The spring of 98 AD is a time of optimism in the turbulent frontier province of Britannia. Business is brisk at the mansio (inn) on the road to York that Aurelia Marcella runs with her twin brother Lucius. Then a wagon arrives bearing a local farmer with a grievous sword wound who is seeking treatment with the local Greek doctor. And Lucius appears at the mansio on a mission. When the farmer dies, the twins head for the coast to return the man to his family and to check out a shipwreck bearing valuable official cargo. A band of outlawed sea-raiders led by a Gaul are suspected of stealing it along with killing the farmer. It all adds up to the feuding that has erupted between the colonists and the natives. The natives claim the newcomers are stealing the best farmland, while the settlers accuse the locals of plotting rebellion against Rome. Both sides are using terrorist tactics: burning, kidnapping, and even murder. The trouble escalates and long-buried grudges are revived as counsellors, citizens, chiefs, and slaves mix in. But a subtle, personal agenda is at work as well--one or more of the combatants may have hired the Gauls to orchestrate the violence. This is the third novel in the Aurelia Marcella series.
I write mysteries with a historical setting. My Aurelia Marcella series is about an innkeeper in Roman Britain, who lives on the road to York, and runs (she assures everyone) "the best inn north of Londinium." She also gets involved in solving mysteries, often putting herself in danger, and there are plenty of crimes and injustices that need her attention in the Roman province of Britain, where the recent Imperial conquest is still bitterly resented by many of the native tribesmen. Then of course there are the kind of crimes that crop up in every era: family feuds, quarrels between neighbours, violence rooted in greed or jealousy...
I live in Yorkshire, not very far from where my books are set, with my husband Richard and our two cocker spaniels. It's beautiful countryside close to the sea. There are all sorts of Roman remains around, and archaeologists are continually digging up more of the everyday things that the Romans left behind, from writing-tablets to cooking pots, and from soldiers' swords to women's jewellery. This is a fascinating time to be reading and writing about life (and death) here two thousand years ago.
