Illegally Dead (Marcus Corvinus Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

David Wishart (Author)

Book Description

Series: Marcus Corvinus Mysteries | Publication Date: February 1, 2009

When Corvinus receives a letter from his adopted daughter, Marilla, with a tantalizing postscript mentioning a possible murder, he hot-foots it to Castrimoenium at once. Not everyone, however, agrees that Lucius Hostilius was murdered. Poison was apparently the means of death, but Lucius was terminally ill. It was only a matter of time. Although he hasn't any official investigative status, Corvinus can't resist doing a little amateur sleuthing. And he has barely begun when two other corpses turn up and he is formally on the case. Lucius had been suffering something of a personality change because of his illness, so there is no shortage of suspects among friends and family whom he had antagonized. But Corvinus goes up many a blind alley before arriving at the heart of the mystery. As we follow Marcus Corvinus, clue by clue, on his 10th case, we allow ourselves to be diverted by rumors of Meton’s love life—and by an authentic recipe for fish pickle sauce.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Wishart's investigator pinches his conversation style and hardboiled wisecracking from classic Hollywood noir, which adds a charming incongruity to this entertaining whodunit. A sinuous plot and robustly drawn characters, including an uppity slave and a formidable widow, all add piquancy to this stew of small-town misdemeanours.' -- Financial Times 'This is a good, racy account of life in Roman times, with many excellent details of the intimacies of life ... Corvinius is a fast talking, wisecracking detective, who inspires confidence in the reader that nothing much will get past his shrewd eye ... This is an entertaining read, with many vivid and humorous characters who can be recognised as types universally known both in ancient Rome and today. The combination of a modern detective story with an informed and well-researched description of ancient Rome is a winner.' -- Crimesquad 'Ancient Rome's shrewdest and most sardonic detective ... the best balance of mystery and history yet.' -- Kirkus Reviews on PARTHIAN SHOT 'Drawn with great dash, and the one-liners are as good as ever. Genius.' -- Good Book Guide on A VOTE FOR MURDER 'Like Chandler's Marlowe, Corvinus wisecracks his way through a weary world of murder and intrigue until he hunts down the truth. A taut thriller in which ancient Rome springs to life' -- The Times on SEJANUS

About the Author

David Wishart is the author of the Marcus Corvinus Mystery series.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340840390
• ISBN-13: 978-0340840399
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a very absorbing read, April 21, 2008

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Illegally Dead (Marcus Corvinus Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This fast paced and engrossing Marcus Corvinus installment finds Marcus and his wife, Perilla, visiting the small town of Castrimonenium, in order to figure out whether or not a local lawyer was murdered.

When Marcus and Perilla receive a letter from their adopted daughter, Marilla, intimating that a murder may have been committed in the town she's currently residing in, they immediately make for Castrimoneium in order to get more information. It turns out that the lawyer, Lucius Hostillius has succumbed to a heart seizure and has passed away. But Lucius' doctor, Hyperion, is not satisfied and fears that someone may have tampered with the dosage. The trouble is that in accordance of Roman law, if Hyperion voices his suspicions, Lucius' household slaves would be rounded up and tortured in order to prise information from them. And Hyperion would rather not say anything unless the evidence that Lucius had been "helped" to his death is conclusive. And so he asks Marcus Corvinus to look into the matter. But Marcus will have to work on the quiet so as not to arouse the interest of the authorities. Can our intrepid investigator pull this off?

I've been a fan of this series ever since I read "Ovid." But I have to admit that fan though I am, I haven't read every single installment in this series. What I have read I have liked immensely; finding the books to be well written, finely paced, taut and full of wonderful historical detail and ambiance. This is all true of "Illegally Dead." David Wishart does a first rate job here of executing and fleshing out this tale and of keeping one guessing as to what exactly is going on and who the guilty parties are. All in all this was a very engrossing and absolutely riveting read -- even as I confess that a couple of thing grated: namely that Marcus seemed to jump to some rather premature assumptions about his suspects based solely on his reactions towards them (and had to be talked around to sense by Perilla); and that I found Marcus' 'tough' street voice to be a little incongruous and a little false. Would a patrician have such a narrative voice? I'm going to have to reread "Ovid" in order to find out.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Quick read; little substance, May 4, 2009

By 

John Carr (Swampscott, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Illegally Dead (Marcus Corvinus Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

A competently told, entertaining story, once you accept it for what it is, which is slightly hard-boiled Agatha Christie with togas and snappy dialog. The plot puzzle is all; historical setting is unimportant. With a single exception - the narrator's queasy dread at thought of a forensic autopsy - the main characters are completely ahistorical in their attitudes, while the background of a small Etruscan town circa middle of first century A.D. is just stage furniture and costumes. Even the title is clunky and flat.
Wishart has done much better (see Sejanus or White Murder). I gave Illegally Dead 3 stars but if rating system had permitted a little more than half way between 2 and 3 would have been more accurate.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good But Not Wishart's Best, March 22, 2009

By 

NoseInBook "NoseInBook" (Damascus, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Illegally Dead (Marcus Corvinus Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I didn't enjoy this as much as earlier Wisharts--I have to say that the slangy speech by the protagonist begins to grate--it feels completely out of character for an aristocratic Roman of the period.