When he's apprised at the last minute of a mandatory meeting abroad, Stone Barrington rushes off to Europe for a whirlwind tour of business and, of course, pleasure. But from the start the trip seems to be cursed, plagued by suspicious "accidents" and unfortunate events, and some of Stone's plans go up in flames--literally. Not a believer in coincidence, Stone sets out to learn the true source of his curious misfortune and finds that what appeared...

In Ancient Rome, the number of slaves was far greater than that of free citizens. As a result, often the people Romans feared most were the "enemies at home," the slaves under their own roofs. Because of this, Roman law decreed that if the head of a household was murdered at home, and the culprit wasn't quickly discovered, his slaves, all of them, guilty or not, were presumed responsible and were put to death. Without exception. When a couple is...

"In the first century A.D., during Domitian's reign, Flavia Albia is ready for a short break from her family. So, in July, she returns to Rome, leaving them at their place on the coast. Albia, the daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, now retired as private informer, has taken up her father's former profession and it's time to get back to work. The first order business, however, is the corpse found in a chest sent as part of a large lot to be sold by the...

"In first century Rome, Flavia Albia, the daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, has taken up her father's former profession as an informer. On a typical day, it's small cases cheating spouses, employees dipping into the till but this isn't a typical day. Her beloved, the plebeian Manlius Faustus, has recently moved in and decided that they should get married in a big, showy ceremony as part of beginning a proper domestic life together. Also, his contracting...

In the unseasonable heat of a spring morning in 80 B.C., Gordianus the Finder is summoned to the house of Cicero, a young advocate staking his reputation on a case involving the savage murder of the wealthy, sybaritic Sextus Roscius. Charged with the murder is Sextus's son, greed being the apparent motive. The punishment, rooted deep in Roman tradition, is horrific beyond imagining.
The case becomes a political nightmare when Gordianus's investigation

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"Chrysippus, esteemed banker, patron of the arts, and scroll merchant," offers to publish Falco's work, but when Falco hears the proposed price and then learns that Chrysippus has been murdered, Falco assembles all the suspects.--Jacket.

When a sacred women's rite, presided over by Caesar's spouse, Pompeia, is infiltrated by a corrupt patrician dressed in female garb, Caeciliuis Metellus the Younger, an experienced detective, steps in to investigate.

Roman citizen Marcus Didius Falco welcomes a treason investigation commissioned by the emperor after Helena Justina, a beauty of privilege, breaks his heart, but finds more trouble than he expected.

He would rise up as savior of the state, but Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger already has a lot on his mind. In the year of aedileship, Decius is expected to stage elaborate and expensive games out of his own pocket. Along with his duties of pleasing the crowds with the feats of gladiators and wild beasts are the more practical and commonly neglected ones of maintaining the city and its laws. It is these more mundane duties that call him to the...