Who killed the mosaic girl? As Lord Chamberlain, John spends his days counseling Emperor Justinian while passing the small hours of night in conversation with the solemn-eyed little girl depicted in a mosaic on his study wall. He never expected to meet her in a public square or afterwards find her red-dyed corpse in a subterranean cistern. Had the mysterious woman truly been the model for the mosaic years before as she claimed? Who was she? Why had she sought John out? Who wanted her dead -- and why?The answers seem to lie among the denizens of the smoky streets of that quarter of Constantinople known as the Copper Market, where artisans, beggars, prostitutes, pillar saints, and exiled aristocrats struggle to survive within sight of the Great Palace and yet worlds distant. John encounters a faded actress, a patriotic sausage maker, a sundial maker who fears the sun, a religious visionary, a man who lives in a treasure trove, and a beggar who owes his life to a cartload of melons. Before long he suspects he is attempting to unravel not just a murder but a plot against the empire. Or is John really on a personal quest, to find the reality behind the confidante he thought existed only in his own imagination? Is there such a thing as truth in a place where people live on memories, dreams, and illusions? Even if there is, can John push aside the shadows and find the truth in time?
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In Reed and Mayer's engrossing seventh mystery set in sixth-century Constantinople (after 2005's Six for Gold), John, lord chamberlain to the emperor Justinian, has taken to sharing his thoughts with a young girl, whom he's named Zoe, depicted in the mosaic on his study wall. One day John meets a woman on the street who identifies herself as Zoe and claims to be the model for the child in the mosaic. Who could have revealed his secret confessor? John wonders. When John finds this mysterious woman brutally beaten to death in a cistern, he begins a dangerous investigation that will take him into the lives of prostitutes, artisans, beggars and religious fanatics. Once again convincing historical detail and strong characterization help drive a riveting plot. Fans will be pleased to know that while the title is based on the last line of the verse on which the series is based, the authors plan to send John to Italy in an eighth volume. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
In the seventh mystery featuring Lord Chamberlain John, councillor to the emperor Justinian, John investigates a crime that affects him personally: the murder of a woman who claims to be the model for a mosaic on the wall of John’s study, a source of inspiration to him for years. Solving the crime involves navigating the mean streets of Constantinople, and as always in this series, the authors bring those streets to vivid life. This isn’t one of those superficial mysteries that use historical trappings to cover up a weak story; it’s a compelling crime novel that happens to be set in another time and place. --David Pitt
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A mystery that will stay with you,
By Mrs J (Dayton, Ohio) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Seven for a Secret: A John the Lord Chamberlain Mystery (John the Eunuch) (Hardcover)
Take a look at the wonderful cover of this book, and consider this quote from Ezra Pound: "The eyes of this dead lady speak to me." That's John the Eunuch's experience, too: the Lord Chamberlain to Justinian and the toxic Empress Theodora has found a safe and reliable confidante in the mosaic portrait of a girl he calls Zoë. Through the first six books in this series, Zoë--more than just a picture on a study wall-- has become real to the reader as well. So imagine how disconcerted John is to run into a young woman who claims to be the model for Zoë-- and how even more disconcerted he is to find her painted red and floating in an underground cistern, quite dead.
Finding the truth about Zoë becomes first a quest and then something of an obsession with John, and obsessive quests seldom go smoothly. As always, authors Reed and Mayer weave a fund of information about religion, politics, and life in Byzantium and a vivid cast of characters into a story that will draw you in and leave you thinking. John's servant Peter, his beloved Cornelia, and his conflicted excubitor friend Felix (among others) are real and plausible to a 21st-century reader, yet consistently true to the understandings and assumptions of their time and station. And anyone who remembers their college days can probably call to mind a pedantic poet.... One definition of a good mystery is that it leaves the reader in dialog with the characters even after the book ends. Using that definition, after the strong and poignant ending of this story, I still have a few choice words for Theodora. I join other reviewers in hoping that there will be many more chances to enter the world of John the Eunuch.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Strange Case of the Mosaic Girl...,
By
This review is from: Seven for a Secret: A John the Lord Chamberlain Mystery (John the Eunuch) (Hardcover)
John, Lord Chamberlain to the Emperor Justinian in Constantinople, pursues a rather personal murder mystery when a girl claiming to be "Zoe" seeks to meet with him and then is found murdered. "Zoe" is John's name for a girl depicted in a mosaic on the wall of his study, whom he sometimes talks aloud to in order to think things out, so he's quite surprised to find that a real girl is claiming to be Zoe--particularly since he recognizes that she could very well be the model. He first needs to find out about the mosaic (created for the house's previous owner), and also who has gossiped about his private habit... and of course who the body actually is, and why she wished to speak with him.
The mystery is intriguing... involving the past and the various nobles banished from the Palace, and possibly an old rumor about the Empress and maybe a plot against the Emperor. There is also a nice twist at the end. The setting of ancient Constantinople is particularly fun in this outing, since John is exploring the alley-ways of the Copper Market, full of beggars and merchants and prostitutes and actresses and holy men living on pillars. The truly Byzantine politics and intrigue and lifestyle of the city makes this series interesting.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable mystery set in a fascinating and horrible time,
By
This review is from: Seven for a Secret: A John the Lord Chamberlain Mystery (John the Eunuch) (Hardcover)
For years, John, Lord Camberlain in the service of Emperor Justinian, has solved his problems by talking to the mosaic on his office wall. Zoe has never answered back, but her silent gaze has helped him. Never answered back, that is, until now. John is approached by a woman who claims to be the mysterious Zoe. Before they can meet, however, John discover's the woman's murdered body.
The plague that recently hit Constantinople has faded, but there are plenty of other problems for a Lord Chamberlain to deal with... including constant plotting against the Emperor and his controversial wife, Theodora. As he investigates the murder, John runs into a number of disgruntled former officials, the author Procopius (who wrote 'The Secret Histories' detailing scandals of the Byzantine court), and learns that Zoe was actually Agnes, daughter of a disgraced former official. When John is attacked on the streets and his family threatened, he concludes that the murder is not an isolated event but somehow connected to a plot against the throne. The one rumor that seems both everywhere and constantly denied is that Theodora had a son before marrying Justinian and that this son is somewhere in the city. Authors Mary Reed and Eric Mayer continue their charming 'John the Eunuch' series with a story set amongst the depravity of the court, the ongoing religious conflict among Christian factions and between these factions and residual paganism and mostly-soldier followers of Mithra. John's investigation among the mosaic-makers, antiquities-dealers, eunuchs and court officials, actors and nunneries of Constantinople paint a vivid picture of this cosmopolitan city at a time when it seemed that perhaps the Roman Empire could be recreated with Constantinople, New Rome, at its center.
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