Trade Secrets

November 30, 2015
Those comfortable with modern slang in their historical whodunits (“OK, pal, keep your hair on”) will welcome Wishart’s 17th mystery set in Imperial Rome (after 2014’s Finished Business). It’s 41 C.E., and Claudius has just succeeded Caligula as emperor. Series sleuth Marcus Corvinus is adjusting to his new role as a grandfather when Tullia Gemella, a friend of his wife, asks him to solve the murder of her brother, Gaius Tullius, part owner of an import-export business, who was stabbed to death in an alley. Meanwhile, Corvinus’s adopted daughter, Valeria Marilla, and her husband, Clarus, visit the Pollio Library, where they notice a man on a bench who appears to be sleeping. After he topples over, they discover that he was knifed in the back—and that he apparently died of apoplexy an hour earlier. Corvinus proves an astute sleuth as he tackles the nicely constructed puzzles, though the political background of the times is less central to the plot than in Steven Saylor’s superior Gordianus novels.

September 8, 2014
With the opening sentence, “November in Rome sucks,” Wishart wastes no time in introducing modern colloquialisms into his 16th Marcus Corvinus mystery set in first-century Rome (after 2013’s Solid Citizens). For readers who can look past the jarring contemporary idiom, Wishart presents one of his better plots. When masonry falls on Naevius Surdinus, a former consul, crushing his head, his subsequent death appears to be accidental. But the ghost of Alexander the Great tells Surdinus’s niece, Naevia Postuma, that foul play was involved. Despite the bizarre source of Naevia’s suspicions, Marcus investigates and finds them justified. He must also figure out why the dead man sent his wife a letter, accompanied by a scroll, that contained erroneous information about Surdinus’s relationship with Marcus’s father. Wishart unfortunately doesn’t make the most of setting the action during the reign of the sadistic and capricious Caligula, which has been depicted better elsewhere.

January 1, 2016

Roman investigator Marcus Corvinus has one too many cases on his hands, investigating two murders at the request of his wife and daughter. When he uncovers the connection between the two, he just might be able to solve both crimes. Witty and irreverent dialog marks this 17th engaging entry in the long-running historical series (Finished Business).

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
As the long-running Marcus Corvinus series reaches its twentieth anniversary (the first book, Ovid, was published in 1995), it shows no signs of slowing down. This new entry in the series is set in the year AD 41. Claudius is the new emperor, and most citizens are excited: after years of turmoil, could the Roman Empire be finally entering a period of much-deserved peace? Well, perhaps, but Marcus, saddled with not one but two murder investigations, tends to believe otherwise, especially as the two deaths appear to be connected in a most intriguing wayand one with some far-reaching implications. Wishart loves to tell a labyrinthine story, and fans of the series will really enjoy this one; they'll also enjoy the way he blends real historical people and events with his fictional goings-on. The dividing line between reality and fiction is almost imperceptible here. Another solid entry in a popular series and a sure bet for followers of Steven Saylor's and Lindsey Davis' Roman Empire crime series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)