Kass Evans

Fascinating story and protagonist: Alexander the Alabarch, an Egyptian Jew and Roman citizen of good family, with a nose for mysteries. In this one he and his three friends since boyhood, the future emperor Claudius, the Jewish prince Agrippa, and Rutilus, "the poorest patrician in Rome", along with Alexander's slave secretary and confidant, Amarantus, solve the disappearance of the statue of a goddess, stolen right under the nose of the priest of her temple under false pretenses. Is the thief really who the priest takes him for: an augur, dressed in the maroon and purple-striped toga of that office or an imposter? Alexander hopes to prove the innocence of a fellow Jew who spoke unwise words near the temple at one time and was overheard. The sleuthing leads Alexander and his companions into Jew baiting, the art world of that time, and even into the sewers beneath Rome.

The writing style was simple and flowed. It reminded me much of Bell's Pliny mysteries. Alexander was somewhat different from other "detectives-in-togas" because of his background. From the author's conclusions I surmised an alabarch was a gold assayist with magistrate's powers and was strictly an Egyptian office. The togate augur on the cover was taken from a fresco in Pompeii and I assume the young man pictured was one of the Fayyum portraits from Egypt. Supposedly Alexander? I hope there will be more full-length novels with Alexander as hero.

Highly recommended.… (más)