Whispering of Spies
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A gruesome discovery leads Libertus on a dangerous quest . . . - Wealthy Volus, ex-lictor to the Imperial Governor of Gaul, is retiring to the town of Glevum. Libertus is sent to his new apartment, where he is informed that one of the ex-lictor’s treasure carts has been intercepted, the guards and horses brutally butchered. When his actions are misinterpreted by a network of spies, Libertus is suspected of involvement in the massacre and marched to the garrison to await trial. But after daringly escaping, Libertus embarks on a dangerous quest to discover the truth . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Clever plot shifts and fully realized characters distinguish Rowe's 13th second-century Roman Britain mystery featuring pavement-maker Libertus (after 2011's The Vestal Vanishes). Libertus's influential, if capricious, patron, Marcus Septimus Aurelius, asks for his help in ascertaining whether an invitation to dine should be accepted. The question arises because of the immense wealth of the meal's host, Voluus, newly arrived in Glevum (modern-day Gloucester) from Gaul, where he was "personal attendant, bodyguard and on-the-spot torturer and executioner for the outgoing governor of Gaul." Aurelius is concerned that the man's riches far exceed what his salary would have been. If it turns out the gains were ill-gotten, Aurelius's standing might suffer. What should be a relatively straightforward assignment becomes geometrically more complex after some of Voluus's treasure is stolen in a violent attack that leaves four bodyguards dead with their mounts disemboweled and Libertus a suspect. Rowe offers one of her most ingenious solutions.
