Ovid (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries) (Marcus Corvinus) [Paperback]

David Wishart (Author)

Book Description

Series: Marcus Corvinus | Publication Date: August 15, 2006

Nobleman by birth, loutish party boy by temperment, Marcus Corvinus is a citizen of ancient Rome, but he would be as much at home in a champagne-stained tux as he is in a toga. He'd like to shed that toga for the beautiful Lady Perilla, but in return for her favor she demands that Corvinus help retrieve her stepfather's ashes for burial in Rome. The task proves more difficult than expected: Perilla's stepfather was the famous poet Ovid, exiled years earlier and still loathsome to the Emperor Tiberius. But Corvinus' arrogance - and letch for Perilla - keep him on course, even when the Emperor's thugs try a little up-close-and-personal persuasion. Author David Wishart, a classical scholar, knows a great deal about both ancient Rome and gilded youth. You may not approve of Corvinus, but you'll have a tough time resisting his charm.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A taut thriller in with Ancient Rome springs to life. --The Times (London)

Wishart takes true historical events and blends them into a concoction so pacy that you hardly notice all those interesting details of Roman life being slipped in...Salve! To the top toga-wearing 'tec!' --Highland News (UK)

About the Author

David Wishart studied Classics at Edinburgh University. He then taught Latin and Greek in school for four years and after this retrained as a teacher of EFL. He lived and worked abroad for eleven years, working in Kuwait, Greece and Saudi Arabia, and now lives with his wife and family in Scotland. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 201 pages
• Publisher: Felony & Mayhem (August 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193339739X
• ISBN-13: 978-1933397399
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,151,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Roman mistery book with a new hero, Corvinus, September 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ovid (Hardcover)

I have read several books of David Wishart and I have found them all very good, witty and enjoyable. 'Ovid', the first one of the series featuring Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus as an upper class Roman detective sets the plot for the subsequent books, 'Germanicus', 'Sejanus' and 'The Lydian Baker', giving new interpretations to known political misteries in the reign of Tiberius, all of it with humor and a very sarcastic (even explicit) language. Marcus Corvinus, a patrician diletant that spends his days and nights enjoying wine (in big quantities), Roman cooking (incredible recipes) and all sorts of entertainment without thought of following his ancestors duty and starting the first steps of his Cursus Honorum, see his lazy existence shattered when a primly and very attractive joung matron, Ovid stepdaughter, remainds him of his duty as a representative of Ovid's patron family to bring back Ovid's ashes from exile. A simple request that turns not so simple when it is rejected by a very scared bureaucrat at the imperial palace, with the note that it has been considered and refused by the highest possible authority, no further explanations given. Mustard up his nose and backed up by generations of stubborn, upper class Valerii, Corvinus sets up to find out what did Ovid really do, back in Augustus time, to have the imperial displeasure extended to a handful of ashes years later, even if that means confronting Tiberius and Livia! For those who enjoyed I Claudius, you will find here a new vision, not necessarily opposed, of the imperial Caesar family and, as the titles indicate in Germanicus and Sejanus, a new vision of some well know episodes of the Tiberius reign. David Wishart has published two additional biography books, 'I Virgil' and 'Nero', that I also recommend. Unfortunately, I have not found any of the books in Amazon, except for 'Ovid', but I hope this will change...

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Book in the Series, February 7, 2007

By 

J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ovid (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries) (Marcus Corvinus) (Paperback)

David Wishart was born in Arbroath, Scotland. He studied Classics - Latin and Greek - at Edinburgh University and after graduation taught for four years in a secondary school. He then retrained as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language and worked abroad for eleven years, in Kuwait, Greece and Saudi Arabia. He returned to Scotland in 1990 and now lives with his family in Carnoustie, mixing writing with teaching EFL and study skills at Dundee University.

This is the first in the series of novel by the author featuring Marcus Corvinus, an amateur sleuth and connoisseur of fine wines. The books take a similar theme to the Falco novels of Lindsey Davis, but Falco and Corvinus are from different periods of Roman history. The time period and class of Wishart's sleuth are different. Falco lives in Flavian Rome and has just worked his way into the Equestrian class, while Corvinus is a patrician in the age of Tiberius. However both Corvinus and Falco have a wife behind them, who it could be said, is the making of them.

The books are popular and for anyone who likes Lindsey Davis or Steven Saylor are a must. This one as the title suggest is about Ovid and the mystery behind what he actually did to get himself exiled from Rome.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the varian debacle, July 5, 2006

By 

Richard Scott "bone doc" (michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ovid (Marcus Corvinus Mysteries) (Paperback)

a lot like Lindsay Davis Falco, the hero is a fun character. Fun reading for those who like Roman history