But it really works, because the novel skillfully blends Gordianus’ preparations to become a senator, his investigation in a warning scrawled on Cinna’s doorstep, some scandalous poetry, and Gordianus’ happy family life. Caesar’s warnings seem secondary to all the other things going on. The novel’s tension comes from the Finder shopping for a his first senatorial toga, while a world-changing conspiracy unfolds around him, familiar and clear to every reader but completely unknown to Gordianus. And when the inevitable happens, it’s actually the least-shocking mob justice in the book…
The book’s ending, with Gordianus’ daughter Diana offering to record and edit his memoirs of his mysteries, may be a hint that this is the close of Gordianus’ adventures. Readers of this Roman mystery series will also enjoy Trade Secrets, Foreign Bodies, and the rest of Davis Wishart’s Marcus Corvinus series.
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