Customer Reviews
Minor Saylor - By: Mr. Warren M. Fisher, 17 Jul 2008 
Steven Saylor returns to his Gordianus series & the result, although welcome is something of a disappointment. A somewhat slender & short story offers only transitory pleasures. But Saylor is a master storyteller & sage on all things Roman, so a sub par Roma Sub Rosa novel still eclipses his many rivals. A minor entryin the series & not the best starting point for newcomers, but for completists & fans a must buy.
A poor ending for a great character - By: William Brandon, 19 May 2008 
This was a real disappointment. The beauty of Saylor's books was always the sensitive & intricate way he used the mystery stories of Gordianus the Finder to inform & enlighten the reader about Roman society & history. But Gordianus was - to me - always the heart & soul of the story. Saylor clearly knows Rome back & forward,in & out. But its fair to say recent entriesin the series have begun to use Gordianus as the device rather than Rome. The low point came with Roma (not a Gordianus book) where Saylor's ambition to write a full story of Rome tried to balance names & dates with stories - much of which didn't work. The same is true here. If this is the last Gordianus book then Saylor seems to want to use it to tie up every storyline (mostin two or three pages at the end. But Gordianus is almost forgotten. the "story" is terribly minor. How sad. 3 stars as even poor quality Saylor is still worth reading. But not for new readers. Go back to Roman Blood or Murder on the appian way.
Book Eleven in the Roma Sub Rosa Series - By: J. Chippindale, 02 May 2008 
Steven Saylor's fascination with Ancient Rome beganin childhood. A history graduate & former newspaper & magazine editor, he livesin Berkeley, California & has a huge number of fans of the Sub Rosa series he has written featuring Gordianus the Finder.
For avid readers of Saylor's books, this one will have been well worth waiting for, particularly as it features the return of the wonderful character of Gordianus the Finder, Ancient Rome's answer to the modern day private detective. Gordianus, along with the character of Marcus Didius Falco from the Lindsey Davis books are my favourite characters from any of the Roman whodunnits gracing the book shelves at the moment.
The civil wars that have plagued Rome are now over. Pompey, one of the main protagonists is dead. His opponent Caesar has returned to Rome amid rumours that not all of the resistance has been quashed. Nonetheless the Roman senate has appointed him as Dictator. He is not the only Roman to return home. Gordianus & his wife, Bethesda has recently returned from Egypt. Gordianus has retired from his profession of `Finder' but finds it impossible to refuse a call from Calpurnia, Caesar's wife.
Rumours abound about plots & conspiracy against the life of Caesar & the person hired by Calpurnia to look into these conspiracies, has turned up dead on her own doorstep. Gordianus agrees to help, but not from any love for Caesar. The person found dead on Calpurnia's doorstep was a friend of Gordianus & for old times sake Gordianus will do everythingin his power to find the killer.
