetisheri (Sheri ) to help her get to the bottom of it. Although a merchant, Sheri has left a horrible marriage and become a partner in her Uncle Neb's importing business. Being well educated, having the ability to speak many languages and having connections allow Shari to obtain the information she requires without seeming suspicious. One of the Cleopatra’s trusted guards, Apollodorus, sets out to help Sheri as she navigates a murder investigation rife with politics, sociopaths and danger.  Sheri becomes a target for Cleopatra’s power hungry and wicked brother Ptolemy, Roman diplomats not pleased with women in power, bloodthirsty pirates and her abusive ex-husband, Hunifer all trying to thwart her every move.  

Although Stabenow’s work is set in ancient Alexandria and has historical elements this novel it is more of a clever fun mystery with a touch of romance and humour. I was expecting a perhaps darker more sinister story but her strong, educated, honourable and feisty characters mixed dangerous devious villains make this an original, quick and entertaining read which I enjoyed.

My thanks to Head of Zeus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Death of an Eye’, the first in the Eye of Isis series set in the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt during the reign of Cleopatra VII.

47BCE Alexandria is a melting pot of different cultures bubbling with ethnic tensions, aristocratic feuds, and courtly intrigue. The young queen rules uneasily and also must deal with Julius Caesar, whose child she carries. When a shipment of newly minted coin goes missing and her Eye is murdered, she turns to her trusted childhood friend, Tetisheri, to find the stolen shipment and uncover the murderer.

The timeless quality of Alexandria is very evident in the rich descriptions and I found the characters very appealing, especially Tetisheri, who like myself is a devotee of Bast. The mystery element was handled well.

While I am not familiar with Dana Stabenow prior to reading this, she has an impressive body of work and clearly has researched the period. After finishing the book I visited her website where she has published a series of posts entitled ‘Why Cleopatra’ that gives background on her writing of this new series.

The novel also quickly passed the ‘god test’ for me; showing respect for the ancient gods and the important place they filled in the daily lives of the majority of people of the time.

The novel had humour and romance. Both in just the right quantity. I was pleased that a character list was provided at the beginning and I certainly made use of it on occasion as an aid to memory. The cover art is quite stunning with such vibrant colours.

I enjoyed reading this novel very much and will be eagerly awaiting the next in the series.

I love historical mystery set in the Ancient Egypt and I liked this one.
It was great how the writer brought back to life ancient Alexandria and how well researched the historical background is.
I found this book entertaining and fun to read, full of interesting and well written characters.
The mystery was good and fun to read, it kept me guessing till the end.
Even if the book is sometimes slow and nothing seems to happen it was an enjoyable read.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Head of Zeus and Netgalley for this ARC

A young woman from ancient Alexandria, Tetisheri works in dealing luxuries and antiques with her merchant uncle. She also happens to be the lifelong friend of Cleopatra, a friend sorely needed in the dangerous world of Roman and Alexandrine politics. When Cleopatra asks Tetisheri to find some newly-minted currency that's gone missing, Tetisheri cannot refuse.

As the "eye" of the queen, Tetisheri teams up with hunky bodyguard Apollodorus to investigate Cleopatra's envious brother Ptolemy and the Roman officials in Julius Caesar's entourage. Her own frightening past resurfaces as she is forced to confront the cruel and disgusting man who used to be her husband. Interrogation, murder, and pirates are the order of the day as the queen's eye searches through Alexandria and beyond to accomplish Cleopatra's bidding.

A detective story set in the ancient world cannot help but lend itself to comparison with Lindsey Davis' Falco books, particularly since Tetisheri is in the auction business with her uncle just as Falco is with his father. In many respects, the comparison is an unfavorable one for Stabenow. While Davis' Falco books steep in history, they also sparkle with wit and create memorable characters that walk off the pages. The Death of an Eye struggled to accomplish all those tasks, and while I did feel generally enriched regarding the history of the period, I struggled to enjoy the characters or to follow all the loose historical threads brought in for the finale. In the end, Cleopatra's machinations, while evidence of her cleverness, ended up making Testisheri's whole quest feel pointless. 

One oddity is that the book was strangely clean and simplistic throughout most of it but had a few jarring episodes of sex and obscene language. With those scenes removed, I think this book would fare well as a young adult novel. 

Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

"Alexandria, 47BCE: Cleopatra shares the throne with her brother Ptolemy under the auspices of Julius Caesar, by whom Cleopatra is heavily pregnant with child. A shipment of new coin meant to reset the shaky Egyptian economy has been stolen, the Queen’s Eye has been murdered and Queen Cleopatra turns to childhood friend Tetisheri to find the missing shipment and bring the murderer to justice."

Egyptian mystery? Can we say yas queen?