The Curse-Maker

November 29, 2010
A murder interrupts the holiday of Arcturus, the Roman governor's doctor and sometime sleuth, in Stanley's well-plotted second novel set in Britain during the reign of Domitian (after 2008's Nox Dormeinda, winner of the Bruce Alexander Award for Best Historical Mystery). When the strangled body of Rufus Bibax, a scribe who made his living writing curses, surfaces in a reservoir in Aquae Sulis (today's Bath), his mouth is stuffed with a piece of lead on which is inscribed Ultor ("The Avenger"). The physician learns of earlier mysterious deaths, which may be connected with the legend of a nearby mine. More murders, possibly by a copycat, follow. The author, as she explains in a note, has imaginatively reconstructed how curses might have been used in Roman society. Some may find the language too modern sounding ("Logically, she was right—but goddamn it, I wasn't logical"), but all will wish this historical series a long life.

January 1, 2011

In ancient Rome, a vacationing physician turns reluctant sleuth to save his family.

After a long journey, esteemed Londinium doctor Arcturus and his wife Gwyna arrive at their vacation destination of Bath to the unseemly sight of a corpse floating in the town reservoir. Amid the crowd's cries of pollution, Drusius, a burly stonecutter, hoists the body out and Arcturus examines it. The victim is Rufus Bibax, an infamous scribe known locally as "the curse-maker" for his public rants. Townspeople wish to blame the killing on the magic of the reservoir, but the practical Arcturus tries to throw cold water on this superstition with a finding of strangulation, and a note he's found on the body signed by "The Avenger." Hoping to salvage his getaway at the governor's estate, Arcturus leaves the body in the care of the governor's medicus, Lucius Velrius Philo. It's a decision he comes to regret when, after he returns home, strange events continue in Bath and within the Arcturus household. The Avenger claims more victims, and Gwyna suffers an inexplicable illness that makes her physically frail and emotionally erratic, convincing her that the curse-maker Bibax is the root of her malady. Mostly for this latter reason, Arcturus undertakes the complex investigation of the murders, a highly informative path for himself and the reader.

Stanley's debut novel, supplemented by a glossary and a lengthy explanation of curse-making, captures the details and rhythms of daily life in the ancient empire. The whodunit often takes a backseat to the subtle and interesting interactions of his characters.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011

Arcturus, healer to the governor of Britannia, is burned out. Unable to save the governor's son and avoid the screams of the battlefield as Agricola slaughters the Caledonians, he returns home to find his wife, Gwyna, strangely withdrawn and the household in a shambles. A trip to the springs at Aquae Sulis (today the city of Bath) will hopefully provide rest and a fresh start. Such is not Arcturus's luck, of course--his first experience of the famous baths is hauling a body out of the sacred spring. What follows is a nightmare of death, deception, greed, hate, and power abused. It will take all of the healer's skills, as well as the assistance of his clever wife, to find the source of the canker that festers in the heart of the town and purge it of its poison. This worthy successor to Nox Dormienda weaves together many strands, and the resulting pattern is sometimes surprising. VERDICT If readers enjoyed Stanley's first Roman noir, they won't want to miss this. It is sure to appeal also to fans of Lindsey Davis, Ruth Downie, and other authors of Roman mysteries. [Library marketing; regional author tour.]--Pamela O'Sullivan, Coll. at Brockport Lib., SUNY

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 1, 2011
Tourists visiting the Roman baths in Bath, England, can see tiny clay tablets on display, tablets that carry curses ranging from trivial (May the one who stole my gloves in the baths last week get a rash) to homicidal. In this second in her Roman noir series (the first, Nox Dormienda, 2008, won the Bruce Alexander Award for best historical mystery), Stanley seizes on this curiosity and crafts an entire mystery around the murder of a man who inscribed curses for a living. Set in Brittania in the first century CE, during the reign of the emperor Domitian, the novel stars Arcturus, a Roman physician, and his wife (who gives considerable help to his solving mysteries). Here, Arcturus and wife Gwyna travel from Londinium to the spa town of Aquae Sulis (Bath) because Gwyna is suffering from an unknown ailment that has all the earmarks of contemporary depression. Arcturus himself is suffering from the guilt of not being able to save the young son of General Agricola. As soon as the two arrive, they see the spectacle of a body in the Sacred Springthe body belongs to a curse maker. Besides writing an engrossing mystery, in which the first murder leads to a typically Roman orgy of revenge, Stanley serves up fascinating and never heavy-handed information on Roman life. For fans of Steven Saylors Roma Sub Rosa series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)