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Shop nowCatilina’s Riddle
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Learn moreThe year is 63 BC, and Gordianus the Finder unexpectedly achieves the dream of every Roman: owning a farm in the Etruscan countryside. Vowing to leave behind the corruption of Rome, he abandons the city, taking his family with him. This bucolic life, however, is disrupted by the machinations and murderous plots of two politicians.
When Gordianus' longtime patron Cicero attains his lifelong dream of a coveted consulship, he urgently requests a favor of Gordianus: his help in keeping watch on a radical populist senator, Catilina—Cicero's political rival and a candidate to replace him in the annual elections. Against his will, Gordianus finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of deceit and intrigue, uncertain of the dangers and even more uncertain of where his true allegiance lies. When his six-year-old daughter Diana finds a headless corpse in their stable, Gordianus is confronted with the deadliest mystery of his career.
Shrewdly depicting deadly political maneuverings, this addictive mystery also displays the author's firm grasp of history and human character.
Steven Saylor is an American author. Among his work is a mystery series set in ancient times, the Roma Sub Rosa series. He has written two historical novels about the city of Rome, Roma and Empire.
Scott Harrison is a graduate of the American Repertory Theater Institute in Massachusetts and founder of Ironweed Productions, a theater company in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Reviews
“Engrossing…Ironic and satisfying.”
“Saylor rivals Robert Graves in his knack for making the classical world come alive.”
“Saylor has written another gripping and entertaining historical whodunit…Shrewdly depicting deadly political maneuverings, this addictive mystery also displays the author’s firm grasp of history and human character.”
“Saylor carefully plots this novel and accurately depicts Roman society; his attentive study of Roman history and culture is evident throughout. The characters are believable and well delineated.”
“Saylor has written a sweeping and marvelously evocative story, with page after page of authentic detail and meticulous descriptions of the people, places, and politics of early Rome.”
“Saylor’s fashionably inconclusive reading of the conspiracy throws both antagonists, Cicero and Catilina, into bold relief. The result is a spacious, provocative portrait of a fictional detective confronted with a historical mystery finally beyond his powers.”
“Harrison has an emphatic delivery, appropriate to the emotions of the characters, from the frustrated Gordianus to the raging Cicero. His full-voiced reading includes believable female characters. The novel is recommended to history buffs and fans of the series.”
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