Genre: Historical mystery Year of publication: 1996 No. in series: 5 Series detective: Gordianus the Finder Type of investigator: Private detective Setting & time: Rome, 52 B.C. Story: A rabble-rousing Roman politician is killed on the Via Appia highway, a day's journey from Rome, causing widespread rioting in the city. The dead man’s wife sends for Gordianus the Finder to hire him to discover what happened, but eventually he sets out along the Via Appia at the behest of another client. With a lot of digging and patient questioning he finds out what happened, but meanwhile trouble is brewing in his own household… Review: This is an interesting 1st century B.C. detective story and political thriller that reads in parts like a modern police procedural. Saylor’s writing is rich in detail and historical information, the plotting is layered and the narrative gripping, and the characters come alive on the page. Saylor is very good at drawing up an image of what Rome and the sur...
Bookish expressions of a Bibliophile living in Reykjavík