The Venus Throw

Finely etched historical background . . . The finest flower yet of Saylor''s Roma Sub Rosa Series.—Kirkus ReviewsOn a chill January evening in 56 B.C. two strange visitors to Rome--an Egyptian ambassador and a eunuch priest--seek out Gordianus the Finder whose specialty is solving murders. But the ambassador a philosopher named Dio has come to ask for something Gordianus cannot give--help in staying alive. Before the night is out he will be murdered.Now Gordianus begins his most dangerous case. Hired to investigate Dio''s death by a beautiful woman with a scandalous reputation he will follow a trail of political intrigue into the highest circles of power and the city''s most hidden arenas of debauchery. There Gordianus will learn nothing is as it seems--not the damning evidence he uncovers not the suspect he sends to trial not even the real truth behind Dio''s death which lies in secrets--not of state but of the heart.