Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Death of an Eye
Author: Dana Stabenow
Published: 2018
Length: 254 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

For three centuries, the House of Ptolemy has governed the Kingdom of Egypt. Cleopatra – seventh of her name – rules from Alexandria, that beacon of commerce and learning that stands between the burning sands of the desert and the dark waters of the Middle Sea.

But her realm is beset by ethnic rivalries, aristocratic feuds and courtly intrigues. Not only that, she must contend with the insatiable appetite of Julius Caesar who needs Egyptian grain and Egyptian gold to further his ambitions. The world is watching the young Queen, waiting for a misstep…

And now her most trusted servant – her Eye – has been murdered and a vast shipment of newly minted coin stolen. Cleopatra cannot afford for the coins to go unrecovered or the murderers unpunished, so she asks childhood friend, Tetisheri Nebenteru, to retrace the dead Eye’s footsteps.

Tetisheri will find herself plunged into the shadowy heart of Alexandria. As she sifts her way through a tangle of lies and deceit, she will discover that nothing can be taken at face value, that she can’t trust anyone – perhaps even the Queen herself.

How and when I got it:

I bought this book when it was released this past December.

Why I want to read it:

First things first — I bought this book specifically because of the author, Dana Stabenow, who is the author of the magnificent, captivating Kate Shugak series (which I’ve raved about endlessly on this blog; here, for example).

Of course, the Kate books are set in modern-day Alaska and Death of an Eye is set in Cleopatra’s Egypt, so yeah, pretty different. Still, I absolutely trust this author to tell a great story, and I have always been fascinated by Cleopatra. The plot itself sounds like lots of fun, and certainly isn’t your run-of-the-mill historical fiction subject. I’m excited to finally read this (soon, I swear!)… and for anyone interested, the paperback edition is coming out this fall. And PS, as of the moment I’m writing this, the Kindle version is on sale for $0.99! Here’s the link, just to make it easy.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!

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• Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
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