Who isn’t fascinated by the world of the Ancient Egyptians? As a child, I pored over photos of mummies and pyramids in the Time-Life Books, captivated by the mystery surrounding them.

Wilbur Smith’s latest historical thriller, The House of Two Pharaohs, takes us into the world of secret spells, murder, political intrigue, and the race against time to save Taita, the eunuch we first met and fell in love with in The River God, and whose fortunes we’ve followed through subsequent novels.

In this novel, Smith transports us through time to the reign of Ramses. Taita is teamed up again with Piay, now the Nomarch of Memphis. Together, they investigate a series of ritualistic murders that are associated with Anubis, the god of death, and it soon becomes evident that there is some kind of link between the murders and a conspiracy to overthrow the rule of the current Pharaoh. 

Although there are graphic fighting scenes—of which I’m not a great fan—there are also some beautiful lyrical images that make me stop and savour the magic of the author’s writing. Although Wilbur Smith passed away in 2021, his team of co-authors, in this case, Mark Chadbourn, have continued his legacy using the notes he left behind.

If you love historical crime filled with intrigue and larger-than-life characters, you’ll enjoy this latest instalment in the Egypt series—but you’ll have to read it to find out if Taita lives to fight another fight.