Review of Drinker of Blood (Lord Meren Mysteries)

This book should be where the Lord Meren series takes off, because this is where he starts getting very close to finding out who killed Nefertiti. The murder mystery of Nefertiti has been an underlying plot weaving through all the books, percolating in the background during Meren's various other investigations. The young pharaoh Tutankhamen is especially driven to figure out what happened to her, as she was like a mother to him. The emotional stakes are high, the suspense has been building through the whole series... so why does this book seem so darn pallid compared to its predecessors? It just isn't engaging at all. The writing itself seems about twice as formulaic as usual and certain things are repeated more than they need to be. Could have been much better.