Location pictures from Farouk’s Fancies

I am taking a trip down memory lane, looking at treasured photographs of my travels in Egypt, since it’s not currently possible to visit for real due to the global pandemic. Many of the fabulous places to see in Egypt have formed the backdrop location for key scenes in my fiction series following Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt. Merry is good at getting herself into scrapes. She’s also good at unlocking secrets from ancient Egypt’s mysterious past. Set in the present-day, I think of my books as ancient mysteries wrapped up in modern adventure stories.

Book 4 in the series, Farouk’s Fancies, moves the action on from where we left Merry at the end of Book 3. She is now living onboard a dahabeeyah. These are traditional Nile sailboats, pioneered by Thomas Cook when he first started taking paying tourists to see the splendors along the Nile. He took the basic design from prototypes carved onto the tomb and temple walls in Egypt. Smaller and more intimate than the modern cruise boats, they are able to visit more sites along both banks of The Nile, offering an alternative for discerning travellers.

Dahabeeyah on The Nile

Much of the action in Farouk’s Fancies taken place in the wonderful Winter Palace Hotel. Dating from the 1880s, this is where the Earl of Carnarvon stayed while he and Howard Carter were searching the Valley of the Kings for Tutankhamun’s Tomb. I don’t imagine much has changed in the public areas since their day. I imagine they could walk into the Lobby through the big wooden revolving door and still recognize it and feel very much at home.

Merry attends a lecture held in the huge Victorian Lounge, given by an author who is setting out his theories about how Pharaonic Egypt links to the Old Testament of The Bible.

Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Victorian Lounge, Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

There is a mystery attached to an illusive old lady who lives in a suite of rooms at The Winter Palace, leading off one of the lofty corridors.

Corridor, The Winter Palace Hotel

When a visitor to Luxor goes missing, Merry and her companions meet in the beautiful grounds of The Winter Palace hoping he might put in an appearance.

Gardens, Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Gardens and pool, Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Gardens, Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

One of the key scenes in the book takes place in The Western Valley, a remote branch of the famous Valley of the Kings. Merry is good at marching in where angels would fear to tread, and this is no exception! There are a few royal tombs in the Western Valley, including that of Pharaoh Ay, who came to the throne after the death of Tutankhamun.

The Western Valley

The action shifts back to The Winter Palace hotel, where Merry inadvertently spends a rather uncomfortable afternoon outside on a window ledge, from where she has to be rescued.

View from The Winter palace Hotel

The Lobby of The Winter palace Hotel, Luxor

The Grand Staircase in the Lobby of The Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Corridor in The Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

The Lobby of The Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

Finally back on board the dahabeeyah, Merry realists she has all the pieces to wrap up this latest puzzle. I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at my Egyptian photo album, and that you might consider reading my books, all available on Amazon. If so, I suggest you start with Book 1, Carter’s Conundrums.

Fiona Deal, Author of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt, fiction books all available on Amazon. To join Merry on her adventures please click on each picture for the link.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Carter's Conundrums

Cover of Carter’s Conundrums. Book 1 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Tutankhamun’s Triumph.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Tutankhamun’s Triumph. Book 2 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Hatshepsut’s Hideaway.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Hatshepsut’s Hideaway. Book 3 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Farouk’s Fancies.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Farouk’s Fancies. Book 4 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Akhenaten’s Alibi.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Akhenaten’s Alibi. Book 5 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Seti’s Secret.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Seti’s Secret. Book 6 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Belzoni’s Bequest.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Belzoni’s Bequest. Book 7 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Nefertari’s Narrative.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Nefertari’s Narrative. Book 8 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

An image of the cover of the Fiona Deal book, Ramses’ Riches.

The cover of the Fiona Deal book, Ramses’ Riches. Book 9 in the series, Meredith Pink’s adventures in Egypt.

Location, location, location

If you, like me, are longing for a return of the days when we can travel without restriction, to venture off someplace hot, to learn about a different culture and see amazing sights, you might perhaps be dreaming (as I am) of a trip to Egypt. Here in the UK, Egypt is currently on the red list, so no-go. To console myself, I’ve been looking at photos from past trips (of which there have been many: Egypt is my favorite place on the planet).

In my series of action-adventure-mystery novels following Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt, the drama unfolds in and around some of the most iconic sites along the Nile.

So, I thought I’d combine a trip down memory lane with a few pictures of some of the key locations I used in the first book in my (now 10 book) series Carter’s Conundrums.

Howard Carter’s House

The story starts with my female protagonist, Merry, on a post-redundancy holiday to Luxor, getting accidentally locked in the Howard Carter House. This, where the famous British excavator lived while searching for and ultimately finding Tutankhamun’s Tomb. Now it is a museum. Sadly, many of the contents are not Carter originals, but it still gives an insight into what it might have felt like to call the place “home”.

My story starts with Merry trying to escape through the window shown in the picture below.

Howard Carter’s study – Carter’s Conundrums

Lucky for Merry, she is rescued without having to spend the whole night trapped in there. But not before she has made a chance discovery. It sets her off on a weird sort of treasure hunt to de-code a set of hieroglyphics and see where they may lead her.

While on her post-redundancy trip, Merry is staying at the Jolie Ville hotel. Set on King’s Island, a private island in The Nile, connected to the mainland by a short bridge, it is a beautiful botanical oasis in dust-strewn Luxor. I have had the pleasure of staying there, and can attest to the beautiful gardens, fabulous pools, comfortable rooms, great food and attentive service. It also has a small zoo. Oh, and Ramses the camel !

The Jolie Ville hotel

Ramses the camel

The Jolie Ville hotel, Luxor

Things for Merry are about to get interesting. After a chance meeting in front of the perfectly preserved statue of Thutmosis III in the Luxor Museum, Merry runs into “thwarted Egyptologist” Adam Tennyson on the forecourt of Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple. Here, she finds the original wall relief showing Queen Ahmes, Hatshepsut’s mother, shown here…

Statue of Thutmosis III, Luxor Museum

Queen Ahmes, wall relief at Hatshepsut’s Temple

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

The first stop on Merry’s whirlwind treasure hunt is the magnificent Karnak Temple. The largest religious structure ever built, dedicated to the Theban God Amun, it sits opposite Hatshepsut’s Temple on the other side of The Nile.

Next, to help her unravel the mystery she has stumbled across, Merry travels to Cairo. There, she ends up staying in one of its most iconic hotels, The Mena House, once a Khedive hunting lodge. This historic hotel is one of Egypt’s finest (named for Egypt’s first pharaoh). It sits – literally – in the shadows of the Giza pyramid plateau. Surely one of the best locations on earth !

While in Cairo, Merry visits the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, site of the Stepped Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser, built by his architect, Imhotep. Here, Merry has a breakthrough. It’s a fabulous place, full of atmosphere. The Stepped Pyramid is Egypt’s first, the prototype for he Giza pyramids, and pre-dates them all.

Stepped Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara

Once Merry is back in Luxor, she visits the iconic Winter Palace Hotel. This, where Earl Carnarvon stayed while Howard Carter was excavating King Tut’s Tomb, and where Carter made the thrilling announcement of the tomb’s discovery. This is possibly my favourite place in Egypt. I don’t imagine too much has changed since the days of Carter and Carnarvon.

The Lobby of The Winter palace Hotel, Luxor

The Grand Staircase in the Lobby of The Winter Palace Hotel, Luxor

And her first adventure, of course, has to take in the mesmerizing Valley of the Kings. This natural wadi is dominated by the pyramid-shaped mountain of Meret-Seger (she who loves silence) which looms over it. The question is, is there still anything left here to discover? And might Merry be the one to find it ?

Valley of the Kings

I hope you’ve enjoyed this whistle-stop tour of some of the fabulous sites in the Land of the Pharaohs, and that you might consider reading the books to find out more…