Review of "The Venus Throw" by Steven Saylor

For the life of me, I cannot understand or find the link between the title of this book and its plot.  According to the author, the Venus throw is a certain results from the roll of the die (or the equivalent of dice in ancient Rome).  This appears in only one scene while Gordianus is sitting in a bar and is interrupted by someone playing a game at a nearby table shouts “The Venus Throw!”

Saylor’s fourth book in his Gordianus the Finder series centers around the murder of Dio, an Egyptian ambassador from Alexandria on a diplomatic mission to Rome.  Dio turns up unexpectedly at Gordianus’ door, dressed as a woman.  He remembers tutoring a young Gordianus many years before when the Finder was traveling the world and gaining wisdom.  It is also when and where Gordianus met and bought the beautiful slave Bethesda. 

Dio begs Gordianus for help, since he is convinced people want him dead, his mission to Rome to fail.  He started out from Alexandria with a retinue of fifteen diplomats and after several assassination attempts, he is the only one left.

Gordianus feels he must refuse his old mentor, lest he bring the violence to his own home and family.  Which has a ring of irony in the end.

No surprise to the reader, Dio is murdered and Gordianus is compelled to find out who killed him.  Then he is contacted by Clodia, a wealthy, beautiful, and amoral widow.  She is convinced the handsome Marcus Caelius (known by Gordanius) is the murderer and is will to pay anything for him to prove Caelius is guilty.  But is Clodia only out for revenge as a woman scorned?  With her, nothing is as it seems and Gordianus doubts she is out for justice.

As with previous novels, Saylor’s story can get bogged down as he tends to enter entire speeches from history records but this time he limits it to only one.  I like the details Saylor gives of life in ancient Rome, its culture, geography, attitude, etc.  The Venus Throw did not drag with as many speeches as before and Saylor does provide a surprise ending. 

3 ½ Jupiter’s lightning bolts.

Book review - "Catilina's Riddle" by Steven Saylor

The third installment of Steve Saylor’s series featuring Gordianus the Finder, Catilina’s Riddle, reads more of a history lesson on Ancient Rome as opposed to a whodunit. Perhaps Saylor feels by giving what would be dry, laborious reading material to most people a mysterious subplot, history comes a bit more interesting.

Gordianus has retired to the country, with his wife, daughter Diana and son Meto, glad to leave the politics and danger of Rome far behind.  His son Eco has stayed behind and has taken over his father’s business.  However, with Gordianus, intrigue and danger are never far away.  The country is not as relaxing as it should be and his neighbors are anything but neighborly.

Soon, he receives a message from a friend asking for a huge favor.  Cicero is asking him to host Catilina, a controversial candidate running for consulship in Rome. 

The election and the politics surrounding it are the basis for Saylor’s novel.  Cicero makes flowery speeches, in which he spins wild tales of Catilina’s conspiracies and his plans for bloody revolts.  But how much of those tales are true?  Saylor paints a humane picture of Catilina, as seen from Gordianus’ point of view. 

The mystery portion of the book, Gordianus keeps finding headless bodies on his property, takes a back seat to Roman history.  Saylor recreates Cicero’s speeches, Catilina’s speeches, everybody’s speeches.  At times it gets tedious, because one wonders where these pages and pages are taking the story.  The conclusion of who’s been leaving decapitated corpses on Gordianus’ property almost seems like an afterthought. 

If you enjoy ancient Roman history, you will enjoy this book.

I give it 3 Jupiter’s lightning bolts (~~~) out of 5.

Review of Nobody Loves a Centurion by John Maddox Roberts

I think John Maddox Roberts’ ancient Rome series featuring Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger gets better and better with each novel.  I devoured Nobody Loves a Centurion (SPQR VI) in very few sittings.  Not only was it an excellent mystery, it had a sense of humor as well.

Decius reluctantly reports for his duty in the armed services with Caesar in Gaul.  His political rival has come into power, it’s best he leave the city.  He shows up at camp in full military regalia, much to the amusement of his colleagues.  Then he manages to anger one of the most powerful men in the army, Centurion Titus Vinius, who is cruel to the men in his century.  One of the unfortunate young men is a client of Decius’ and the senator protests his ill-treatment.  Soon every soldier in the camp has bet odds on who will come out on top, Titus or Decius.  The battle is decided when Titus is found murdered outside of camp and wearing slave’s clothing.
 
Caesar puts Decius in charge of finding the centurion’s murderer or he will put the entire century to death, including Decius’ client.  To his horror, Decius finds many of the soldiers don’t want him to discover the truth behind Vinius’ death, just let the men die. It’s all part of war.  But Decius won’t let that happen.  He feels bound to save his client from a slow, excruciating death.

Confounding the mystery are the murdered centurion’s two German slaves, a small, dwarfish man named Molon and Freda, a stunningly, beautiful woman who has the tongues of every man in camp hanging to the ground when she passes.  When Caesar awards the two slaves to Decius, it only adds to the bad feelings against him. 

Decius manages to focus on the mystery despite the beautiful slave and nightly skirmishes with the Gauls.  But he is again called out in the middle of the night to another bizarre discovery.  Three Druid priests have been hung in the forest.  Decius knows the two incidents are related but he has no idea how.
 
Despite his goofy entrance and actions after his arrival, Decius exhibits bravery and a tenacious curiosity to find out the truth and save his friend.  As usual, the final solution has serious consequences for him but he perseveres and confronts someone who could become a dangerous enemy.
 
As with all his ancient Rome stories, Roberts includes a glossary of the numerous terms that are obsolete or unknown.  Sometimes it gets frustrating to have to flip to the back of the book to look up a word, but it also helps bring ancient Roman culture and lifestyles to vivid life.  It helps the reader identify more with Decius and his countrymen.

In this story, Roberts shows off his knowledge of ancient Gaul and German history as well as Italian.  He makes numerous references to their lifestyle, where the two cultures were settled, the advancement of their territories and their gods. 
 
Decius maintains his sense of humor even outside of Rome, which is as dangerous as being in the middle of Gaul territory, now France.  Roberts keeps a healthy pace mixing humor and action, and showing a brave side of Decius while at the same time, Roberts likes beating up on him.  I think that’s why I like Decius so much.  He has the right amount of sarcasm and wit, that endears him to people and at the same time, annoys the hell out of them, too.
 
It’s novels like Nobody Loves a Centurion that bring me back for more.

Review of Saturnalia by John Maddox Roberts

Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger is one hero/sleuth who gets to be more fun with each book in John Maddox Roberts' ancient Rome mystery series.  When we last saw Decius, he was bound hand and foot on a ship, being sent into exile by his family, who had become too embarrassed by his antics.  In first century BC Rome, this is no small feat.  Actually, it was Decius' unmitigated gall to confront people far more powerful than him with their wrong-doings and somehow survive.  His exile was partly to protect him.

His family is too well-aware of his ability to solve mysteries, due to his indefatigable curiosity and propensity to investigate the unknown.  They retrieve him from exile when a relative dies under mysterious circumstances and they want Decius to ferret out his murderer.  As with everything those days in Rome, it all comes down to politics.  His deceased kinsman was married to Clodia, a powerful, wealthy and dangerous woman, who is the sister of Clodius, Decius' sworn mortal enemy.

The Metelli want him to find Clodia as the poisoner, but in a bizarre move that stuns even the unflappable Decius, Clodius declares a truce and asks him to clear his sister's name.  Clodius is about to start a year of tribuneship, a very good year for Decius to be absent from Rome, and a scandal could mar his term.  Politics.

All this comes about on the eve of Saturnalia, one of the most joyous, rambunctious celebrations of unbridled revelry of the Roman year. 

For once, Decius moderates his intake of alcohol and is the much better for is.  His knack for getting into trouble is outweighed by his luck in getting out of it, but just barely.  He stumbles onto a coven of witches, celebrating an ancient, forbidden rite.  Only Decius could be insulted when told he isn't good enough to become their human sacrifice.

There's more than just mystery in Saturnalia, the fifth of the series.  Decius is party to many discussion on Caius Julius Caesar's plan to conquer Gaul and Germany, a move his enemies and opponents applaud since they believe it will be the end of him.  Decius also has an interesting conversation on foreign and Roman religions with Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Roberts takes the reader into the wild revelry of Saturnalia with fashions, parties and shenanigans that make it sound like an ancient Mardi Gras.  It feels like a time when, despite its horrors, it was good to be alive.

Temple of the Muses by John Maddox Roberts

While reading Temple of the Muses, the fourth installment of John Maddox Roberts’ ancient Rome series featuring Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger, I did something I don’t usually do. I laughed out loud many times. The young Decius is getting older, maturing and so is his sense of humor. His comments and thoughts are becoming less juvenile, getting snarkier, more direct and downright smartass. And he is getting smarter.

However, he is still an embarrassment to his family in Rome so they have exiled him to Alexandria, Egypt. Away from the danger in Italy, Decius finds the grand Egyptian city too well-planned, flatter and considerably more hedonistic (if possible) than Rome.

As Roberts describes the ancient city, I thought that I had just been there. I realized I was thinking of Elizabeth Peters’ series featuring archaeologist and sleuth Amelia Peabody. But here, Alexandria is portrayed as it was during its hey-day. Decius has no shortage of distractions to keep him from getting homesick. The drinking and partying of the Egyptians under the reign of Ptolemy surpasses that of Rome. Yet he is excited when he learns that his betrothed Julia, niece of Gaius Julius Caesar has arrived with her completely amoral bff Fausta. They’ve come to visit the Egyptian Princess Berenice, cut from the same cloth as Fausta. This only helps introduce Decius to more elaborate and extravagant parties, like the one at the Temple of the Muses where a particularly abrasive philosopher is murdered.

The mystery is irresistible to Decius and he convinces Ptolemy to put him in charge of the investigation, which baffles both Egyptians and Romans. Not the murder, but who cares who killed the philosopher? Despite apathy, resistance and attempts on his life, Decius continues his queries.

He uncovers a plot to break Egypt away from the influence of Rome and place a new ruler on the throne. His enemies are using him as the powder keg to ignite furious anti-Roman sentiment throughout the city.

On his side, Decius has his insubordinate slave Hermes who has a knack for picking up juicy but usually accurate gossip; and his intelligent bride-to-be Julia, who possesses an intelligent and inquisitive mind.

Temple of the Muses moves at a fast pace and keeps the reader’s interest to the very last page with a fascinating and funny mystery. Decius’ quandary while standing over the body of an attacker is hysterical. Roberts leaves us with a tantalizing hook for the next story. Decius has been bound and gagged by his relatives and put on the next ship leaving Alexandria. Apparently, he is too much of an embarrassment there as well as Rome.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

The Sacrilege by John Maddox Roberts

In The Sacrilege, the third installment of John Maddox Roberts ancient Roman mysteries, everyone’s favorite beleaguered quaestor is back in Rome after a year of required military service but now, Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger is a Senator. With the small promotion comes substantially more trouble. His sworn enemy Clodius is stirring up problems and vows to kill him in the streets. The hated Pompey is outside the city walls pushing for a triumphant procession the likes Rome has never seen. His father is still distant but shows signs of mellowing in his old age.

Decius’s new duties allow him to do some networking, which he enjoys. At a dinner he attends, the man he has been sent to persuade and draw him into his relatives’ corner is struck down by an assassin. Decius himself barely escapes an attempt on his life at the same party.

The following night, a woman’s sacred rite is infiltrated by a man dressed as a female. Roman law detects that the man be put to death. But the impostor turns out to be none other than his arch-enemy Clodius, evil but well-connected. This complicates matters.

But what was he doing there?

Decius suspects that much more is going on than a simple prank to see what men are forbidden to see. Fortunately for him, he is in good graces with Milo, a common thug rising to power and controls an enormous street gang that comes to Decius’s rescue more than once.

As the saying goes: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Milo has no love for Clodius either. But unlike Decius, Milo has the manpower to keep Clodius away from his door and from taking over the city with his army of thugs.

Two more people are murdered after his investigation starts. One of the victims is the very young kinsman of Clodius who tried to poison him at the dinner. He begins to piece together a daring plot to cease all power of Rome.

During the course of investigation, Decius winds up playing cupid for his friend Milo and the beautiful Fausta. Later he meets, Julia, the lovely and intelligent niece of Julius Caesar. She persuades him to let her help him in his investigation. Decius agrees but mainly as an excuse to see Julia more often.

It’s interesting to see how Decius is moving up the political ladder as the SPQR series progresses. Also, John Maddox Roberts pumps up the action and excitement in this third novel.

In The King’s Gambit, the second novel, and The Sacrilege, Decius pokes fun at his own culture’s naming conventions that many members of a family have very similar names. It makes it difficult to keep up with one’s own family, let alone anyone else’s, Decius grumbles. But it seems to be less frustrating the third time out. Or maybe I’m getting used to the Rome that Roberts portratys in his mystery series. He interjects many terms that must be part of the ancient Roman vernacular. However, with the help of the glossary, the reader is not left behind.

One aspect that is consistent, if not improving as the series progresses, is the vivid description of ancient Rome. He brings the past to life in its open and often ugly glory.

The Cataline Conspiracy by John Maddox Roberts

For a quaestor, the lowest level of elected official in ancient Rome, ca. 690 BC, Decius Caecilius Metellus gets around. He is invited to the grandest of parties thrown by Rome’s ultra-elite and seduced by the most beautiful, voluptuous and insatiable women. In the Roberts’s novel with Decius, The King’s Gambit, he is taken on a wild night of carnal exercise by the beautiful sister of his enemy and her incredibly flexible female companion. In The Cataline Conspiracy, the second novel in the ancient Rome series, it is the nineteen year-old stepdaughter of his friend Catalina.

Alerted by the murders of several equites, money-lenders and hated by the populace, Decius suspects a link between the seemingly unconnected deaths and there is something more than somebody carrying out an extermination of a group of men to whom nearly everyone was indebted.

Against the wishes of his emotionally distant father, Decius investigates and uncovers a plot to overthrow the Republic, but it seems doomed to fail on the surface. The leaders are a group of men who do not have the organizations skills or the resources to pull off anything remotely successful.

Decius concludes that there are powerful and wealthy men behind the rebellion, who pull the strings and push the cash, but keep themselves an anonymous distance away to keep form being implicated with their fall guys. Decius manages to infiltrate the group but to show his dedication to the cause, he must kill his best friend, the Greek physician Asklepiodes. The good doctor agrees to conspire with Decius and fake his death, while remaining unflappable and keeping his wry wit, which makes him a loveable and endearing character.

As with The King’s Gambit, the mystery in The Cataline Conspiracy oftentimes takes a backseat to the events and daily lifestyle of Rome which form the basis for the story. Much of the time the basis is more prevalent than the story. Roberts includes a glossary to help the reader navigate the ancient Roman terms that lace every page. Still, one tends to get bogged down among the secondary and peripheral characters with similar names, but this isn’t Roberts’s fault. Blame the Roman who thought naming all his offspring and descendants the same name was a good idea.

There are still many references to the environment of southern Italy of that time that are not expounded upon in the book, leaving the reader more confused.

Overall, I enjoyed The Cataline Conspiracy more than The King’s Gambit and that’s as much Roberts’s writing improvement as my becoming more familiar with ancient Rome through Decius.

John Maddox Roberts also infuses more than a little humor into this second novel. The conversation and plotting that takes place between Decius and Asklepiodes when they discuss the Greek’s fake demise is very enjoyable as the doctor chides his friend to not grieve too much when he’s ‘gone’. The blurb on the back of the book made this sound more ominous than the scene actually was. And few authors can deliver a line like “They don’t make tyrants like Sulla anymore” with great comedic timing.

I feel that with The Cataline Conspiracy, Roberts has developed Decius a bit more, who realizes that he has a terrible weakness for beautiful and voluptuous women, but we also see him as a soldier. Although the climatic battle was a very short scene in the final pages of the book, we get to know this other side of Decius that has only been hinted at in these first two novels. It gives the reader a stronger bond with the flawed and vulnerable hero, but as a result, he becomes more human.

The King's Gambit by John Maddox Roberts

The back of the soft cover version of Roberts’s first novel featuring Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger states that this mystery was nominated for an Edgar Award, a prestigious honor for authors of the genre. Although it is an exciting book, it read more as a historical novel than a mystery.

Set around 70 B.C., The King’s Gambit is rich in facts about ancient Roman culture, lifestyles and public opinion and attitudes. Roberts even includes a glossary of terms for those readers not as intimately familiar with Italy before Christ as he.

Decius Caecilius Metellus is elected to the Commission of Twenty-Six and is in charge of Subura, a dangerous and seedy district of Rome. When a freed slave and a foreign merchant are murdered in his ward the same evening arson claims a warehouse, he suspects that there is something more than just random gang killings which were frequent during that era. While investigating, he discovers corruption and conspiracies at the highest level of the Roman government, where the officials are more interested in gaining personal wealth and power than the administration and protection of the great city. His life is threatened numerous times and he falls under the spell of a beautiful seductress and her physically multi-talented slave girl.

As I mentioned before, The King’s Gambit is a great read, but it often becomes formulaic and cliché in its flavor. Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger has his family name going for him, which is a major advantage since he is at the bottom of the hierarchy of public officials trying to bring down the upper elite. He is the ancient Roman counterpart to the down-on-his-luck American gum shoe of detective noir fiction. The underdog takes on the top dog. David versus Goliath, etc.

Roberts weaves a great story with plot twists and turns against the backdrop of actual events but the dénouement is unsatisfying as Decius is given temporary exile for his efforts in routing the corrupt officials behind the complicated conspiracy, instead of becoming vilified. The guilty parties are not and will never be brought to justice.

Still, The King’s Gambit is a must read for fans of historical whodunits. Although there are a number of authors who base their mysteries in ancient Rome, John Maddox Roberts is among the best of them.