Redstonesf 11, p.1
A Taste of Evil, page 1
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The Melody of Evil
Copyright © 2025 by N. L. Holmes
Hani’s Daughter MysteriesTM 2022
All rights reserved.
Quotes from Instructions of Any and Love Songs from Ancient Egyptian Literature by Miriam Lichtheim,
University of California Press (1976).
Cover art and map© by Streetlight Graphics.
Author photo© by Kipp Baker.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
A Taste of Evil (Hani's Daughter Mysteries, #5)
Glossary
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
PROLOGUE
Dedicated to my cousin Bonnie, who is why I started writing. Love you, Cuzzy Lou.
Historical Notes
Our story takes place in the second regnal year of Tut-ankh-amen, about 1334 BCE. Although we know what the Egyptians ate (for the most part), we don’t know how they prepared it. But considering that theirs was an ancient and cosmopolitan culture, we can surmise that their cuisine was sophisticated.
The Egyptians, like all ancient societies, believed in magic. The ritual of the “stopping curse”, although fictional, is based on the idea of the execration curse, which really existed and was performed even by the government itself against enemies of the state. This consisted of writing a curse on a ceramic bowl and smashing the bowl to activate the spell. The object I call a wick torch appears in many wall paintings. It appears to be a large, braided wax candle.
Historically, Naharin’s approach to Egypt is true, although they never actually change allegiance.
Characters
(* indicates a real historical figure)
Ah-mose, known as Cook: one of the servants of Lord Hani.
Amen-nakhte: childhood friend of Ptah-mes and breeder of mastiffs.
Ay*: grandfather of the young king and vizier of the Lower Kingdom, he all but rules the country.
Baket-iset: Neferet’s oldest sister, confined to bed since a boat accident many years ago.
Baki and Tiry: the youngest of the six orphans adopted by Neferet and Bener-ib.
Bener-ib: the woman of Neferet’s heart and her fellow physician.
Bin-addi: servant of Lord Hani, a native of Kharu.
Brute: a mastiff.
Djefat-nebty: a sunet and wife of the vizier Pentju. The former teacher of Neferet and Bener-ib.
Hani*: commissioner of foreign affairs in the north and Neferet’s father.
Har-em-heb*: generalissimo of the infantry and Hani’s family friend.
Hu-may: thirteen-year-old orphan adopted by Neferet and Bener-ib.
Hut-ia: former kitchen girl of Lord Ptah-mes in Azzati.
In-hapy: Maya’s mother, a goldsmith, to whom Hu-may is apprenticed like his late father.
Int-ef: Lord Pentju’s head cook and husband of Ah-mose.
Iuty: Hani’s gatekeeper.
Ka-sa: the guard at Neferet’s dispensary.
Maya: Hani’s secretary and son-in-law, husband of Sati.
Menna: family friend of Hani and commandant of the infantry.
Mery-ra*: Neferet’s grandfather.
Milk-addi: a eunuch originating from Kebni (Byblos), who is now a diplomat of Qidshu.
Mut-tuy: fourteen-year-old orphan adopted and apprenticed by Neferet and Bener-ib.
Neb-ma’at-ra Amen-hotep (III): former king, the father of the Heretic (Akh-en-aten).
Neb-ma-ra: sweets cook of the vizier Pentju.
Neferet: Hani’s 25-year-old daughter, a sunet.
Nefer-khepru-ra Wa-en-ra Akh-en-aten*: the “heretic pharaoh” and father of Tut-ankh-amen.
Nub-nefer: Neferet’s mother, a temple chantress.
Pentju*: a sunu and vizier of the Upper Kingdom.
Ptah-mes, formally called Maya*: Neferet’s husband, Master of the Double House of Silver and Gold.
Qen and Shu-roy: eight-year-old orphans adopted by Neferet and Bener-ib.
Sat-hut-haru known as Sati: Neferet’s next-oldest sister, wife of Maya.
Sen-nedjem: Lord Ptah-mes’s steward.
Sit-anuket: a scullion in Lord Pentju’s kitchen.
Sutarna: prince and emissary of the king of Qidshu.
Tupkish: the king of Naharin’s brother-in-law.
User-het: a cook for Lord Pentju and husband of Hut-ia.
Wenet: an old herbalist and caster of spells.
Glossary
akh: the soul of the blessed dead, with all its parts restored.
Amen-Ra, the Hidden One: in the New Kingdom, when a Theban dynasty comes to the throne, the local creation god Amen is merged with the sun god Ra to form a new national divinity.
Azzati: Gaza, the city from which the Egyptians rule their northern vassal states in the Levant.
Double House of Silver and Gold: the department of the treasury, although most of the kingdom’s wealth is held in commodities.
Field of Reeds: the location of the afterlife of blessed souls.
Hapy: the sexually ambiguous god/dess of the Nile flood.
iteru: a unit of distance, approximately a mile.
Kemet: “the Black Land” is what the Egyptians called their own country because of the rich alluvial soil deposited annually by the Nile.
Kharu: generic term for the area of the Egyptian-ruled Levant covered today by inland Syria.
Kheta Land: the Hittite Empire, centered in what is now Turkey.
Khonsu: the Theban moon god, son of Amen-Ra and Mut.
ma’at: the concept of truth, order, and justice. With a capital M, the goddess who personifies it.
medjay: a tribe of Nubian archers and hence the city police, of which they compose a part.
Men-nefer (Memphis): capital of the Lower Kingdom and main seat of Tut-ankh-amen’s government.
Mut: consort of Amen-Ra, queen and mother of the gods.
Naharin: a powerful kingdom in inland Syria that once rivaled Egypt and Kheta, but which has lost much of its prominence by the time of our story.
Nut: the goddess of the sky.
Qidshu: Kadesh, a city-state in inland Syria held as a vassal by the Hittites.
Osir: Osiris, divine king of the dead. All dead persons are thought to become Osir and hence may be referred to as an Osir.
Sau: Saïs, a town in the Nile Delta where there is a temple of the goddess Sekhmet and a medical school.
sunu (m.), sunet (f.): scientific practitioner of medicine.
Ta-nehesy: Nubia, today’s Sudan.
Upper Kingdom: Egypt is historically divided into two kingdoms. The Upper Kingdom (that is, upstream on the Nile, which flows south to north) is also the Southern Kingdom.
Waset: “City of the Scepter,” Thebes, capital of the Upper Kingdom.
CHAPTER 1
Neferet, Bener-ib, and their apprentice physician, Mut-tuy, arrived at the home of Neferet’s parents to join them for dinner, as they frequently did, Brute the mastiff padding in at their side. Neferet always found comfort in leaving the chilly elegance of her husband’s household for the cozy disarray of the parental home where she and her four brothers and sisters had passed the happiest of childhoods.
“Ladies,” Papa greeted them warmly, a smile stretching his square-jowled face, as they entered the salon. “How is the healing business these days? Staying busy?”
“It’s fine. Too fine. Far too many people sick or injured.” Neferet slipped onto the stool that faced her father at his little table. “How is it we ever complained about not having enough patients?”
The woman of her heart and her fellow doctor, Bener-ib, dragged up two more stools and took a seat facing Neferet’s grandfather. “Fortunately, there was nothing too serious today, Lord Hani.”
“Anything new around here? Do things seem boring since we ended the crime ring that was terrorizing the city?” As she cited their accomplishment with a casual air, Neferet grinned at her father, who had played a role in their adventure only half a year earlier.
“Listen to the girl,” said Grandfather, shaking his head with mock seriousness. “Just saving people’s lives every day is no longer exciting enough for her. Now she has to risk her own life and brave criminals to feel any thrill.”
“No, Grandfather. I was talking about Papa.”
Of course, her grandfather knew very well what she’d meant, and she knew that he knew. They all laughed.
“That was so dangerous. Thanks be to all the Great Ones that you weren’t injured,” her sister Baket-iset said from her couch next to Papa.
Baket had been left paralyzed from an injury many years ago—and it hadn’t been an accident. For the first time, Neferet wondered if that incident had been what made her so determined to solve crimes and see their perpetrators punished. It had certainly been the germ of her interest in medicine.
“Where’s Mama?” Neferet asked. “Surely she’s not still at the temple. They don’t have liturgies at night, do they? Why else would the chantresses be needed?”
Papa and Grandfather gave each other a meaningful look.
“She’s in the kitchen,” said Papa. “Making our dinner.”
Neferet hooted in surprise. “Why is she making it? Where’s Cook?”
“She didn’t come in today. Her husband just died,” Papa said in a lower voice as if Cook might be listening.
The three young women made noises of sorrow. “We should go pay our respects,” Neferet said.
“We all did earlier today,” said Grandfather. “She’s been with us a long time. She’s practically like one of the family. Your father is helping them with the funeral too.”
“That’s very nice, Papa. Maybe Mama would like some help herself.” Neferet rose and started toward the door.
“Maybe yes and maybe no,” Papa said with a chuckle. “She chased me out of the kitchen a little while go.”
“Yes, but we’re going to help. Come on, people.”
Bener-ib and Mut-tuy popped up and trailed her into the kitchen, a kind of nook under an overhanging reed shelter that covered half the small interior court. Mama was squatting beside the hearth, a wooden spoon lifted to her mouth, tasting something in a big pot as they entered. Her hair was curling sweatily across her brow, but otherwise, she seemed to be mistress of the situation.
“Girls!” she cried. “Taste this and see what it needs.”
They each took a sip from the spoon. Neferet decided the lentils and pork were perfect— shiny with fat and perfumed by onions and garlic—and no one disagreed. “Papa told us about Cook’s husband. That’s such a shame.”
“Did he tell you Int-ef was poisoned?” Mama asked, rising to her feet. “Cook and her family think it was murder.”
Neferet stopped suddenly as if a goose had nipped her. “Murder, did you say?” Behind her mother, she saw Mut-tuy’s eyes grow round.
“Yes, my dearest. And Cook is obviously hoping you ladies and Hani will find out who did it.” Mama wrapped a towel around the pot and lifted it from its tripod over the fire. “Open the door for me, will you, Bener-ib, dear?” She sailed through the open doorway and into the salon, holding the pot out before her, the three young sunets trailing after like acolytes.
“That smells sumptuous, my dove.” Papa sniffed the steam rising from the pot as his wife set it down on the table. “I think you could give Cook lessons.”
“No, no. She’s excellent at what she does. I do have a few family tricks, though. My grandmother knew a lot about the kitchen.”
Neferet suspected Mama’s blue-blooded grandmother had never cooked a stew in her life, no matter how many tricks she knew. But neither had Mama, yet she was perfectly capable of supervising any procedure, from skinning game to confecting delicious dishes. She often said it was all a matter of common sense.
They scrambled back to their seats and waited until the mistress of the house had ladled out the lentils. “It’s simple, but it should do until Cook is back on the job,” said Mama, satisfied with her handiwork.
“No excuses needed, my girl,” Grandfather said after a sip from his bowl. “You’re ready for the royal kitchen.”
Mama laughed, pleased, then jumped up again. “Oh, the bread...”
But Bener-ib, whose reaction time was instantaneous when it came to being of service, was already on her way back outside. “I’ll bring it, Lady Nub-nefer.”
“So, tell us about this murder, Papa Duck.” Neferet stared at her father, excitement crackling in her fingertips.
“I know less about it than your mother, but apparently, when Cook came in this morning to request the day off, she said that her husband—who’s also a cook—had been poisoned, and although everybody acted like it was a self-inflicted accident, her family believes someone did him in. Do I have that all correct, my love?”
“Why does she think it was murder?” Neferet asked, more and more interested.
“He suddenly became very sick and felt like his mouth and throat and stomach were on fire. Then it progressed to other symptoms I won’t describe at the dinner table. The next day, he was gone.” Mama reached out to Bener-ib, who proffered the big round loaf she had brought from the kitchen. “Thank you, dear one.”
“That does sound like poisoning of some sort. Isn’t it possible he poisoned himself by accident? He was a cook, after all. Maybe he collected the wrong herb.” Neferet tore off a chunk of bread and passed the loaf to her father.
Mama lifted her shoulders in a graceful shrug. “I’m sure it’s possible and maybe likely, but Cook doesn’t think so.”
“Did her husband have any enemies? Rivals?” asked Bener-ib.
“I don’t know any more than that, my love. Perhaps you should talk to Cook and get more details from her.”
Papa nodded, his mouth full.
But Neferet said, “The three of us will go this evening to pay our respects, and then we’ll see what else Cook can tell us.”
“I can’t believe I’m actually encouraging you to get involved in another murder case,” said Mama, “but Cook will be so grateful. She’s still talking about how you solved the murder of her sister’s employer.”
“The florist,” Mut-tuy murmured, her face lighting up. That had been the first of their cases, and Cook’s sister had provided an important witness.
They chattered about many things as they ate, and by the time they finished, the long orange rays of autumn sun through the high windows were fluttery with the shadows of trees.
As she finally pushed back her plate of discarded fig stems, Neferet said brightly, “Well, troops, let’s be off. Where does Cook live, Mama?”
“Hers is one of those small houses attached to our garden wall on the eastern side. Papa can go and show you where—all right, Hani?”
“Of course, my dove.” He rose, still eating a fig, and escorted the three young doctors to the doorway. “We shouldn’t be too long.”
It only took a few minutes to reach the modest home, part of a wasp’s nest of mudbrick dwellings that had been patched onto the outside of the walls over the years to accommodate the people attached to the great houses around them. The gate stood open, and keening could be heard from within. Lit lamps revealed a crowd of friends and family come to commiserate with the Osir’s widow. Cook sat on the beaten-earth floor, surrounded by her adult children, their faces tear streaked and dusty. Her big breasts sagged at the unhitched top of her shift, and she clawed at her cheeks from time to time, although the short-cut nails didn’t do much damage. Her swimming eyes brightened at the sight of her employer and the young women.
“Lord Hani! Lady Neferet! Thank you for coming. These here are my children.”
The gaggle of youngish men and women all nodded respectfully. They were large, substantial people, like their mother.
“The girls wanted to bring you their profoundest condolences,” said Papa in his deep, comforting voice.
“Cook, Mama told us that your husband may have been poisoned.” Neferet spoke under her breath, careful to not let the other guests milling in the tiny salon hear her.
Cook’s eyes grew wide and glittered uneasily. She cast a surreptitious glance over her shoulder. “That’s what the children thought, little mistress, but the great folks at the house where he worked don’t want to hear it. They think he just put somethin’ bad into the date paste by mistake. They threw the whole potful out after I told ’em what happened. Maybe they’re right after all. They probably are.”
Ammit take it, thought Neferet in disappointment. We might have found whatever the poison was in the paste if they hadn’t thrown it out.
“Do you mind if we step somewhere more private for a minute? I’d like to ask you some questions. Get a better sense of what happened,” she said, laying a hand of solidarity on Cook’s shoulder.
The woman hauled herself to her feet while her children stared at her. She explained loudly, “Lady Neferet’s gonna help us, like she did Auntie’s master. Keep greetin’ the visitors, loves.”
