Catilina's Riddle: A Novel of Ancient Rome: 3 (Novels of Ancient Rome 3)

Saylor rivals Robert Graves in his knack for making the classical world come alive. --(ortland) Oregonian. Engrossing...Ironic and satisfying. -- San Francisco Chronicle. The third in Saylors Roma Sub Rosa novels featuring Gordianus the Finder. Gordianus disillusioned by the corruption of Rome circa 63 B.C. has fled the city with his family to live on a farm in the Etruscan countryside. But this bucolic life is disrupted by the machinations and murderous plots of two politicians: Roman consul Cicero Gordianuss longtime patron and populist senator Catilina Ciceros political rival and a candidate to replace him in the annual elections for consul. Claiming that Catilina plans an uprising if he loses the race Cicero asks Gordianus to keep a watchful eye on the radical. Although he distrusts both men Gordianus is forced into the center of the power struggle when his six-year-old daughter Diana finds a headless corpse in their stable. Shrewdly depicting deadly political maneuverings this addictive mystery also displays the authors firm grasp of history and human character. . On first publication back in 1994 Catilinas Riddle was a finalist for the Hammet Award.