Sacred Games

The Athenian Mysteries #3

by Gary Corby

The third book in the critically acclaimed series set in Classical Athens, featuring the historically inspired amateur detective Nicolaos.
 
It is the Olympics of 460 BC. Nico's best friend, Timodemus, is a competitor in the pankration, the deadly martial art of ancient Greece. Timo is hot favorite to win. His only serious rival is Arakos from Sparta. When Arakos is found beaten to death, it is obvious Timodemus must be the killer. Who else could have killed the second-best fighter in all Hellas but the very best? The Judges of the Games sentence Timodemus to be executed in four days' time, as soon as the Sacred Games have finished.
 
Complicating everything is the fact that Athens and Sparta are already at each other's throats, in the opening stages of a power struggle for control of Hellas. If an Athenian is found to have cheated at the Games by murdering a Spartan, it will be everything the hawks in Sparta need to declare open war the moment the Sacred Truce is over. And that's a war Athens cannot hope to win.
 
Nico and his partner in sleuthing, the annoyingly clever priestess Diotima, have four days to save their friend and avert a war that would tear their world apart.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical, Fiction, Greece, Ebooks

350 pages, Hardcover

First published May 21, 2013

About the author

I'm the author of the Athenian Mysteries.

Nicolaos, the ambitious son of a minor sculptor, walks the mean streets of Classical Athens as an agent for the promising young politician Pericles.

Murder and mayhem don't faze Nico; what's really on his mind is how to get closer (much closer) to Diotima, the intelligent and annoyingly virgin priestess of Artemis, and how to shake off his irritating 12 year old brother Socrates.

Reviews

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner from author Gary Corby who continues his Athenian Mysteries series by taking us to the 80th Sacred Games/Olympics. As always we follow the exploits of Athenian investigator Nicolaos and his girlfriend/fiance/wife soon after they leave Persia in Book 2. Now they are tasked with having to find out who killed the Spartan Pankration competitor, and try to clear the Athenian competitor from charges of murder, and all must be done in 4 days prior to the Games ending. If not the Athenian will be tossed to his death, and depending on the results of the investigation it will prompt another Athenian/Spartan war. Wonderful plotting and characters, including Nicolaos's little brother Socrates (yep that Socrates), as well as the new born baby of the physician of the games, the babies name is Hippocrates (yep of Hippocratic oath fame). So much actual history of Greece in used in the book and the authors note at the end points out all the historical events that were a part of this book. Superb job. Only 4 more left in this series.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Description: It is the Olympics of 460 BC. Nico's best friend, Timodemus, is a competitor in the pankration, the deadly martial art of ancient Greece. Timo is hot favorite to win. His only serious rival is Arakos from Sparta. When Arakos is found beaten to death, it is obvious Timodemus must be the killer. Who else could have killed the second-best fighter in all Hellas but the very best? The Judges of the Games sentence Timodemus to be executed in four days' time, as soon as the Sacred Games have finished.

Complicating everything is the fact that Athens and Sparta are already at each other's throats, in the opening stages of a power struggle for control of Hellas. If an Athenian is found to have cheated at the Games by murdering a Spartan, it will be everything the hawks in Sparta need to declare open war the moment the Sacred Truce is over. And that's a war Athens cannot hope to win.

Nico and his partner in sleuthing, the annoyingly clever priestess Diotima, have four days to save their friend and avert a war that would tear their world apart.

Dedication: For Megan, Catriona and Helen

So as the bards begin their verse
With hymns to the Olymoian Zeus
So has his hero laid the claim
To conquest in the Sacred Games

Opening: The procession wound past the sanctury of Zeus. They'd been walking two days, from Elis to Olympia. 'Will we get to see someone die?' Socrates asked.

The first rule of Pankration is: 
- You do not talk about Pankration. 

The second rule of Pankration is: 
- You do not talk about Pankration. 

Third rule of Pankration: 
- Someone goes limp, taps out, dies, 
the fight is over. 

Fourth rule: 
- only two guys to a fight. 

Fifth rule: 
one fight at a time, fellas. 

Sixth rule: 
- no chitons, no sandals. 

Seventh rule: 
- Fights will go on as long as they have to. 

And the eighth and final rule: 
- If this is your first olympic Pankration, 
you have to fight.

Cannot for the life of me see why this series is so under-read by the masses. It is funny, well-researched and get to meet some huge names from history. In this episode we meet Queen Gorgo, Empedocles and that massively egoed Pindar.

Socrates was once again the source of much fun and in this story has to keep a tally of sex acts, and, somewhat ironically, ponder the lethal dose of hemlock. Fully recommended.

4* The Pericles Commission
4* The Ionian Sanction
4* Sacred Games

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in 2013, and its the 3rd volume of the amazing "Athenian" mystery series from the Aussie author, Gary Corby.

Set in 460BC at the Olympics in which Nico's best friend, Timodemus, is due to enter the Pankration competition.

Timodemus's rival is the Spartan, Parmonos, who's found dead and everyone assumes that Timodemus is the killer, and for Nico and his partner-in-sleuthing, the clever priestess, Diotima, to come with the solution about who's the real murderer and to do this within four days before the Sacred Games are finished.

What is to follow is a witty Greek mystery, where the historical details are splendidly interwoven within this tale, and where Nico and Diotima in their cunning and clever way will solve this mystery of mayhem and murder at the Olympics.

Highly recommended, for this a little gem of a Greek mystery of a terrific series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Fantastic Olympic Games Greek Mystery"!

[Vicki Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, historical fiction. Who would have thought of a "detective novel" set in ancient Greece?

[Diane Close · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall nicely descriptive, but ultimately lacking in mystery. I knew as soon as Markos bent down to examine the chariot and came up with grease on his hands who had done the murder. There was no other explanation for this action, and to clearly telegraph it this far in advance was ridiculous. It was simply a matter of waiting for the hero to start thinking with his head instead of his penis in order to solve the whodunnit.

There was far too much sex and not enough sport in this novel supposedly about a murder during an Olympics. I would've much rather read about Olympic history, or more about the events, than have gone through excruciating detail about how to determine the time a prostitute serviced a particular customer.

Definitely not Mr. Corby's best effort, and this one might put me off reading any more. His preoccupation with prostitutes, and his hero's preoccupation with his girlfriend's feminine parts, reminds me of the worst behavior of the nerd crowd. I actually expected a screech of BOOBIES!! to be thrown in the mix.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was quite good and would give it a 4.5 stars if that option were available. I found the second book in this series to be simultaneously too grim and too broad (in comedic terms). This one, however, is more focused and refined. I loved the atmosphere of the ancient Olympic Games. I learned a bit about the culture and practices of the times. Even though ancient Greek culture is almost over-studied in schools, Corby makes it feel alive and vital and normal. The mystery was interesting and concise, but also politically important to solve the right way. The murderer, while not especially shocking, was also not too obvious. I had a lot of fun with this entry in the series, and it seems like Corby has improved as a novel writer as he continues with it.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful mystery set in the 460 B.C. Olympiad. Nicolaos and his fiancée [or is she his wife?] set out to solve the violent death of a Spartan pankratist. Timo, an Athenian pankratist and Nico's good friend, is accused of the murder. To try to keep down the rivalry between Athens and Sparta, Nico the Athenian and Markos the Spartan are tasked to solve the murder together. Fluffy, light reading of only a couple of hours. I like the way Corby works in ancient Greek customs [in this case mostly athetic] and trivia.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very exciting read, especially in the last half when the ending comes as a total surprise. The story brings back the main characters and some other characters from prior books in Corby's mystery series set in Ancient Greece. There's five in the series as of this date. Having now read the first three of them, I must admit this third book is the best ever. I'm wondering how the next ones The Marathon Conspiracy and Death Ex Machina will be, so am eager to read those latest books as well.

The main character is Nicolaos (Nico), a young and sort of married "professional investigator" who's employed by the great Athenian statesman Pericles, whose life in fifth-century-BC Athens coincides with the beginning of what moderns know as democracy. Pericles is the quintessential politico, wanting the situation to look good and get everyone on his side even though he is perceived as a bit shallow by this reader. He's again hired Nico, this time to ensure that Athens's contestant Timodemus (Timo) wins the pankration event at the 80th Olympiad, as the athlete is accused of all sorts of mayhem. So, Nico has first to save Timo's life to fulfill Pericles's orders. Nico also has troubles of his own. Having more-or-less eloped with a Priestess of Artemis, he is married to her without their fathers' consents and without the agreement on the dowry. Nico has a lot of problems to solve to keep him, Diotima, his young brother Socrates, and other characters busy.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun historical mystery set at the Olympics of 460 B.C. I shudder to think how popular the pankration would be if revived.

For a further review: http://susannag.booklikes.com/post/72... .

[Anka · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ★

First of all, I'd like to thank Soho Press and Gary Corby for sending me the ARC of Sacred Games. As you can tell by the rating, I loved it, and I'm not the kind of girl to hand out 5 stars, either.



Sacred Games takes place at the 80th Olympiad games, in Ancient Greece. Ace detective Nicolaos, who doesn't typically enjoy sports, has come to watch his childhood friend Timodemus participate in the Pankration. However, when Timo's only real competitor, Arakos, is murdered, and the blame falls on Timo, Nico has to step up to solve the mystery before the sacred games end, or else Timo will be thrown off Mt. Typaeum and killed. Meanwhile, Nico and Diotima, his lover, still have to contend with their fathers butting heads over her dowry, keeping them apart. If that's not bad enough, tensions between Sparta and Athens, Arakos and Timos' cities respectively, are constantly on the verge of boiling over. Now that you've got a little taste of the plot - basically, a paraphrasing of the back cover - I can break down my thoughts. Warning: here lay (dragons) spoilers .

Let's start with characters. I loved how everyone present had a purpose. They weren't throwaways; in the end, each and every one was utilized somehow, and helped tie the mystery together. There was a balanced way of writing them, too - a complexity, so at one point or another, you ended up sympathizing with them. Nico and some of the other men could be lewd about women at times (which I forgave because the women gave as good as they got), so I expected him to be very dude-bro about historical details like the existence of homosexual lovers, but they were present, added to the plot, and had many dimensions - Niallos and Iphicles broke my heart, while the ménage à trois was both funny and thought-provoking, since they loved each other in spite of the tensions brewing between their cities. I really appreciated that!

Since Nico was our protagonist, it was very important to like and sympathize with him. If we didn't, the whole story would fall flat. Luckily, in the case of Sacred Games, there was no threat of this. Nico was smart, but also relatively normal, when compared to the powerful athletes, diplomats and geniuses around him. He had reactions to things we could understand. His humorous, sometimes perverted point of view pulled us in from the beginning and got us interested in the plot, whereas someone more extraordinary, like perhaps Socrates (although I honestly adored the kid), would probably estrange some readers, the way Artemis Fowl tended to in his books (though I loved him, too). I liked how Nico was clever, but not to the point where he became a super-detective, able to figure out everything on his own, without any help, while charming numerous ladies in the process. Instead, while he could be a bit lecherous and clueless at times, his love for and chemistry with the brilliant priestess Diotima was evident from the very beginning, and we were made to root for them.

I found Diotima very well written, as well. Her relationship with Nico, as I wrote above, felt very genuine. Diotima was a priestess of Artemis, daughter of a retired prostitute and a rich man who initially didn't legitimize her, and step-daughter to an ex-barbarian. Because of all this, she had a burning need to prove herself, to excel, and she managed quite well. She was quick to throw a knife, more logical than Nico most of the time, and fiercely independent. It was fascinating to see how certain people at the time reacted to a woman like Diotima, but Nico's treatment of her, as an equal, cemented our affection for him and for them as a couple. I also liked that Sacred Games passed the Bechdel Test: Diotima had great moments with other women, like Petale, Klymene, and of course the badass Queen Gorgo.



Markos, I really liked. He was a great foil for Nico, the perfect Hotspur to Nico's Hal - or maybe vice-versa would be more fitting? At first, I speculated that Corby would make Markos utterly unsympathetic, just so we'd have more cause to feel for Nico, but somehow, he managed to make both likable; he made me both like Markos AND want Nico to win. It may have been quick, but I found their friendship believable, and I honestly didn't guess Markos was the killer. Well, okay, I had moments where I thought, "Hey, Markos would make a good krypteia, wouldn't he? Dude's a smooth operator," and, "What if...Markos...?" but then I always discounted him when another name came up, because I wanted him to be good so much, even though he tried to marry Diotima. Nicely done, Corby, nicely done! I really liked your characterization, good sir! Although, I hope Markos was purposefully being a dick at the end just to piss Nico off for figuring him out, because they really did make an interesting detecting duo.



I'm not going to ramble any further on this note. I think I've already made my point. While on a related topic, though, I will say, I'm not usually a fan of first person point of view. Nothing against it! It's just, most authors, from what I've read, don't know how to do it well. First person is an endless monologue, interspersed with bits of dialogue. What you have to remember is, would my character talk like this in quotes? Do they sound natural? Unfortunately, most people forget, so we get modern teenagers in insipid young adult romances talking like Victorian era heiresses, sans any contraction or slang, and then you get me rolling my eyes. You probably don't want that! In Sacred Games, however, for reasons listed above, I found Nico's point of view very accessible and enjoyable. He spoke in the body of the text as he did in dialogue, so it felt smoothly transitioned.

And finally, the historical details. From the notes in the beginning and the end, it's evident that Corby has done a good amount of research. Also, it's his third book in the same setting, so he's obviously got a handle on it by now. Some people, however, will likely have a problem with the anachronisms weeded throughout the text. Nico and his fellows pretty much talk the way we do. I found myself acclimating very easily to that, I think, because the text never tried to deceive us into believing it was 100% historically correct; it never took itself so seriously. That's evident in the inside jokes that are made - Nico telling Socrates to stay away from hemlock, Hippocrates' father hoping he would grow up to be a good doctor, and so on.



Along with this, we got eerie, matter-of-fact details to set the scene - Nico mentioning that women were thrown off Mt. Typaeum for sneaking into the Olympics; how some newborns were killed via exposure depending on their fathers' view of them; how the krypteia murdered slaves of their own nation during initiation. I think the subtlety of these details worked better than hitting readers over the head with eternal somberness. In fact, I was having so much fun with Sacred Games, I thought, "I should recommend this to all my students who loved Percy Jackson! It's obviously not as fantastical, but the narrator is fun like Percy, the writing is approachable, and they could learn a little more about Ancient Greece in the process!" And then we got violent deaths and Nico semi-graphically canoodling with Diotima. Not appropriate for kids, but still fun for me, at least!

Really, the only issues I had were minor grammatical things that will most likely be edited out, so I will definitely be picking up The Pericles Commission and The Ionia Sanction. This whole series seems right up my alley. :D

[Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not uncommon for me to give a book four stars and then wonder why. Basically because it shares some of what I see as common flaws, which caused me to rate other books three stars or less. So a list of my mystery book flaws would include: implausible endings, too many suspects, too many twists and turns, unnecessary complexity and a final solution which involves a minor character introduced and then for all purposes buried in the first fifty pages of the story.

Well this book contains some of those irritants but by no means all. So why, given my aversion to these over used plot thickeners do I really like some of these stories/writers while dismissing others?

I think there are two kinds of writers, well three actually but the third is relatively rare. With one type of writer it's their prose that stands out. You know the type, they paint picture perfect images with words. Their settings, characters and observations take on deeper meanings. The problem is relying on this ability, they sometimes compromise another essential skill ... the story telling, the ability to spin a good yarn. So the other kind of writer is the story teller, often implausible, often requiring a suspension of logic but still intriguing and often with a gift for building suspense. Although not necessarily gifted with the ability to write memorable prose. Like the person who kept you biting your nails while telling horror stories around the campfire when you were a kid. You knew the story you just heard was made up, yet you fell asleep that night scared and excited. The third kind is far less common, the author who weaves their prose and storytelling seamlessly. In the mystery business, I have not found a lot of them, but they are out there. Story tellers on the other hand abound and there are a lot of good ones.

So for this author and this series it's simple for me. Plausibility, be damned, it's about a story good enough to draw your attention and keep you turning pages and once again making you stay up longer than intended.

It's like that three chord rock song you used to love. It's not about the level of sophistication or multiple layers of sound, it's about that catchy hook that kept repeating inside your head.

[Roshni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think Lindsey Davis' Falco set in Athens. Entertaining, unconventional couple find a murderer during the Olympic Games.

[Book Time with Elvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just gets better and better, I'm really hooked now. It's so interesting just love the way the author teaches us so much about ancient Greece through as an aside to an interesting mystery. Really fantastic looking forward to starting the next in the series.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

First-rate fun, even better if you have some kind of background in ancient Greek history. Will be reading the others.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sacred Games is exactly the kind of book I never thought I'd find. A fictitious story about ancient Greek cities and ancient Greek people? It is an original idea that is pulled off extremely well, blending real documented events and people with the imaginings of Gary Corby.

Nicolaos, a sleuth of the ancient world, is at the Sacred Games at Olympia to see his friend Timodemus compete in the sport of pankration. After a few brief debacles, we come to find that one of Timo's biggest rivals is murdered, and all the evidence points to Timo. Nico is then commissioned by the city of Athens as well as the Judges of the Games to uncover any evidence complement to or contrary to this.

I loved virtually everything about this book. I was proud of myself for recognizing many of the terms and titles used in the book, both with the architecture and people. Klymene, Markos, Gorgo and Pythax were all side characters that stood out to me. Although come to think of it I don't think Markos is a minor character, but all the same these characters brought more believability to the plot and didn't feel like fluff.

Nico and Diotima were great. I liked that Nico wasn't a perfect person. Too often in stories the main character is shown to have no faults and no pitfalls. This generally doesn't bother me as much as it bothers others, but I can definitely appreciate a story that doesn't fall into this. Nico fumbles over his words, doesn't come to logical conclusions as quickly as others, and misses options that others don't. Diotima, on the other hand, is the one with no flaws. Her only real flaw mentioned in the story is her family history, but since that's not something she can alter I don't really count that. Regardless of her inability to do anything wrong though I really enjoyed her character. It's probably fair to say that since I'm female I'm biased to like her simply because she was an independent woman in a time when there wasn't much room for independent women. Same goes for Gorgo.

The actual mystery was great. I had deciphered some of it, but the final big "bad guy" was one that I didn't guess at until the very end. That alone made me love this book that much more: I tend to guess how books will end and I'm usually pretty much spot-on. In this case yes, I got the minor parts correct, but I had little idea as to who was the main antagonist. Which made it that much sweeter.

Sacred Games by Gary Corby is a phenomenal book, one that I'm definitely going to keep and reread in the future. I received it as an ARC from GoodReads, and I'm incredibly thankful.

(I received this in a First Reads giveaway.)

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best of the series so far! Returning from their assignment in Themistocles' court, married without permission, Nico and Diotima are at the Olympic games, trying to persuade their respective families to agree to the union and solve a murder. The slain is a Spartan, the accused is an Athenian, and he's got just a few days to figure out who the culprit is!--Pindar is helpful; Hippocrates is just a little baby, so his dad helps out; and Queen Gorgo and Diotima share a couple of adorable moments.

A little eyebrow raising over the prostitute part with the annoying but super smart kid brother Socrates (also helping the investigation), but I think the book just needed a moment of Socrates to show how with torturous logic a clue. The murderer is also pretty obvious I think, but still a fun mystery.

[MAP · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Another solid addition to the series.

[David Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

As part of keeping my spirits up during the COVID-19 pandemic, I've decided to reread two series of novels set in Greece. Why? Because my wife and I are holding out hope that our September/October trip to Greece still will happen...fingers crossed!

I finished all the books in "The Seven Deadly Sins" series featuring Hermes Diaktoros (Hermes Messenger) - which are set in modern Greece. So, it was time to begin "The Athenian Mysteries" series, featuring Nicholaos, son of Sophroniscus the sculptor and older brother of an extremely inquisitive young boy named Socrates. Along with Diotema - a priestess of Artemis and daughter of the hetaera Euterpe (a high-class call girl) - Nicholaos is arguably the world's first private investigator. After all, the first novel in the series is set in ancient Athens just days after the first democracy is established there (461 B.C.).

Like all good history writers, Corby blends known facts from the past with delightful fiction. Not only do the books in this series entertain, they also provide the reader with a great sense of what it was like to live nearly 2,500 years ago at the birthplace of western civilization. Anyone who loves classical Greece will love these books. And anyone who doesn't know much about classical Greece can learn a lot about it in this historically accurate - and fun - series.

"Apoláfste, filoi mou!" ("Enjoy, my friends!")

P.S. This third novel takes place in Olympia during the Sacred Games (which eventually will be known as The Olympics). Like Ephesus, Turkey (the setting of the second novel) Olympia is on our itinerary if we get to go on the fall trip. So between the athletics-based plot and the setting, I really enjoyed this entry in the series. Furthermore, it provides the reader with a detailed look at how the ancient Spartans differed from the ancient Athenians - which is also cool. Definitely worth the read!

[Christina Hirko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is a lot of fun~ Love the mix of humor, mystery and history--and it's always done very well~ Sometimes I find Diotima a bit unlikeable, but I think it's mainly the scene where she chastises Nico for letting a witness die, and c'mon girl, that is not his fault; you have just a bit too much self importance because everyone remarks how she's smart and Nico is dumb--this is a bit problematic when he's supposed to be the only private investigator in Ancient Greece and yet no one thinks he's worth a rock so how is he still getting his opportunities? I need Nico to be acknowledged as smart from here on out -_- So glad Pythax is back, as well as most of the characters in this book were cool~ I saw the twist with the murderer coming from the scene with the chariots, and the Heracles impersonator, but I will say I wish the twist did not go on to include *spoiler* Markos then retracting any of his good feelings of friendship or respect towards Nico. I hate that we softened his betrayal and made him be like "ha ha you were always a joke to me, Nico, and plus I love killing"; like no, commit to the pain for the readers by finally making this likeable friendly character the murderer but not by retracting his niceties--in the past books, Nico's closest allies *ish* get acquitted so it felt right that we finally had his book buddy be the murderer, but don't pull the rug out from under us. Also, a nit-picky detail that I know is hard to avoid, but I hate when sequels books try to retroactively introduce a character as "oh the main character's bff" who has never been mentioned. Just make Timo a childhood friend or something, cause Nico hasn't thought of his friend or contacted him in over a year so I don't really buy their closeness. Will he even show up beyond this book? I hope~ (Since we're not likely to see Markos again, boo!) Also, reading this during the actual Olympics was kinda poignant for me~

[Marfita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sort of thing is right up my alley. Socrates and I have been an "item" since the mid'80s. I remember reading up on the Pankration at the Manhattan Public Library while Temple researched the return of Picasso's "Guernica" to Spain. Temple is the one who complained that my plays seemed to have sprung fully grown from the forehead of Steve Allen. Fair enough.

The clues were laid out a bit too obviously, but I enjoyed the thoroughly researched background and will certainly read more of these as I can get my mitts on them. Looking over the Dramatis Personae (pardon my Latin), I was a bit miffed at the pronunciation guide but later found the note (on a previous page) where Corby admits they don't match ancient pronunciation, so he's off the hook.

Fictional Nicolaos, brother of teenage Socrates and fiance/husband of Diotima (no doubt the same one who instructed Socrates on the meaning of love according to that famous Platonic dialog), must clear his childhood friend, Timodemus, of the charge of murdering his Pankration opponent, Spartan Arakos, outside the event. If he'd killed him during their fight, it would have been okay. Pericles - totally not ruler of Athens, no no, we're all equals - wants Timo cleared whether he's guilty or not. The Spartans choose Markos to prove Timo did kill Arakos. Whatever the solution, it's bound to lead to a war between Sparta and Athens and plunge Hellas into chaos. Can Nicolaos save his friend and prevent a war? Will his and Diotima's father ever agree on a dowry so they can make their marriage official? Tall orders, indeed.

Corby follows up the story with notes on what was real and what wasn't. Cool beans.

[Mike Shoop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set at the 460 BC Olympic Games, investigator Nicolaos is hardly back from Ionia when he's thrust into another mystery--this time involving the murder of a Spartan athlete competing in the pankration. The alleged murderer is a childhood buddy of Nico's, Timodemus, another contestant at the same event, so he agrees to Pericles' request to uncover the truth of the matter. But what complicates the situation is that Sparta is just spoiling for a fight with Athens in their power struggle for control of Hellas, and this murder could be used as a powder keg to get a full fledged war started. Aided by his fiancee/wife, the priestess Diotima, and his little brother, Socrates (yes, that Socrates), Nico finds himself racing against time and up against some fearsome and quirky characters to find out the truth of the matter. Corby's writing, dialogue, and pacing just get better and better, and his characters are so entertaining--love the way he uses real people as part of the story, fascinating that Pericles, Socrates, and the baby Hippocrates are all at the Olympic Games and that old Queen Gorgo (King Leonidas' widow) is also there lending a hand in the case. He does well with political intrigue, his details of the Games are interesting, and I appreciate the wit and humor he injects into the story. A good read.

[Ed Mestre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was much better than I expected. A very well researched history-mystery mixes a few fictional characters with real people at the 80th Olympiad. Corby somehow balances accuracy about ancient Greek customs, religion, and, of course, sports, with reasonably realistic characters who aren’t stilted and stiff as they often are these types of books. They can use contractions like we moderns do and have a sense of humor. Even though it’s the third book in a series of seven, I didn’t feel at all lost from not having read the first two. By far my favorite character was Diotima, a priestess of Artemis, and one of the actual characters from history. Our hero, Nicolaos (fictional), is humble enough to acknowledge he never would have solved the murder without her. Quite a feat considering the terrible restrictions on women in ancient Greece. This society is shown with warts and all and not presented as a completely enlightened society. Slavery is embraced, they are constantly on the verge war, and one of the athletes is even accused of witchcraft. Of course Socrates is just a kid here and democracy is just taking baby steps in Athens. It was also fun seeing the mystery gets solved without the aid of modern forensics. I will have to checkout the rest of the series.

[Geordie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in the Athenian Mysteries series. Like the first two, the plotting and stakes are well done, the characters are great and the protagonists are believable and likeable. Action scenes were sometimes confusing in the first two books, but the writer has definitely improved - all action scenes were thrilling and easy to visualize as well.

One flaw that was distracting and annoying, the book is sprinkled with references to Greek history that were so unsubtle they made me groan. "There's young Socrates - don't play with the hemlock, young Socrates!" (giant wink to reader) "Let's ask a doctor for his input. And the doctor is lil' baby Hippocrates' daddy!" (wink, wink!) I get it, it's set in ancient Greece, but the call-outs were so blatant they popped me right out of the story and added absolutely nothing. We also had two anecdotes about ancient Greece (references to Queen Gorgo and to suicide), both of which had been brought up (unnecessarily) in the book just before this one. That's some lazy editing.

So, the lack of subtlety hurt, but still this was a terrific book, and I'm eager to read #4 soon.

[Ernest Spoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third of the series and third one I've read, though out of order. When I read the dialogue I think of the witty repartee in one of those BBC mystery series we get on PBS or Doctor Who, so I kind of internally bestow the now moribund Mid-Atlantic English accent on Nico and Diotima. How about Charles Middleton as the voice of Pericles?

What about the Spartans? Supposedly to Athenian ears the Spartan accent sounded like a Texas accent does to us. Or that's what I remember from listening to a recording of Lysistrata starring Bea Arthur, damned near 50 years ago. A young Lyndon Johnson as Pleistarchus?

This book is the appearance of a villain, Markos, we who shall meet again later in this series. Even though he is "the heavy," Markos, in other fictional circumstances, could be the James Bond of Classical Antiquity?

Anyway, this is a book where one will learn something despite one's self. As one can see from my GoodReads reading list I spend an inordinate amount of time reading history, and recently Classical history.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m months into a very deep dive into historical fiction set in Ancient Greece 500-100BCE, so I thought I’d give these a try, despite the fact that I think “murder mysteries” are the stupidest of all book genres. I read this for the historical setting not the mystery part.
Presumably in an effort to make his characters more “relatable”, the author has stripped all the ancient greekness away and left us with modern people in an 480 BCE setting. This was continually jarring. He also played very fast and loose with many customs and behavioral mores whenever it suited the storyline. A more skilled writer would have shaped the story around what was possible within the cultural framework. The role of women in this story was particularly far-fetched.
The slutty High Priestess of Demeter was especially and outrageously far-fetched!
On the other hand, he portrayed the setting of the Olympic Games quite accurately, I thought.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicolaus and Diotima consider themselves to be married, but since his father and her stepfather can't agree on Diotima's dowry, they disagree. They have all gathered at Olympia for the Sacred Games, where Nico expects to only be an observer. But when his old friend Timodemus is accused of murdering Arakos, a Spartan athlete, and Timo's competitor in the pankration, Nico is appointed as one of the investigators into the crime. Since both Nico and Timo are Athenian, a Spartan, Markos, is also appointed. As they investigate, along with Diotima and Nico's younger brother, Socrates, they seem to always be just one step behind the murderer. Can Nico solve the mystery in time for Timo to compete? Enthralling story, full of fascinating facts about life in Ancient Greece. Good characterization, showing that while times have changed, people's natures really have not. Highly recommended.

[Nightwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light, fun mystery set in ancient Greece. Corby takes full advantage of the fact that so little is known about many people in the period to populate his novel with a shockingly high number of historical characters; I particularly enjoy Socrates, who here is our narrator's exceptionally obnoxious younger brother. Seems about right. Corby does succumb to "if only they knew" with a fair degree of frequency - adults admonishing young Socrates to keep away from hemlock, a father rhapsodizing over his infant son's future medical career (baby name: Hippocrates) - but it feels pretty typical of these kinds of mysteries and it's not over-the-top. I don't love the sleuth/love interest set up, where the sleuth is kind of a doofus and his love interest is brilliant and bewilderingly in love with him - again it's pretty common but it's not my favorite.

[Clay Kallam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a 3.5 star book, I'd say, going up or down depending on how much interest you have in life in Classical Greece. Since I'm very interested in the time period, I enjoyed "Sacred Games," which chronicles the adventures of one Nicolaos as he solves a murder mystery at the 80th Olympiad.

Gary Corby has created an engaging protagonist and surrounded him with interesting complementary characters (his wife Diotima and his brother Socrates (yes, that Socrates, but just a boy)), which makes the series (this is book three) a fun read. The plot has enough twists to keep the pages turning as well, so all in all, it's a worthy effort. And the more you're fascinated by the details of life in ancient Greece, the more worthy you'll find it.

[BBoulier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 460 BC, Gary Corby’s “Sacred Games” (2013) is the third book in the series involving a young man, Nicolaos, who serves as a criminal investigator for Pericles. In this book, Nico attends the Olympic games in Elis. An Athenian friend (Timodemus) is considered to be the favorite in the Pankration, the martial art of ancient Greece. His chief rival is a Spartan. When the Spartan is killed a few days before the competition, Timodemus is accused of his murder. Pericles employs Nico to prove Timodemus’s innocence and avert war between Athens and Sparta. The plot of the book is excellent, and the discussions of Spartan governance and customs make the book worth reading. Highly recommended.

[Cel Jel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very entertaining book for Gary Corby set in Ancient Greece. The Olympics have rules that when broken lead to the conditions to start a war. A fledgling democracy does not want war, and so when a death occurs a new competition is added to the Olympic Games. Reading the authors note after the book is fascinating, for having heard of one of the societies and a bit about its way of life, more was revealed in this book.
Well worth a read.