The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King by James Patterson and Martin Durgard

Okay, first, I might have enjoyed this book more if I hadn’t already known the history.  The lack of any kind of suspense made this a rather boring read.  Just interesting enough to keep me turning the pages.  Not to mention that after reading Michelle Moran’s Nefertiti a couple of years ago, Patterson’s piecing together of the evidence seemed more than a little strange.

One thing that irritated me about this book was names.  During the Amarna Period, Tut’s name was Tutankhaten, not Tutankhamun.  Same with the queen.  After the removal from Amarna, the -aten at the end of her name was changed to -amun.

Also, there is a remark made or a thought of Ankhesenaten about her sisters marrying foreigners.  Huh?  No daughter of Pharoah during the New Kingdom would have married a foreigner.  The Hittites and the Mitanni proposed such matches, but they were rebuffed.

And what happened to Meritaten?  The daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten who was Smenkhare’s consort.  She is never mentioned.

For those of you who are interested in what happened from the point of view of the Hittites, here is a translation of a document known as the Deeds of Suppiluliuma.  You have to scroll down to the Seventh Tablet.

If you are unfamiliar with the history of the end of 18th Dynasty, you may find this a more interesting read than I did.

Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars