The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits [Paperback]

Mike Ashley (Editor), Steven Saylor (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2003

A host of totally new stories written by some of the most popular writers of historical mysteries brings to life the glorious and nefarious world that for nearly a thousand years—from the founding of the Republic in 510 B.C. to the deposing of the last emperor, Romulus, in 476 A.D.—was ancient Rome. Events from the turbulent reigns of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, and Nero provide the colorful background to tales ingeniously contrived by contributors like Paul Doherty, Gillian Bradshaw, and Richard Butler. While John Maddox Roberts offers a new SPQR story, Steven Saylor, Marilyn Todd, Rosemary Rowe, Darrell Schweitzer, and Michael Kurland challenge their sleuths Gordianus the Finder, Claudia, Libertus, Pliny the Younger, and Quintilian with baffling new cases. Mary Reed and Eric Mayer conjure new intrigue for John the Eunuch, and Peter Tremayne sends his Fidelma on the trail of a Roman legion lost in Ireland. In addition to the original stories specially commissioned for this volume, this book also includes such rare reprints as a Slave Detective story by Wallace Nichols and one of the earliest historical mysteries to be set in Rome, "De Crimine" by Miriam Allen de Ford. which features Cicero as the investigator.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mike Ashley is author and editor of many Mammoth titles including crime-fiction collections such as the Mammoth Book of Locked Room Mysteries, the Mammoth Book of Ancient Egyptian Whodunnits and the Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 526 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (September 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786712414
• ISBN-13: 978-0786712410
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,049,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SPQR, November 4, 2003

By 

Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits (Paperback)

Being an avid fan of Gordianus the Finder and Marcus Didius Falco, buying this book of short stories concerning mysteries set in the Roman world was a "no-brainer". I assumed that this collection, like all collections of stories, would vary in quality from indifferent to excellent. Thankfully, I was wrong, for all of the stories are top-notch examples of mystery writing at its best, including the one supposedly from 1866 or so, which is a good example of older writing. I'm pleased that Gordianus is in this book, but did miss Falco, although I did make the acquaintance of new friends of mystery whose careeers I will follow in other published works by their authors. If you, like me, enjoy mysteries set during Roman times, and can't get enough of them through novel length works, I highly recommend this wonderful collection. You will not be disappointed!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some really great stories; some flat stories, October 14, 2004

By 

TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits (Paperback)

I love the mysteries from Steven Saylor and Rosemary Rowe so I thought this would be a great collection. They each have a story in this collection. Both are good, Rowe's better than Saylor's. I was also very impressed with Wallace Nichols older story; it made me want to try and find his other work. Caroline Lawrence's children's story was also interesting but I didn't think it did the period justice. In fact, maybe because I study ancient history (and just taught a college level Roman History course in the spring of 2004) I couldn't get over some of the historical problems with several of the stories in this collection. For example Michael Jecks' piece was full of very odd words that just did not fit in the context of his chosen time period and that made it very difficult for me to read. Other stories just didn't have main characters that grapped me. *shrug* Large collections are generall so-so in quality so I guess I should not have been very surprised.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit tired, December 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits (Paperback)

The stories in this book just don't seem to be of the same caliber as those in previous Mammoth editions...or maybe I'm just getting tired of "ancient" mysteries. One thing I do know, however...this book needed a good editor...and didn't have one...too many misspellings, etc.