Book description
ROMAN BLOOD A thrilling puzzle from the ancient world with real
historical characters and based on a case in Cicero's Orations - Roman
Blood is a perfect blend of mystery and history by a brilliant
storyteller. On an unseasonably warm spring morning in 80BC, Gordianus
the Finder is summoned to the house of Cicero, a young advocate and
orator preparing his first important case. His client is Umbrian
landowner, Sextus Roscius, accused of the unforgivable: the murder of
his own father. Gordianus agrees to investigate the crime - in a
society fire with deceit, betrayl and conspiracy, where neither
citizen nor slave can be trusted to speak the truth. But even
Gordianus is not prepared for the spectacularly dangerous fireworks
that attend the resolution of this ugly, delicate case... HOUSE OF THE
VESTALS Wonderfully entertaining mystery stories set in the world of
the acclaimed ROMA SUB ROSA series. It is the Rome of the Late
Republic, and Gordianus the Finder has a knack for finding trouble -
and dead bodies. Known to many as the one man in the ancient world who
can both keep a secret and uncover one, Gordianus lays bare some of
his most intriguing adventures in this new volume in Steven Saylor's
highly acclaimed mystery series. In 'Little Caesar and the Pirates',
Gordianus must act as a go-between for kidnappers, but he begins to
wonder who is really being held hostage; in 'The Alexandrian Cat', a
mischievous girl and a tell-tale sneeze reveal an ingenious plot of
murder and thievery; and in 'The House of the Vestals', blackmail goes
horribly wrong and there is no one to take the blame. The result is an
engrossing collection of finely wrought mystery tales with all the
suspense and craft that are the trademark of Saylor's work. A
GLADIATOR DIES ONLY ONCE Gordianus the Finder, famed detective of
Ancient Rome, returns in a riveting of stories. Nine tales of murder
and intrigue take him from the seamy streets of Rome to elegant villas
on the Bay of Naples, from the spectacular backdrop of a chariot race
to a domestic dispute with his Egyptian concubine Bethesda. In the
title story a beautiful Nubian actress begs Gordianus to solve an
impossible problem: how can she have just seen her beloved brother in
the market place when she had previously watched him die a gruesome
death as a gladiator? ARMS OF NEMESIS South of Rome on the Gulf of
Puteoli stands the splendid villa of Marcus Crassus, Rome's wealthiest
citizen. When the estate overseer is murdered, Crasus concludes that
the deed was done by two missing slaves, who have probably run off to
join the Spartacus Slave Revolt. Unless they are found within five
days, Crassus vows to massacre his remaining ninety-nine slaves. To
Gordianus the Finder falls the fateful task of resolving this riddle
from Hades. In a house filled with secrets, the truth is slow to
emerge and Gordianus realizes that the labyrinthine path he has chosen
just may lead to his own destruction.
