The Mosaic of Shadows (A Byzantine Mystery) [Hardcover]

Tom Harper (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Byzantine Mystery | Publication Date: May 12, 2005

Byzantium, 1096. A mysterious assassin releases an arrow aimed at the emperor---but he has more than just a man in his sights. A keystone of a crumbling empire, the emperor is the solitary figure holding all the enemies in check. And if he falls, the mightiest power in Christendom will be torn apart.
Demetrios Askiates, unveiler of mysteries, is hired to catch the would-be-killer. But he is entering an unknown world; a babbling cauldron of princes, slaves, mercenaries, pimps, and eunuchs. Not all enemies are within the city walls, however, and with the Turks running rampant across Asia, the emperor has sent to the west for mercenaries to reinforce his position. When a great army, tens of thousands strong, appears before the city gates---the emperor gets more than he bargained for. From the depths of the slums to the golden towers of the city palace; from the sands of the hippodrome to the soaring domes of Ayia Sophia; Demetrios must edge his way through a glittering maze of treachery and deceit before time runs out.
Intent on making their fortunes in war, and with no allegiance to this empire, the first crusaders have arrived with eyes full of jealousy and suspicion. As the armies of the east and west confront each other, and with the assassin creeping ever closer to his prey, Demetrios must untangle this golden web of intrigue that surrounds the emperor---before the city, and the empire, are drowned in blood.
 
"His portrayal of the Byzantine city and the intrigues that threaten its destruction is vivid and convincing."
---The Sunday Times (UK)
 
"It's a world that Harper brings exuberantly to life, clearly revelling in its teeming, tumultuous extravagance. But he also has a sharp eye for an intriguing mystery."
---Yorkshire Post (UK)
 
"Tom Harper writes with strident clarity in this epic tale of murder and betrayal, bloodshed and romance. Gripping from the first page, the reader is swept up.... Well researched and cinematic in its imagery, this is a fast-paced and exciting debut."
---INK (UK)
 
"A gripping tale...I look forward to Demetrios's further adventures."
---Elizabeth Hawksley, Historical Novels Review
 
"A lively adventure.... The imperial palace, with all its splendor and intrigue, is brought vividly to life."
---Good Book Review (UK)
 
"An engaging romp---Byzantine not only in time and location but the ins and outs of the plot."
---The Advertiser (Australia)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. British author Harper effortlessly draws the reader into the court intrigues and conspiracies of 11th-century Byzantium in his outstanding debut. Former bounty hunter and bodyguard Demetrios the Apokalyptor (who will remind many of Steven Saylor's ancient Roman sleuth, Gordianus the Finder) is summoned to Emperor Alexios's palace after a mysterious assassin narrowly misses killing the ruler with an arrowlike weapon that managed to pierce a guard's armor. The emperor's chamberlain, Krysaphios, hires Demetrios to identify the murderer, as well as the forces behind him. The quest is imbued with greater urgency as the residents of the empire's capital nervously anticipate the arrival of a large barbarian army, ostensible allies who may be connected with the attempted regicide. Nicely balancing action and deduction, Harper creates both a credible hero and supporting characters. While the final plot twist is plausible, there may not be enough shock value for veteran whodunit readers. But fans of well-written, meticulously researched historicals should embrace this promising new talent.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The title's shadowy mosaic is an apt metaphor for the myriad puzzle pieces Demetrios Askiates must fit together to capture a would-be assassin and prevent a disastrous war in this historical thriller set in eleventh-century Constantinople. When a sniper attempts to fell Emperor Alexios, the court eunuch, Krysaphios, engages Askiates' sleuthing talents to uncover the twisted plot that would unseat a king and unsettle the eastern Roman Empire with an ensuing power shift. As he tackles the long list of those who would benefit from the emperor's demise, Demetrios must also skirt the overzealous and interfering Varangians and test his newfound diplomatic skills with an army of Crusaders camped outside the city walls. In this series opener, the scene is set with exquisite detail--royal palaces dripping with gold and jewels, mincing courtiers vying for power, back alleys paved in poverty and the harsh realities of Byzantine life. Harper introduces likable characters whose humorous foibles keep the story alive, and he hints at future romance and intrigue--all of which bodes well for Demetrios' career as a series sleuth. Jennifer Baker
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books (May 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312338678
• ISBN-13: 978-0312338671
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #993,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable story by young author, December 2, 2005

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Mosaic of Shadows (A Byzantine Mystery) (Hardcover)

After the disaster at Manzikert, the great Byzantine Empire calls for help from the 'barbarian' west. Emperor Alexios Komnenos appeals for mercenaries to help him re-capture his Asian province (modern-day Turkey). Instead, the west responds with the First Crusade. The Crusaders are anxious to confront the Turks who occupy Jerusalem, but they have no interest in helping Alexios regain his lost province. When Alexios demands their oath that any conquests within his former territory be returned to him, they refuse. Political hardball? Perhaps. But when an assassin's bolt nearly kills the Emperor, the Emperor's eunuch hires ex-mercenary and now detective Demetrios Askiates to uncover the truth.

Pieces of the truth are easy enough to discover. The bolt could only have been fired from a western crossbow, the kind the Franks outside the city carry. And a monk who seems to follow the western rites is clearly responsible. But the eunuch knows that a foreign monk cannot be the center of the plot. Some 'Roman' must be involved--one with enough power that he would be in a position to have himself proclaimed Emperor if the current Emperor falls.

Author Tom Harper does a fine job describing the city of Constantinople under siege, the Greek intrigues that so frustrated the western Crusaders, and the various groups of mercenaries who defended the Empire while the mob often controlled its fate. Demetrios Askiates makes an intriguing sleuth, with his concern for his daughters and his ambivalent feelings toward the beautiful doctor, Anna. We can, perhaps, forgive 26-year-old author Harper for believing that a man in his mid-thirties is over the hill and unable to carry weapons effectively.

Fans of historical mystery will want to pick up MOSAIC OF SHADOWS--and hope that we soon see more by Tom Harper.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Byzantine Cadfael?, August 10, 2005

By 

N. Nowak-kerigan "Natalia Nowak-Kerigan" (Reading, England.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mosaic of Shadows (A Byzantine Mystery) (Hardcover)

In 'Mosaic of Shadows', Tom Harper has drawn on meticulous research and all the latest scholarship to bring to life the magnificent city of Constantinople in all its eleventh-century splendour. Following the detective Demetrios as he unravels dark plots within the Empire, we are taken on an evocative tour through secret palace gardens, dense forests on the outskirts of the city, bustling markets and deep into the labrynthine sewers. Harper's plot is full of twists, and the mystery Demetrios unravels stretches all the way to the French cathedral city of Rheims and the English battlefield of Hastings, with a stark denouement during the Orthodox Good Friday liturgy. European publishers have already compared this medieval Greek sleuth with Peter Ellis' hugely successful Brother Cadfael.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs improvement but promising..., March 19, 2004

By 

ilmk "ilmk" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mosaic of Shadows (Hardcover)

Harper's first novel concerns the activities of one Demetrios Askiades, Constantinople's Didius Falco, to whom we receive no background introduction (until his conversation with Dr Anna a quarter way into the book) but are immediately plunged into his commission to locate a date-loving foreign mercenary who fired an arrow from an Genoese tzangra in an attempt to assassinate the Emperor Alexius.
After being commissioned by the imperial representative, Krysaphios, at a rate of three gold pieces per diem, he swiftly locates the method then the identity of the would be assassin. At his side is the zealously-loyal Vangrian captain, Sigurd, for whom tact and diplomacy are an alien concept, preferring the fist and the sword to obtain his information. At times it is remarkably effective. Skipping at some speed from scene to scene we first trace the details behind the attempt, meet Dr Anna at the monastery of Saint Andrew (with whom our sleuth immediately feels stirrings for and a jealousy of) and then unmask the youthful would-be killer.
Money earned, Askiades is promptly goaded into unveiling the greater mystery and finds himself in front of the emperor's odd colour boot wearing brother. The mysteries continue to deepen as Askiades relationship with the young Thomas and Dr Anna develops. In the meantime the ever-growing rumoured threat of an attacking Frankish army means that Constantinople must prepare itself for a siege. At this point the entire novel lifts as we deal the arrival of the Frankish army on the First Crusade, headed by Godwin and Baldwin. Askiades is instructed to focus his efforts there after a near miss in the sewers with the mysterious monk who is behind the assassination attempts. After getting trapped in the ever belligerent Frankish camp in Galata, Sigurd and Askiades learn of impending treachery to allow the crusaders into Constantinople and of the undoubted link between the assassin monk and Baldwin.
After they both escape the Frankish army attacks Constantinople and the denouement races towards its climax as Alexius is nearly assassinated for good and the true conspirator is unmasked by Askiades who saves not only his emperor but his city before retiring to a well earned evening with the ever present Anna.
Unfortunately, Tom Harper's opening novel reads like a first attempt. It does, at times, show immense promise, but, at others, shows technical weakness in characterisation. This is particularly evident in Askiates relationships with all personages imperial in Constantinople. From the outset his attitude is aggressive, inexplicably so, and he goes from informative to angry in the blink of an eye to such an extent that the prose does not flow during these scenes. In fact, most of the characters are two dimensional in their personalities, capable of only two emotions of which the second is always that of anger. It is as though the author has decided that we need one fierce character, one beset-upon character, one sarcastic character, one gentle character, one empathic character, one sympathetic character and so on. It's almost programmatic: if the single personality trait doesn't fit the scene then aggression is the only other emotional response - bizarrely so in some scenes. Another flaw is the sense of haste throughout the novel is as though Harper is keen to get to the next key scene, whereas more `fill' would actually serve to produce a better novel.
Nevertheless, whereas the characterisation needs considerable improvement, the plot does not and offers exciting sleuthing in late eleventh century Constantinople where the twists and turns as our hero unravels the intricacies of imperial politics are well executed. The action accelerates throughout out the novel and the complexities of plot are unraveled with effortless ease causing a roaring end to the first novel.
So, for a first effort from this oxford medieval scholar, it does show sufficient promise to mean the second Askiates mystery will be looked for by this reader and I have no doubt Harper will improve with each new offering.