Ancient history mystery. Very descriptive of customs and the cultures involved. ( )

This is the first book of the Getorius and Arcadia mystery series set in 5th century Italy, in the capital of the Western Roman Empire, Ravenna.

The main characters are married, and Getorius is a doctor who is also training his wife in the profession, regardless of social and religious disapproval. I read the second book first, The Cybelene Conspiracy and really loved it. The writing was good, the characters were well done, and the setting was interesting.

Unfortunately, this first book was not so good. The writing was a bit awkward. The main character Getorius, was not the same person as in the second book. In this one he was nasty, cranky, peevish, and petulant. I actually hoped he would be one of the murder victims. The mystery was a bit confused, and never really felt emotionally 'solved', though things were sort of explained, and the danger was over.

Both books involve the rulers of the Western Roman Empire and the early christian church and their squabbles over doctrine, precedence and their attempt to rule not only the church but secular life as well. There are barbarians from an earlier invasion who have been tamed, and the current ones who are still wild and threatening to invade again. Add to this the local color of daily life, and the medical mysteries that Getorius tries to understand and solve, so that he can help the sick and the injured. These issues are the standard backdrop for the series.

The mystery here is about a papyrus and several scrolls that are discovered by accident. The papyrus is very dangerous, in that it purports to be the last will and testament of Jesus himself. There is an Irish monk who seems to have started all the fuss, but has managed to die, and then the discoverer of the cache also dies. Slowly the other witnesses and being eliminated. The Queen mother feels a political plot is afoot, while others worry that if the will is genuine and becomes public there will be a bloodbath of christians against the jews. I thought the reasoning for their fear of the will was very weak, because nothing was done to show the animosity between the two religions (though we can look back on the history and see it, it was not developed in the novel). Then it just sort of ends about 300 pages later. No real culprit is found, though several are suggested.

All I can say is if I had read this first I would not have continued to read the author or the series. The second book was so much better I will pick up the next one. ( )