MYSTERIES
SET IN THE
ANCIENT WORLD

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THE DETECTIVE AS HISTORIAN: History & Art in Historical Crime Fiction 25 essays include Terrance Lewis’s “John Maddox Roberts & Steven Saylor: Detecting in the Final Decades of the Roman Republic.”
KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS by Tom Harper Byzantine sleuth Demetrios Askiates follows the First Crusade to Antioch; a sequel to THE MOSAIC OF SHADOWS, set in Constantinople.
CHAMPION OF THE DEAD by Patrick Hatten When Athens’ finest boxer drops dead during a match with the brutish “Bull of Corinth,” his protégé Idas must uncover the identity and motives of the poisoner.

THE ORACLE by Valerio Massimo Manfredi A Mycenaean vase depicting the wanderings of Odysseus is unearthed in modern Greece, setting murder in motion.

THE TRIBUNE by Patrick Larkin Sent to quell a war in Galilee, tribune Lucius Aurelius encounters intrigue and murder in King Herod’s court. “Ambitious and well plotted” (Publishers Weekly)

GET OUT OR DIE by Jane Finnis Britain, 91 A.D.: Are the savage murders at a roadside inn the work of a secret society trying to drive out all Romans? New in the series: A BITTER CHILL, in which a Saturnalia celebration at the inn, at which masters and slaves change roles, results in mistaken identity and murder.
MYSTERIES IN RAVENNA by Albert Noyer The surgeon Getorius Asterius and his wife Arcadia investigate crime in the 5th-century Byzantine empire. In The Secundus Papyrus, the discovery of a document purported to be the Last Will and Testament of Jesus wreaks havoc. The Cybeline Conspiracy spins a tale of smuggling, coded messages, secret tunnels, murder, and the eunuch priests of Cybele. Also by Noyer: The Saint’s Day Deaths.
SPQR IX: The Princess & the Pirates by John Maddox Roberts is the latest whodunnit featuring Decius Caecilius Metellus. Previous titles in the SPQR series, in order: The King’s Gambit, The Catiline Conspiracy, The Sacrilege, Temple of the Muses, Saturnalia, Nobody Loves a Centurion, The Tribune’s Curse, and The River God’s Vengenace. • By the same author: The Seven Hills, a novel of alternate history.
THE LIBERTUS MYSTERIES by Rosemary Rowe The crime-solving exploits of Libertus, a freedman in second-century Glevum (Gloucester), begin in The Germanicus Mosaic and continue in A Pattern of Blood, Murder in the Forum, The Chariots of Calyx, The Legatus Mystery, and The Ghosts of Glevum, Enemies of the Empire, A Roman Ransom, A Coin for the Ferryman, Death at Pompeia’s Wedding and Requiem for a Slave.
THE “I, CLAUDIA” NOVELS by Marilyn Todd recount the crime-solving exploits of Claudia Seferius, bawdy super-bitch, as she wriggles out of hair-raising scrapes and always emerges on top. (Think “Ab Fab” set in ancient Rome!) The series includes Jail Bait, Man Eater, Wolf Whistle, Black Salamander, Dream Boat, Dark Horse, Second Act,and Widow’s Pique. New in the series: Stone Cold.
THE MARCUS CORVINUS MYSTERIES by David Wishart • Patrician sleuth Marcus Corvinus navigates the treacherous political currents of the Augustan court in relentless pursuit of the truth: Nero, Sejanus, The Horse Coin, The Lydian Baker, Old Bones, Last Rites, White Murder, A Vote for Murder, Parthian Shot, Food for Fishes and Illegally Dead.
THE ARISTOTLE MYSTERIES by Margaret Doody Who better to investigate murder in the ancient world than history’s most logical sleuth: Aristotle, master philosopher and tutor of Alexander the Great. Aristotle’s investigations begin in Aristotle Detective and continue in Aristotle and Poetic Justice, Aristotle and the Secrets of Life, and Poison in Athens. New in the series: Mysteries of Eleusis.


THE FALCO SERIES
by Lindsey Davis

Marcus Didius Falco traverses the Roman Empire in the era of Vespasian, solving crimes with great panache. The series, in order:

The Silver PigsShadows in BronzeVenus in CopperThe Iron Hand of MarsPoseidon’s GoldLast Act in PalmyraTime to DepartA Dying Light in CordubaThree Hands in the FountainTwo for the LionsOne Virgin Too ManyOde to a BankerA Body in the Bath HouseThe Jupiter Myth The AccusersScandal Takes a HolidaySee Delphi and DieSaturnaliaAlexandria

Also available: Falco on His Metal, a 1000-page omnibus containing three of the earlier novels (Venus in Copper, The Iron Hand of Mars & Poseidon’s Gold), and Davis’s non-Falco historical novel, The Course of Honour, about the emperor Vespasian and his mistress, Antonia Caenis, a freed slave.



DOG-HEADED DEATH by Ray Faraday Nelson A murder in Alexandria calls for clever sleuthing by centurion Gaius Hesperian of the emperor Nero’s palace guards.

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF EGYPTIAN WHODUNNITS ed. by Mike Ashley 500 pages of puzzlers by Elizabeth Peters, Lynda Robinson, Lauren Haney, Paul Doherty, Michael Pearce & many more.

THE ATHENIAN MURDERS by Jose Carlos Somoza A text recounting murder at Plato’s Academy plays tricks with a translator’s mind. CWA Gold Dagger winner. THE EYE OF CYBELE by Daniel Chavarria Edgar-winner Chavarria ventures to the age of Pericles with a novel that’s equal parts whodunnit, historical epic, highbrow erotica and philosophical discourse.
MURDER AT THE PANIONIC GAMES by Michael B. Edwards When Priene hosts the Greek games in 650 B.C., the city’s best athlete is poisoned. Bias the priest takes on the task of finding the killer. ALL ROADS LEAD TO MURDER by Albert A. Bell, Jr. Pliny the Younger (as sleuth) and the historian Tacitus (as his Watson) encounter murder on the road to Rome in 83 A.D. Also by Bell: Daughter of Lazarus.
DEATH COMES AS THE END by Agatha Christie In ancient Egypt, a rich man’s house is stalked by a restless ghost; the only historical novel by the Queen of Crime. Introduction by Steven Saylor THE LABORS OF HERCULES by Agatha Christie A cross-over curiosity, as Hercule Poirot takes on 12 cases that parallel the Labors of Greek myth. An entertaining bow to the Classics by the Queen of Crime Fiction.
THE LIEUTENANT BAK SERIES by Lauren Haney follows the crime-solving exploits of the brilliant head of the Medjay police in the ancient Egypt of the female Pharaoh Hatshetsup. The series, in order: The Right Hand of AmonA Face Turned BackwardA Vile JusticeA Curse of SilenceA Place of DarknessA Cruel DeceitFlesh of the GodA Path of Shadows
THE LORD MEREN SERIES by Lynda S. Robinson follows the sleuthing career of Lord Meren, Eyes and Ears of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, as he negotiates the treacherous palace intrigues of ancient Egypt. The series, in order: Murder in the Place of AnubisMurder at the God’s GateMurder at the Feast of RejoicingEater of SoulsDrinker of BloodSlayer of Gods • Of related interest: The Egyptian by Mika Waltari, with a foreward by Lynda S. Robinson
JOHN THE EUNUCH MYSTERIES by Mary Reed & Eric Mayer Set in the intrigue-riddled Byzantium of Justinian and Theodora, with the eunuch John, Lord Chamberlain, as sleuth. The series: One for Sorrow, Two for Joy, Three for a Letter, and Four for a Boy, Five for Silver, and the new novel, Six for Gold.




MYSTERIES OF THE ANCIENTS
by Paul Doherty

No author ranges more widely across the ancient world than the prolific Paul Doherty. From Egypt to Byzantium, in fiction and nonfiction, Doherty delves into the mysteries of the distant past.

•••••Novels
Egypt: The female Pharaoh Hatusu acts as as sleuth in The Mask of Ra, The Horus Killings, The Anubis Slayings, and The Slayers of Seth. In The Assassins of Isis, the Sebaus, a demonic sect, plunders a sepulchre for its most powerful secret. An Evil Spirit Out of the West traces the rise of Prince Akenhaten, the story continues in The Season of the Hyaena. Greece: Under the pen name Anna Apostolou, Doherty put Alexander the Great at the center of a mystery in A Murder in Macedon and a sequel, A Murder in Thebes; another Alexander series continues with The House of Death, The Godless Man, and The Gates of Hell. Rome: Domina takes on Agrippina, the murderous mother of Nero. Byzantium: Murder Imperial unravels intrigues in the court of Constantine the Great. More mayhem ensues in Song of the Gladiator, when Constantine invites a Christian delegation to make a case for the renegade faith.

•••••Nonfiction
Alexander the Great: The Death of a God re-examines on of history’s most tantalizing puzzles: what — or who — really killed the young conqueror of the known world? The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun: Re-Opening the Case of Egypt’s Boy-King looks at the untimely demise of the most famous of the Pharaohs.







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