Blog Tour: Hani’s Daughter Mysteries series by N.L. Holmes

Book Extract: Flowers of Evil by N.L. Holmes

Published April 22, 2025 | By Laura

It’s a pleasure to be welcoming N.L Holmes to Novel Kicks as we shine a light her Hani’s Daughter Mysteries Series.

No Pyramids, Just Crimes Worth Solving

While most historical fiction about ancient Egypt fixates on pharaohs and pyramids, N.L. Holmes takes a refreshingly intimate approach: small neighborhoods, family entanglements, and the everyday tensions that lead to murder. Her four-book series follows Neferet and Bener-ib — medical women turned reluctant detectives — as they navigate deadly mysteries within the working-class community of Thebes.

Each installment, from Flowers of Evil to The Melody of Evil, presents a different crime, a new emotional layer, and evolving relationships. Holmes’s deep archaeological knowledge makes every page ring with authenticity — and the fact that these stories center queer women in the Bronze Age? Even better.

The books in the series include Flowers of Evil, Web of Evil, Wheel of Evil and Melody of Evil.

N.L. Holmes has shared an extract from Flowers of Evil, book one from the series. We hope you enjoy.

*****beginning of extract*****

“Can you do anything?” the woman cried tremulously, clutching at Neferet’s arm.

But Neferet could think of nothing encouraging to say. Her insides had that hollow, leaden feeling that meant the worst was about to happen.

“There’s no point in stitching up the outside,” she said gently. “He’s lost a lot of blood, and they’ve chopped him up pretty seriously inside. As the medical books say, ‘This is not a case I will treat.’”

The woman understood and began to whimper. She reached out a hand to touch her husband’s shoulder but then drew back as if she’d just discovered it was someone else. A gloomy silence fell over the group, broken only by the increasingly weak huff of the patient’s breath. His lips moved feebly, and Bener-ib leaned over his face.

“I think you’d better stand with him, mistress,” Neferet said. “His soul is ready to fly. He might have something to say to you.”

The woman drew closer fearfully. “Sen-em-iah, my brother, I’m here.”