I’ve read most — but not all — of this series, so when I find one I haven’t gotten to read yet, it’s like a little visit with my old friend Libertus. Let’s see what Libertus and faithful Gwellia are up to! What trouble has patron Marcus set him up for this time?
I always enjoy when the story relies on Roman life and customs. The Vestal Vanishes is another Libertus mystery that uses Roman customs and law really well as part of the premise. In that one, the story hinges on a retiring Vestal Virgin, who’s completed her 30 years at the temple, and can — if she wants — go on to marry and live a secular life.
A Prisoner of Privilege uses Roman customs so well, too. Over the course of Libertus’ life, he doesn’t just lay pavements and solve mysteries, he’s also moving up in Roman society, which means fudging the property requirements to be eligible for duties he doesn’t particularly want. And The Price of Freedom talks about the rules and customs around provincial tax-collecting, besides the mystery to solve. I love what this does for the worldbuilding, and I also love how the mysteries aren’t automatically solved by catching the baddie and turning him over to the authorities.
I have to admit that I like the SPQR series or Marcus Corvinus slightly more, because I’m much more interested in the action in Rome than out in the provinces. Libertus is a Celtic workman in Roman-occupied Britain, which is fine and all, but it’s not quite backstabbing in the Forum, is it? Still, I enjoy how the Libertus stories often include warm scenes back at the roundhouse.
For more Roman fiction, there’s the rest of the Libertus series, as well as Feast of Sorrow, The Throne of Caesar, and Brides of Rome.
I wanted to read this because I'd absolutely loved Taffy Brodesser-Akner's first novel, Fleishman is…
I really wanted to read this Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 collection because…
I'm just gonna lead with it -- I think The Murder on the Links is…
Ghost Station, by S A Barnes, is a new space suspense story. The novel's tension…
Dark Tales of Whimsy is a new short fiction collection from Endless Ink Books. I've previously…
The Guardians, a YA scifi novel by John Christopher, was published in 1970 and set…