Reunited at last with his long-lost wife, Libertus returns to Glevum. But his new-found happiness is rudely interrupted by the news that a visiting Roman ambassador has been murdered in the temple of the Imperial cult. Events take a bizarre and chilling turn when the body disappears, and a superstitious terror grips the town when unearthly wails are heard coming from the temple, and bloodstains begin to appear as if from nowhere.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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"A considerable achievement." -- The Times
From the Publisher
For those who like their crime clad in a toga, this cunningly drawn series set in 2nd-century Roman Britain will satisfy indeed. Rich in intriguing and authentic historical detail, and featuring the investigative exploits of Libertus—former slave and amateur sleuth—this is ancient history with a murderous twist.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Libertus flounders,
By ilmk "ilmk" (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Legatus Mystery (Hardcover)
Rowe's latest Libertus offering - `The Legatus Mystery'- proves the weakest to date. I'm not sure why but the entire effort is somewhat muddied, probably because Rowe allows Libertus to lose the normally cool-headed thought process and end up supernaturally confused and fleeing for his life from an misguided Glevum mob who believe that he's brought the wrath of the Gods down on them. All of which throws us out of kilter and turns him nearly into an emotional wreck. Very un-Libertus-like.This fifth installment has our sleuth returning from London with his `wife' Gwellia, to be ordered to uncover the amazing case of the vanishing corpse from the inner sanctum of the temple as found by its sub-sevir, Meritus. Several others are in the frame, includng the Pontifex, Scribonius, Optimus, a lisping slave named somewhat unkindly by Libertus and Junio as Lithputh (though it does serve its own misleading purpose eventually), Hirsus and Trinculus. However, the plot takes more a case of discovering who the original body was - presumably an unknown missing legate, judging by the recovered ring - rather than concluding there actually was a murder and who the suspects were - and therein lies the key to the entire mystery. So, we actually get to see Libertus laying a mosaic, tentatively drag the usual adulterous Roman matron in to the script, have some further insights as to Libertus' new and changing relationships with both Gwellia and Junio, profess our usual irritation with Marcus who is becoming excellent at jumping to ridiculous conclusions whilst being prickly about insinuations of his stupidity by his client and stomp around a poorly portrayed temple before ucocvering the true murder and figuring out whodunnit. What Rowe is extremely good at it sending the reader down a completely blind alley. When the deouement reveals the culprit(s) you instantly see where the obvious clues were, but she has ingeniously hidden them in plain sight - always the mark of a good murder mystery author. However, as I stated at the very first, this is the weakest to date and I confess I put it aside several times to read other novels before finally finishing. I assume it's merely a blip as every Roman sleuth has an off day, and that the next installment will be back to the promise offered in the first four.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great Mystery,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Legatus Mystery (Hardcover)
I like Rosemary Rowe so if you enjoy mysteries in the Roman world you will like this one. Not a flashy detective like Falco but a good solid detective. Set in a later period of the empire and also in Britain not Rome. The Author does a good job bringing Roman Britain too life.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another well done job,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Legatus Mystery (Libertus Mystery Series) (Paperback)
Ms. Rowe does it again with her historical period mystery set in Roman Britain. Ms. Rowe writes less in the action genre of mysteries, but in the intellectual genre, where as Poirot puts it, you have to use your little grey cells. The former slave, and Celt, Libertus, has to do this. He makes his errors and takes his knocks for them, he deals with Roman attitudes towards social ranking and sexual ranking, and finds his way through the blocks put in his way. If you like historically accurate period writing, Ms. Rowe does it well. To me, it detracts if something is out of character and out of period, but I am a history buff and perhaps notice it more. But Ms. Rowe stays firmly on track, both in clever plotting and historical accuracy.
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