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?
As in The House of the Vestals (1997), Saylor's previous collection featuring Gordianus the Finder, these nine carefully researched stories cover the early phase of the ancient Roman sleuth's career, affording fans the chance to witness the growth of some important personal and political relationships, including Gordianus's connection with the legendary orator Cicero. Though Saylor's novels in this acclaimed series allow him more scope to describe settings and develop his secret Roman history, he still manages, especially in the book's highlights, "The Cherries of Lucullus" and "The White Fawn," to suspend disbelief and make all his characters feel real. Some story mysteries prove to have a noncriminal resolution, but the twisty fair-play plotting that marks Saylor's best novels (Catilina's Riddle; A Murder on the Appian Way; etc.) is very much in evidence, especially in "Archimedes's Tomb" and "Death by Eros." A partial chronology and historical notes round out this excellent volume.
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Starred Review Gordianus the Finder, one of several toga-clad sleuths in the mystery genre, operates by way of giving advice to the likes of consuls and senators in the final decades of the Roman Republic. Gordianus has picked apart political intrigues, murders, and money scams against a rich background of ancient Rome, including the Spartacus slave revolt, the siege of Massilia, and the love triangle of Caesar, Antony, and Cleopatra. All this action has taken place in the eight novels of the Roma Sub Rosa series and in a single collection of short stories. This is the second collection of stories, containing nine gems from Gordianus' early career. The nine stories all present intriguing puzzles, but, more impressive, they shine a revealing light on daily life in ancient Rome (e.g., the Romans' love of a fish-pickle paste called garnum, how they bet at chariot races, and how they use handkerchiefs to signal that a gladiator should live). In "The Consul's Wife," an item in the society section of the Daily Acts, the Roman newspaper, leaves Decimus Brutus convinced he is about to be murdered at the Circus Maximus. In "Something Fishy in Pompeii," Gordianus investigates the theft of his client's famed garnum recipe from a neighboring manufactory on the slopes of Etna. The title story centers on an excruciatingly vivid depiction of three gladiatorial contests that Gordianus attends with a squeamish Cicero following a funeral outside Rome. The stories are admirably varied--some are extensive mysteries; others offer short, sharp slices of life. All are marvelous reads in themselves and marvelous reflections of ancient Rome. Connie Fletcher
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