Who killed the fabulously beautiful Queen Nefertit? With vivid detail and an uncanny sense of time and place, Lynda S. Robinson's series of acclaimed historic mysteries breathes life into the forgotten enigmas and lost splendours of King Tut's Egypt. Now Tut's elegant and ruthless advisor, Lord Meren, returns in his fifth adventure: a spellbinding quest for the truth about Queen Nefertiti, fallen prey to the unknown . . . 

DRINKER OF BLOOD

For all her bejewelled beauty and warm wisdom, and despite all her dreams for glorious Egypt, beloved Nefertiti is dead. Lord Meren not only suspects homicide, but is certain the culprit must be a personage of high power at court.
   Shrewd Meren knows that the pharaoh has more than his share of burdens ruling a kingdom in turmoil; he does not need the spectre of royal murder added to the load. And so the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh, as the powerful Meren is called, elects to pursue his investigation of Nefertiti's death under the dark cloak of secrecy.
   From the start, the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh is rendered blind and deaf at every turn. When he wants to question the queen's cook, she disappears. When he seeks the steward, the man is conveniently killed. But with the help of his keen-witted son and a fearless Greek pirate, as well as some purloined papyri, progress is made.
   As court mysteries mount, Meren's agitated behaviour spurs the king's distrust. Worse yet, the beleaguered councillor is suddenly beset with scandal and calamity at every turn.
   Accused of treason, seduction, and attempted regicide, Meren must ferret out the unscrupulous villain who plots his downfall. Snared in a venomous trap, he will parry and thrust, flee and fight. At chariot's wheel and gilded throne, at dagger's edge and bowman's site, he will battle for honour and retribution. Most of all, he will not cease until he discovers the identity of the drinker of blood. . .the person who murdered Nefertiti.