Customer Reviews

The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

For those who love Steven Saylor, you are in for a treat forther into Roman times before Gordanius,the Finder and beyond. For those who have never traveled to ancient Rome or have other favorite "Roman era" authors, you are sure to find them here and maybe some new ones!

This is an interesting collection of stories set in various periods of ancient Rome. The first is set during the Third Punic War, and the last two stories take place after the fall of Rome.

It's a nice idea, and the stories are (mostly) well-written, but most of them don't really evoke the time and place. They could happen almost anywhere. For example, one story is set during the reign of Domitian, but other than one mention of his name, it could just as easily occur during the reign of Hadrian or Caracalla.

Also, most of the stories don't really have a complex mystery, and calling them "whodunits" is more than a stretch. This is less important to me than evoking the historical milieu, but for those looking for juicy mysteries may well be disappointed.

The best stories are, unsurprisingly, by John Maddox Roberts and Steven Saylor, the two best writers in the genre. Roberts' story is not so much a mystery as a tale of political intrigue, but that's fine with me, as he's a brilliant writer and his feel for the period is unsurpassed.

There are a couple of stories I really didn't like, but most of them are middling pieces with a few interesting twists. I was hoping to discover more writers specializing in this genre but didn't come across anything that interested me. Still, these are decent light reads.

This is a very good anthology, with a wide spread not only of quality authors, but of stories set in different times and places in the Classical Roman sphere of influence. I am a minor historian and was not perturbed by any glaring inaccuracies. As a reader for pleasure I was not annoyed by painstaking details or footnotes. Some ripping good mysteries, and I find myself tempted to check out certain novel series based on short stories involving their sleuths.