Nox Dormienda (A Long Night for Sleeping)
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4.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the Bruce Alexander Award for best historical mystery of 2008, Nox Dormienda is critically-acclaimed author Kelli Stanley's debut novel and the first book in a new series and new genre: Roman Noir.
Set in first century AD Londinium (London), Nox Dormienda introduces Arcturus, private physician for the governor of Britannia as well as his reluctant sleuth.
Vibius Maecenas, spy for Emperor Domitian, lies on an underground altar ... his throat slit to the spinal chord. Arcturus has one week to find out who butchered him--and why--before Agricola and all of Britannia are plunged into civil war with Rome.
Nox Dormienda is the first book in the Roman Noir series that continues with The Curse-Maker, available wherever print and e-books are sold.
Praise for Nox Dormienda:
Bruce Alexander Award winner
Macavity Award finalist
" ... takes the reader on a colorful tour of this singular culture high and low, from jails and brothels to the corridors of power. First-timer Stanley is sure-footed and enthusiastic about history ... and crafts a satisfyingly intricate puzzle ..." -- Kirkus, May 15, 2008
"In Nox Dormienda, Kelli Stanley has created a startling new genre of mystery: the Roman noir. Written in a fresh and uncompromising voice, here is a novel as evocative of ancient times as it is masterful in crafting a mystery as entangled and ingenious as any modern story. I look forward to vanishing again into the world she has created. Don't miss your chance to do the same." -- James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Judas Strain
"From first page to finis, Nox Dormienda by Kelli Stanley is chock full of chills, thrills, and breath-taking adventure. Fueled by fascinating characters and rich details from Londinium in 83 A.D., this unforgettable tale brings the past eerily alive while leaving you hungering for the next book in what surely will be an exciting series. Stanley is a terrific writer." -- Gayle Lynds, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Last Spymaster
"Nox Dormienda (A Long Night for Sleeping) nigh cost me a night's sleep! The language is a sheer treasure ... from classical to sheer class and for a book that is so meticulously researched, it has a wild and wondrous sense of humour. What a series this is going to be! Imagine Ellis Peters re-written by Elmore Leonard and you'll have some notion of this gem of a novel--and it moves like a gladiator on speed." -- Ken Bruen, Barry and Shamus Award-winning author of Priest
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite endorsements from Gayle Lynds, James Rollins and Ken Bruen, Stanley's debut offers little new that fans of ancient historicals in particular, the detective series set in Roman Britain of Rosemary Rowe and Ruth Downie haven't seen before. Julius Alpinus Classicanus Favonianus (aka Arcturus), a doctor whose mixed ancestry gives him insight into both the Romans and the Britons, serves Britannia's governor, Agricola, in first-century London. When a Syrian, Vibius Maecenas, is found with a slit throat in a temple, Arcturus is under intense pressure to solve the case. Maecenas was a messenger from Roman emperor Domitian bearing news threatening Agricola's position. In the end, Arcturus relies on a trick rather than any detecting skills to expose the killer. Readers should be prepared for a routine plot and prose ("They loved one another. Somewhat unusual. Love always is").
