"The Strange Case of the Pharaoh’s Heart" By Timothy Miller: Review/Giveaway

Review by Terrance McArthur

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

Sherlock Holmes meets the Curse of King Tut. Have I got you yet?

In The Strange Case of the Pharaoh’s Heart, Timothy Miller blends the supposed life of The Great Detective with the life of his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In Doyle’s later life, he became obsessed with spiritualism and seances. In Miller’s version of Holmes’ world, Holmes has become a champion of mediums, causing Dr. Watson to end their friendship . . . until . . . the daughter of the late Lord Carnarvon, part of the group that opened King Tut’s tomb, asks Watson to help Holmes unravel the Curse of Tutankhamen (said to have killed her father). This surprises him, but another surprise joins the group—Mrs. Estelle Roberts, a psychic medium.

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Image Source Seventh Street Books

As the trio travels from London to Dover to Calais to Monaco to Cairo to Luxor, Watson is skeptical of Roberts, convinced she is a playacting fraud. Roberts, on the other hand, is getting visitations and messages from spirits and entities that are exhausting and unsettling.

Well-known figures of the period—and characters of the Holmes stories—pop in and out of the story. Howard Carter, discoverer/excavator of the tomb, is gruff and exasperated. A fabled veteran of the desert campaigns of WWI flies in and out, a mysterious character of many identities. Sherlock’s long-dead mother makes her presence felt, and the evil that was Moriarty draws the story back to the Reichenbach Falls, where his last battle was fought . . . and where his spirit remains.

Watson and Mrs. Roberts trade off chapters as viewpoint characters. The good doctor doesn’t believe in all this spiritualism nonsense, while Estelle vividly experiences the paranormal every day. Dr. Watson has a style you’ll recognize from Sir Arthur’s works, while Miller imbues Mrs. Roberts with a pluck borne of not being believed when she converses with the Native American who is her contact in the spirit realm, or when her body is taken over by ghosts with messages for the living.

Miller has written other adventures for Sherlock fans. The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle involves the manipulations of Henry Higgins and the question of Who’s That Lady? The Strange Case of the Dutch Painter questions the supposed suicide of Vincent Van Gogh amid a background of art forgery.

The Strange Case of the Pharaoh’s Heart is a paranormal romp with Holmes and Watson, and a time warp to the well-researched 1920s, from glittering haunts of the rich to the tombs of the Valley of the Kings.

Beware! The game’s afoot!

To enter to win a copy of The Strange Case of the Pharaoh’s Heart , simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "heart,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen June 29, 2024. US residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. If entering via comment please include your email address so we can contact you. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section in Kings River Life and in our mystery category here on KRL News & Reviews. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. And check out our new mystery podcast which features mystery short stories and first chapters read by local actors! A new episode goes up next week.

You can click here to purchase this book on Amazon.

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is newly retired as a Librarian in Fresno County, California. He is also a storyteller, puppeteer, magician, and maker of pine needle baskets. On top of that he writes stories that range from rhymed children's tales to splatterpunk horror. He's an odd bird, but he's nice to have around.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.