Customer Reviews

Nox Dormienda: A Long Night for Sleeping (An Arcturus Mystery)

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In Nox Dormienda, Kelli Stanley brings Roman Britain in the first century A.D. to life with deft writing and deep knowledge of the times. The story follows half-Roman, half-Briton Arcturus, physician and informal investigator to the Roman governor Agricola, as he delves into the death of a shady merchant. The trail leads through Londinium's seedy underbelly, shining a light in dark corners from the lowliest prostitute's crib to the highest seats of Roman power. The setting is crisply-drawn, the characters rich and engaging, and the mystery tight and enthralling, with Arcturus' wry humor and keen observations leading the way through this gritty page-turner. If you enjoy classic noir, or you enjoy your mystery with a classical setting, you won't be disappointed. It may be A Long Night for Sleeping, but don't plan on any sleep until you finish this gem.

Set in 83 AD, this is the story of Arcturus, the official doctor of Agricola, the Governor of Brittania. When a beautiful woman tells Arcturus that the Emperor has sent a spy to Brittania to demand the resignation of Agricola, and that spy turns up dead, Arcturus needs to figure out what is going on in order to prevent a war.

Stanley debuts a new genre, Roman Noir, with this book. It combines noir with historical mysteries set in the time of the Roman Empire. The cynical detective, the femme fatale, and the seedier sides of town, all help create the feel of the classic detective stories of the 1940s.

I found the pace a little slow and the excessive use of Latin words confusing. There is a glossary in the back of the book and I needed to use it frequently to understand the Latin terminology used in the story. Readers familiar with these words would probably have less trouble with this.

I liked Arcturus and the internal struggle created by a native mother and a Roman father. This gave him the ability to walk on both sides of society and take us with him. Some of the secondary characters could have been fleshed out a bit more.

I would recommend this book for those interested in either Roman history or noir.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

Author Kelli Stanley has a Classics education and an astonishingly wide range of interests and achievements. It's our good luck that one of her interests is noir fiction, or in this case the "roman noir," a nice little pun describing her wonderful new novel Nox Dormienda: A Long Night for Sleeping (An Arcturus Mystery). The book is set in 83 A.D. Londinium, a trading center in the Roman province of Brittania under the governorship of Agricola. Agricola is a little too successful and popular, and that's not good news for Domitian, the Roman emperor. Domitian sends a spy to watch Agricola, the spy is murdered, and Agricola's doctor Arcturus has just seven days to discover who murdered the spy to avert a serious civil war.

Stanley's knowledge of the Roman age gives NOX DORMIENDA an unexpected sense of immediacy, and her other love -- noir fiction -- brings a gritty, Sam Spade realism to the first-person story of Arcturus. Besides hardboiled dialogue, there is insider's scuttlebutt from two centuries ago. For example, speaking of Domitian, Arcturus says, "I'd met the Emperor just once. Even then he was more pedant than scholar. And he never laughed. Vespasian was a garrulous old sod who never minded a good joke, even at his own expense. But his slight, bald, correct-to-the-letter son believed in his own sanctity too much. He wasn't much of a god, still less of a man."

The book finishes with an informative author's note (Stanley begins, "I'm going to try to keep this what it claims to be: a note, rather than a thesis"). There is also a glossary and list of references in the back. And if that's not enough, you may want to check out Kelli Stanley's website, where I spent part of this rainy afternoon.

Stanley plans more books in the Arcturus series, which is a very good thing. Bene!

Linda Bulger, 2008

I like mysteries, and lately have read many of the mystery series set in ancient Rome such as John Maddox Roberts' SPQR series, Lindsey Davis' Marco Didius Falco series, and Steven Saylor's Gordianus the Finder series. Enjoy(ing) all of them! I'm also reading the very intense "Masters of Rome" series (not a mystery) by Colleen McCullough which is wonderfully written and covers the entired fall of the Roman Republic and the beginnings of the Roman Imperial age.

This stand-alone book looked interesting, and I did enjoy it. It is set in Londinium, in Roman ruled England, when the (real) Agricola was governor. The main character is a Roman citizen whose mother was British, ie, a "native" but whose father was an ex-Roman legionnaire. (the retired troops were usually rewarded in colonial land to farm, as the main character's father was.)

Arcturus (the main character) is the medical officer for the Roman legions stationed in Londinium and nearby areas and is Agricola's personal physician.

There is a fair amount about the "restlessness of the natives" ie the British, as their Druidic religious sites are being destroyed, and their native religion wiped out by the Romans. ( There is also a subplot which I wish had been more in depth about the soldier-cult of Mithras which spread all over the Roman Empire carried by the soldiers.)

Arcturus, being half-native has empathy for the natives and the old religion in way a typical Roman of his time would not have had. He can also speak their language and knows their beliefs.

I liked how the story stepped right into the middle of an ongoing life, unlike some books where the main character only comes to life with the first page of the book. Without superfluous explanation the author allows the reader to make sense of casual comments about past losses, current love affairs, and basically presents a sense of a life in adulthood with the usual complex history.

It is supposed to be followed up with sequels, which I do hope happens. I don't like to give away plots, especially with mysteries, so I'll just add the characters were interesting, and Ms Stanley's background as a classical scholar makes her knowledge of the subject undoubtedly thorough. I did catch one anachronism...unless she was copying Shakespeare?...a clock in a tavern!!

The ending was satisfying, but perhaps a bit TOO much of "everybody lived happily ever after"? No serious gore or ultra-descriptive sex scenes (though a brothel and prositution are part of the story) but neither is one drenched in the worst the world has to offer at every turn as in for example, the latest Hannibal Lector books.

Yet this is presented as a noir mystery, with contributions from the Noir school of film making. It didn't come across to me that dark and intense however, nor was the ending typical of a classic noir.

Hopefully this makes sense. I am looking forward to the next book...AND...no author who gives kudos in her introduction to JK Rowling for insisting H.P. be translated into Greek and Latin can help but be "good people" who deserve a chance! Hope her series is as long lasting as those listed above.

Nox Dormienda introduces Arcturus, a half-British, half-Roman doctor who is the physician of Agricola, the provincial governor of Britannia in 83 AD. When a Syrian spy, possibly carrying a message terminating Agricola's tenure, is found dead, Arcturus is asked by Agricola to find the truth. It's December, and Arturus's toga is usually soaked and trailing mud, as he walks the mean streets of Londinium that are teeming with citizens, freedmen, slaves, whores, politicians, and Druids. History comes alive in this "Roman Noir," that seamlessly weaves details of daily life (honey is an approved medical treatment!) into a fast-paced and fascinating mystery.
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"Nox Dormienda" is a murder mystery set in Roman Britain of 83 AD. Domitian is emperor in Rome, and the outer borders of the empire, including Britain, are increasingly under political stress. A competent and popular general, Agricola, is Domitian's governor in Londinium, but perhaps he's too good at his job? Domitian is a jealous boss and there are signs that he sees Agricola as a threat to his throne. Domitian dispatches a personal representative to Britain with a message for Agricola. He arrives in Londinium, but before he is received by the governor, he is literally dispatched for good with a dagger to the chest. The death puts Agricola in a precarious position. How does he explain the murder to his superior?

Enter the book's protagonist--Julius Alpinus Classicianus Favonianus--aka Arcturus, friend of Agricola and a "medicus" for the Roman legion stationed in Londinium. Arcturus is well-known as a political mediator and amateur detective who has been helpful to the governor on other occasions. He is charged with solving the murder of the emperor's representative so that Agricola can provide Domitian with a face-saving explanation for the death.

The author has done a credible job in setting this story up, and even though there have been similar sagas preceding this one i.e. Roman doctor/amateur detective/friend of the governor, etc., the research on the historic setting was well done. Somewhere about 20 pages into the story however, the tale veers off in the direction of gothic romance, when a beautiful and beleaguered woman enters the picture and sweeps hero Arcturus off his feet. The heaving bosoms and testosterone flows continue throughout the rest of the book in ways that would please Barbara Cartland and her acolytes, but didn't do much for this reader.

On the whole, I found this to be an okay read, but it doesn't come up to the standards set by the likes of Lindsey Davis, Ben Pastor, and others covering the same period with their own Roman sleuths.

Kelli Stanley hits it out of the park with her debut book. I disagree with the person who said that it moved slowly - I thought it was a very well paced book. She joins Lindsey Davis, Robert Maddux and the other Roman Mystery writers in giving us a likable character that we want to visit again and again.

Stanley does a great job of bringing the feel of Roman Britannia alive. She does not focus solely on Roman society and religion, but on the natives as well. I think this will be a great series to keep up with and I can't wait to read the next book, which I think is called Maledictus.

Oh, I also wanted to mention that it was great to have an author describe some of the techniques used by medicos in that era.

In 83 AD Londinium, doctor Julius "Arcturus" Favonianus learns from widow Claudia "Gwyna" Catussa that his prime employer and friend Britannia Governor, Agricola is in trouble with Roman Emperor Domitian. Apparently the Emperor has sent fat avaricious Syrian Vibius Maecenas with papers demanding Agricola to resign. Gwyna further explains that the odious Syrian freeman is her sponsus.It was arranged by her dying father for her to marry the pig; she will kill herself before she allows him to impregnate her.

After she leaves, Arcturus sends his servant Bilicho to follow her. Not long after that, the Romans arrive to escort Arcturus to a hidden forbidden temple where Maecenas is dead looking like a ghastly imitation of Mithras slaying the bull. Arcturus with Bilicho to assist investigates the homicide that could lead to civil war between the Roman legion and the British even as he is attracted to the prime suspect Gwyna.

Although the resolution is weak; fans of ancient historical mysteries will enjoy this entertaining Britannia Noir as Arcturus escorts the audience to places not normally found in Roman Empire whodunits. Little things like a Roman name and a native name enhances a sense of time and place. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the soldiers take the lead character to the crime scene and never slows down as he investigates the homicide while fearing if he takes too long to resolve, hostilities will turn ugly. NOX DORMIENDA is an enjoyable first century amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner

The setting is Londinium in the first century A.D. Arcturus is a man caught between worlds - part Briton and part Roman, both sides tend to view him with distance and suspicion, if not outright hostility. But Arcturus' is protected by his role as physician to Agricola, Roman Governor of Britain. Too, he has made himself indispensable to Agricola in other ways, serving as an informal investigator for his mentor.

In Nox Dormienda (A Long Night for Sleeping), Kelli Stanley's first "roman noir" novel, Arcturus is assigned to investigate the murder of Vibius Maecenas, a Syrian merchant who was carrying a message for Agricola at the time of his death.

Arcturus narrates the novel in the first person, as befits a noir novel. He has the perfect world-weary voice, slightly cynical but deep down wanting to believe in the very people he mistrusts. In the course of his investigation, he crosses paths with a beautiful femme fatale who may or may not be aiding his investigation with her cryptic clues and seductive gazes.

The mystery is well-paced and kept me guessing right up to the end. Kelli Stanley brings Roman London to life with her vivid descriptions of life at the time, and I enjoyed the liberal peppering of Latin phrases throughout.
Arcturus is witty and stubborn to a fault, and he makes a likable, realistically flawed protagonist.

Loved Nox Dormienda, Love Kelli Stanley. She carries you right into the story, you feel like you are walking the streets, breathing the air, feeling the dampness, sitting with the characters.

I hated for the story to end. Eagerly awaiting more from Kelli Stanley. Sure hope she works fast.