The Venus Throw (Gordianus the Finder 4) (Roma Sub Rosa) - Softcover

Steven Saylor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849016100 ISBN 13: 9781849016100

Publisher: Robinson, 2011

Synopsis

On a cold January evening in 50BC, two strangers enter Rome - one an Egyptian ambassador and the other a eunuch priest. Both are seeking Gordianus the Finder, who has a reputation for solving murders. But the ambassador, a philosopher named Dio, asks for something Gordianus cannot give - help in staying alive. And before the night is out, Dio is brutally assassinated. Now Gordianus must begin the most dangerous case of his career. Hired to investigate Dio's murder by a beautiful woman with a scandalous reputation, he will follow a trail of intrigue into the highest circles of political power and the city's secret arenas of debauchery. There Gordianus will learn that nothing is as it seems, not the damning evidence he uncovers, nor the suspect he sends to trial, not even the real truth behind Dio's death which also lies shrouded in secrets - though not of the state, but of the heart.

About this title

Review:

Steven Saylor's series of thrillers about Gordianus the Finder play cleverly with what we think we know about the last days of the Roman Republic. Gordianus does the legwork for prosecutors and defenders in a system of trials which have become increasingly politicised; even his former patron Cicero has become less interested in justice than in winning and Gordianus is, almost notoriously, the last honest man in Rome. Most of his cases deal with murder trials in which Cicero appeared--part of the fun of reading Saylor is his attentive reading of the great advocate's brilliantly partisan rhetoric. And for those less interested in such intellectual games, the books are attractively atmospheric, showing a Rome still small enough for everyone to know each other's business. Here Gordianus finds himself investigating the murder of a former mentor, Dio, a philosopher and leader of an embassy from Egypt; the triumvirs, Pompey, Caesar and Crassus, are contemplating annexing Egypt and its exiled king is only too prepared to act as their catspaw. And Gordianus finds himself the ally of Clodius and Clodia, the two most notoriously dissolute siblings ...There is nothing so deceptive as what we think we know and Gordianus is as often tricked here as is the reader. --Roz Kaveney

Review:

A deadly game of betrayls, seduction and murder. (The Poisoned Pen)

Engrossing...simmering with eroticism. (Publisher's Weekly)

Finely etched historical background...the finest flower yet of Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series. (Kirkus Review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Robinson
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1849016100
• ISBN 13: 9781849016100
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384