Synopses & Reviews
When Corvinus receives a letter from his adopted daughter, Marilla, with a tantalizing P.S. mentioning a possible murder, he hot-foots it to Castrimoenium at once. Not everyone, however, agrees that Lucius Hostilius was murdered. Poison was apparently the means of death, but Lucius was terminally ill. It was only a matter of time. Although he hasn't any official investigative status, Corvinus can't resist doing a little amateur sleuthing. And he has barely begun when two other corpses turn up and he is formally on the case. Lucius had been suffering something of a personality change because of his illness, so there is no shortage of suspects among friends and family whom he had antagonized. But Corvinus goes up many a blind alley before arriving at the heart of the mystery. As we follow Marcus Corvinus, clue by clue, on his 10th case, we allow ourselves to be diverted by rumors of Meton's love life and by an authentic recipe for fish pickle sauce.
Review
"[Illegally Dead is] rich with historical detail...but essentially a solid traditional whodunit with a customary parade of suspects and a thickening plot, as well as the culminating deduction, lengthily explained." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"The Corvinus series is clearly what might be termed Rome-lite....[T]hose who prefer more history might be advised to look at another series." ReviewingTheEvidence.com
Review
"A sinuous plot and robustly drawn characters, including an uppity slave and a formidable widow, all add piquancy to this stew of small-town misdemeanors." Financial Times
About the Author
David Wishart is the author of the Marcus Corvinus mystery series.