Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Fiona Forsyth to Ruins & Reading. I'm reviewing her latest release, the intriguing Death and The Poet – the 2nd instalment in her Publius Ovidius Mysteries series. It's well worth checking out. Read on!
Death and The Poet is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Discover fascinating guest posts, enticing excerpts, author interviews, and more HERE!
Death and The Poet
The Publius Ovidius Mysteries
Fiona Forsyth
I always love an intriguing murder mystery in unusual places, and this one is yet another new location, to me, at least. We're heading to the shores of the Black Sea, in Ancient Roman times!
Having had Latin in school for four years, I'm still slightly familiar with Ovid and his works, though the memory is hazy. So it was great to see a real character like the poet in a fiction mystery setting.
In Death and The Poet, we find the recalcitrant poet in exile in Tomis, a now fabled town on the Black Sea. Emperor Augustus had ordered him there, not to return to Rome, where Ovid's wife, Fabia, looks after their estate.
When a the holder of a vegetable stall is found murdered, Ovid and his good friend, Avitius, begin to investigate. The distraught widow is keen to take over the stall, as is a fellow stallholder. Ovid is baffled. Who had an interest in killing a simple vegetable seller?
Meanwhile, his wife Fabia is on her way to Tomis, unbeknownst to him. Her arrival marks the end of his escapades, as she joins in with the investigation.
While corrupt Roman official Flaccus makes it hard for them to discover the culprit, another murder occurs, and Ovid finds himself in trouble.
As Avitius, Ovid and Fabia uncover irregularities in local government in this far-flung Roman outpost, the net closes in on the culprit.
Meanwhile, while Ovid is still in a huff about his dreadful exile, Empress Livia – who has dispatched Fabia to Tomis – has plans of her own.
Is Emperor Augustus dying? Will Ovid find a way to return to Rome? And will they find the murderer? Read the book to find out!
Death and The Poet is a thrilling murder mystery set far from Rome, Ovid's home, and the centre of power. Tomis is a brilliant location. A sleepy outpost, where you wouldn't expect anything to happen, turns into a den of corrupion, lies, and bullying by local Roman officials. A bit of Midsomer on the Black Sea...
The Roman Empire was rife with intrigues, banishment, and even murder (often of family members, especially in imperial families!), and to see this on a smaller scale, makes for gripping reading.
Ovid is not a likeable character – irascible, frustrated, with an inflated opinion of himself and his way with words. Fiercely sarcastic and wary, he is countered perfectly by his even-handed friend, Avitius, and his no-nonsense wife, Fabia. We witness witty interactions between the three. The narrative shows us a more colloquial way than much historical fiction, but it works well here, as we have irony and wit instead of stilted commentary.
Fabia is a fabulous character. Aware of her status, yet a loyal wife to Ovid, she uses her intelligence to great effect. She bemoans the Roman patriarchy, which allows women very little freedom, but instead of wallowing in self-pity (like her exiled husband is fond of doing), she deals realistically with facts.
The murder mystery itself is intriguing, in a small-town kind of sense. The investigation stalls several times, as Ovid and Avitius must overcome hurdles thrown in their path, but it comes to a revealing conclusion. Not fast-paced, but a gentle meandering through the murky world of plots and intrigues.
If you enjoy murder mysteries in unusual settings, with grumpy sleuths and intelligent sidekicks, look no further. Delve back in time to 14AD, and escape to the Black Sea. You'll enjoy it!
Highly recommended.
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Blurb:
14AD
When Dokimos the vegetable seller is found bludgeoned to death in the Black Sea town of Tomis, it’s the most exciting thing to have happened in the region for years. Now reluctantly settled into life in exile, the disgraced Roman poet Ovid helps his friend Avitius to investigate the crime, with the evidence pointing straight at a cuckolded neighbour.
But Ovid is also on edge, waiting for the most momentous death of all. Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, is nearing his end, and the future of the whole Roman world is uncertain.
Even as far away as Tomis, this political shadow creates tension as the pompous Roman legate Flaccus thinks more of his career than solving a local murder.
Avitius and Ovid become convinced that an injustice has been done in the case of the murdered vegetable seller. But Flaccus continues to turn a deaf ear.
When Ovid’s wife, Fabia, arrives unexpectedly, carrying a cryptic message from the Empress Livia, the poet becomes distracted - and another crime is committed.
Ovid hopes for a return to Rome - only to discover that he is under threat from an enemy much closer to home.
Praise for Fiona Forsyth:
'An absorbing tale of friendship, corruption and murder, shot through with humanity and deep emotion. The remote imperial outpost of Tomis is vividly recreated and Fiona Forsyth’s portrait of the exiled poet Ovid, now joined by his formidable wife Fabia, is a triumph.'
~ R.N. Morris, author
'The setting (Tomis) far from the heart of the nascent Empire - but still close enough to be affected by events in Rome, is brilliantly presented...Grips from the first page'.
~ Peter Tonkin, author
'Beautifully written and utterly absorbing, Forsyth has created a stunning depiction of the end of the republic and birth of the Roman Empire.'
~ Jemahl Evans, author
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Fiona studied Classics at Oxford before teaching it for 25 years.
A family move to Qatar gave her the opportunity to write about ancient Rome, and she is now back in the UK, working on her seventh novel.
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