Alan Scribner

Enjoyable Judge Severus mystery. To escape the plague in Rome, Severus, his family [along with family pets] and entourage, including his various aides, go to Athens. The co-emperor Lucius Verus tasks Severus with exonerating a certain Herodes Atticus of murdering his wife. The man had been acquitted of the crime, but doubt remains in peoples' minds as to his innocence. While in Athens, Severus investigates the death of a scholar-philosopher, Gaius Gallus, who had been writing a book about show more Herodes. Gallus has been murdered. Is it because he has uncovered incriminating evidence? Or is it for another reason? Through various interviews and through deduction, Severus arrives at the solution, which he neatly explains. The Athenian police have been less than helpful. The police report has even been falsified. There are red herrings aplenty.
What is outstanding in the novel is how the author works in elements of the Roman legal system; he had been an Assistant D.A. The novel is fast-paced and written simply, but "infodumps" do slow the story down somewhat. The author has tried to make the story as historically accurate as possible.
Highly recommended. show less

Another enjoyable mystery of Judge Severus of the Roman law courts. On vacation at "The Crater" on the Bay of Naples with his family, he is called upon to solve the murder of a famous general in the Roman army. General Cyclops, this one-eyed man, as he is known, has been murdered. His is the first of a series of murders, all killed in the manner of some of the characters in Homer's Odyssey. For example, the general's working eye is poked out, in the matter of the Cyclops in that epic. A show more member of the curiosi [a frumentarius] is killed by a rock thrown at him and then he is drowned--Scylla and Charybdis. Severus is in charge of the case, although he is ostensibly helping the local magistrate. Technically, he is beyond the 100 miles from Rome in which he would have jurisdiction, but through finagling by the Roman City Prefect, he leads the investigation. He is aided by his usual team: his legal assistant, law clerk and two members of the Urban Cohorts.
A character nicknamed "Odysseus" is involved, somehow. Did this person do the killing?

The author, a former Assistant District attorney and criminal defense lawyer, really shines in his laying out of elements of the Roman law system. We are present at a court hearing where we see courtroom customs at work. I also enjoyed the elements of Roman life. Two things annoyed me: too much qualifications of things many times and minute descriptions of the clothes of each character. For example, how many times does the author have to tell us Proculus is his assistant, Scorpus his head slave, etc.? Once is enough. The writing style was a bit choppy. But it WAS a good mystery.

Recommended. show less

Interesting novel with this "detective", a judge in the Roman court system, aided by his support staff and two officers of the court, a centurion and a tesserarius. The wife of a senator disappears and a man's dead body is discovered on the steps of the temple to Mars the Avenger. The judge, Marcus Flavius Severus, is tasked with solving the mystery by the Urban Prefect. As the novel progresses it grows more and more complicated, stretching from the senator's villa to the slums of the show more Subura. An amulet with a strange etching of a queen and a fisherman and a wax tablet with the same drawing tie the senator's wife and the dead man together. Judge Severus sends his staff on legwork, and we learn a lot about Roman law of that period--that of Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century A.D.. Severus does face a moral dilemma when it comes to naming the culprit or culprits and is torn between two possible solutions. In several places in the novel he sets down his reflections: "To Himself", anticipating Marcus Aurelius' MEDITATIONS by a few years. :) We also see his domestic life and family.

This was a promising beginning to a new series [to me, at least]. I learned a lot about the law and court system; the author is a former Assistant District Attorney in NY County and criminal lawyer with a keen interest in ancient Rome. So I imagine that is pretty accurate. In the last few pages though, Severus mentions he got an award from the emperor: "The Privileges of the Father of Three Children"; there was no mention of a third child or even a pregnancy and childbirth; in this book he and his wife only had a son and a daughter. show less

Judge Severus goes to Egypt with family and usual entourage to investigate the accidental[?] poisoning of a high-level postal employee. The poisoning was intended for the prefect. He finds that a person has been convicted of the murder and executed. He finds the man was innocent and the previous judge has acted too hastily, and an innocent man has died. Something doesn't sit right with him, so he digs deeper. So, he looks for the real culprit and discovers a ring of crooks stealing books show more from the Great Library, and selling them, as well as fake antiquities. He tries the leader but on appeal the story moves to Rome with everyone [alleged crooks and Severus] appear before the emperor. The final reveal and ending were ingenious. Another worthy entry in this series. I enjoyed descriptions of the family's sightseeing before returning to Rome. show less