pickOne of the astronomers helping Julius Caesar with his reform of the Roman calendar is found murdered. Caesar takes this personally and orders Decius Caecilius Metellus to investigate.
Liberal use of famous names as red herrings made this, the last book in the series, even more fun. I accidentally skipped the penultimate volume so I still have that to look forward to as well as some short stories.
pickWhen a priest's daughter is murdered in the luxury resort of Baiae, local opinion fixes on the son of a Numidian slave trader as the culprit. Decius Caecilius Metellus thinks the young man is innocent but he only has a couple of days before the trial, which is certain to find him guilty.
As usual great twisty fun much enhanced by Metellus's comments on the action as asides in the narration.
It was a good year for me, even if it was a bad one for Rome.
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@ShyBookOwl
pickDecius Caecilius Metellus the Younger is campaigning for an election he is almost certainly expected to win when he is accused of corruption and extortion during his time on Cyprus. The next day his accuser is found murdered and since Metellus is the obvious suspect he needs to clear his name before the election.
An interesting if rather complex plot line but Metellus's narrative voice is not as humorous as in the earlier volumes.
"ROME AT ELECTION TIME! CAN THERE be any prospect more pleasant?"
@ShyBookOwl
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pickDecius Caecilius Metellus the Younger is sent to Cyprus in 50 BC to look into rumours of a resurgent pirate problem. But who is backing the pirates? The governor? An exiled Roman general? Cleopatra, daughter of the King of Egypt?
The murder and the solution are rather cursorily dealt with, which doesn't really matter since the wheeling & dealing, discussions about piracy, the frankincense trade, etc. were far more interesting and justify a pick.
"LET ME SAY AT THE OUTSET THAT CLEOpatra was not beautiful."
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@ShyBookOwl
📚 I don't read that much historical fiction, but I've enjoyed the few I have read.
📚 I have enjoyed John Maddox Robert's SPRQ mystery series, set in Ancient Rome.
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pick51/150 The first book in this series was a straight up murder mystery, and this one starts the same, then morphs into a bigger conspiracy to overthrow the Roman Republic. Anyone who knows their Roman history should find the weaving of factual characters and events with the fictitious very entertaining. 3 ⭐⭐⭐💫
3rd book for #AwesomeApril @Andrew65
