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Marcus Corvinus #10
Food for the Fishes
Marcus Corvinus’s seaside holiday in Baiae is livens up when the owner of a local fish farm (or what’s left of him) is found in one of the moray eel tanks. Not a popular man, Licinius Murena, either with outsiders or with his own family, who on the whole, Corvinus finds, seem to prefer him dead and, ah, eaten...
The tenth book in the Corvinus series.
The tenth book in the Corvinus series.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
17 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
David Wishart
57 books95 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Historical crime writer David Wishart was born in Arbroath, Scotland. He studied Classics - Latin and Greek - at Edinburgh University and after graduation taught for four years in a secondary school.
He then retrained as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language and worked abroad for eleven years, in Kuwait, Greece and Saudi Arabia. He returned to Scotland in 1990 and now lives with his family in Carnoustie, mixing writing with teaching EFL and study skills at Dundee University.
Historical crime writer David Wishart was born in Arbroath, Scotland. He studied Classics - Latin and Greek - at Edinburgh University and after graduation taught for four years in a secondary school.
He then retrained as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language and worked abroad for eleven years, in Kuwait, Greece and Saudi Arabia. He returned to Scotland in 1990 and now lives with his family in Carnoustie, mixing writing with teaching EFL and study skills at Dundee University.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 8, 2022
Read this book in 2008, and its the 10th volume of the incredible "Marcus Corvinus" Roman mystery series.
This mystery starts off when the death of Licinius Murena, wealthy owner of a fish-farm, drowned in one of his own eel tanks, but soon enough Marcus Corvinus finds out that the man was hated by many people.
So Corvinus can make his pick of suspects, but who has done this deed and why, and that is something that needs to be resolved.
As ever he's assisted by his clever and bookish wife, Perilla, who will certainly will help Corvinus on the right path towards solving this deadly mystery.
What is to follow is a marvellous and intriguing mystery, in which Marcus Corvinus with many suspects to choose from will after some twists and turns, followed by a brilliantly executed plot, solve this mystery and reveal the culprit in his own surprising and spectacular fashion.
Highly recommended, for this is another amazing addition to this wonderful series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A fantastic Food & Fishes"!
This mystery starts off when the death of Licinius Murena, wealthy owner of a fish-farm, drowned in one of his own eel tanks, but soon enough Marcus Corvinus finds out that the man was hated by many people.
So Corvinus can make his pick of suspects, but who has done this deed and why, and that is something that needs to be resolved.
As ever he's assisted by his clever and bookish wife, Perilla, who will certainly will help Corvinus on the right path towards solving this deadly mystery.
What is to follow is a marvellous and intriguing mystery, in which Marcus Corvinus with many suspects to choose from will after some twists and turns, followed by a brilliantly executed plot, solve this mystery and reveal the culprit in his own surprising and spectacular fashion.
Highly recommended, for this is another amazing addition to this wonderful series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A fantastic Food & Fishes"!
June 30, 2023
This Wed as just keeps getting better and better.
Corvinus and Perillia are on holiday in Baiae along with his mother and stepfather. Corvinus whenever he goes anywhere new immediately finds the best local bar, it must not be frequented by purple strikers or.other upper crust members and it.must be clean have decent food and an acceptable quality wine. that's how he ends up in a waterfront bar listening to a local drunk badmouth his new landlord, Trebbio the drunk, has just been evicted from his cottage and swears to everyone in the bar he could kill Murena his ex landlord. Next day Corvinus learns of Murenas death, he was found in a large commercial vat of eels partially eaten. T first it's thought to be an accident but when people.start to gossip.about Trebbio and his threats a murder investigation is launched and Trebbio is quickly arrested for the crime. Trebbio gets Corvinus to help him prove his innocence and the local Procter agrees to let Corvinus look into the matter. Perilla is really annoyed with her husband, it's supposed.to be a holiday but Corvinus rates that he has responsibility to Trebbio and cannot refuse to help. He begins by talking to the dead mans family and gets huge the shock not only has no.one has a good word to say about the dead man but his wife and children are all obnoxious odious people..........except for the daughter Penelope............. Corvinus is finding it hard to care who was responsible for the murder but as always happens.his curiosity has been aroused and it won't be satisfied until he has all the answers.................... Corvinus is a good detective who quite often finds the solution to the mystery is not worth the turmoil it causes but he is caught by his desire to.do.the right thing into seeing the mystery solved. His home life is a joy, his relationships with his wife, mother and stepfather are lots.of.fun as are those of his staff (I have trouble.using the word slaves) in fact one is.often left wondering who thenctul.master of the house is........................
Corvinus and Perillia are on holiday in Baiae along with his mother and stepfather. Corvinus whenever he goes anywhere new immediately finds the best local bar, it must not be frequented by purple strikers or.other upper crust members and it.must be clean have decent food and an acceptable quality wine. that's how he ends up in a waterfront bar listening to a local drunk badmouth his new landlord, Trebbio the drunk, has just been evicted from his cottage and swears to everyone in the bar he could kill Murena his ex landlord. Next day Corvinus learns of Murenas death, he was found in a large commercial vat of eels partially eaten. T first it's thought to be an accident but when people.start to gossip.about Trebbio and his threats a murder investigation is launched and Trebbio is quickly arrested for the crime. Trebbio gets Corvinus to help him prove his innocence and the local Procter agrees to let Corvinus look into the matter. Perilla is really annoyed with her husband, it's supposed.to be a holiday but Corvinus rates that he has responsibility to Trebbio and cannot refuse to help. He begins by talking to the dead mans family and gets huge the shock not only has no.one has a good word to say about the dead man but his wife and children are all obnoxious odious people..........except for the daughter Penelope............. Corvinus is finding it hard to care who was responsible for the murder but as always happens.his curiosity has been aroused and it won't be satisfied until he has all the answers.................... Corvinus is a good detective who quite often finds the solution to the mystery is not worth the turmoil it causes but he is caught by his desire to.do.the right thing into seeing the mystery solved. His home life is a joy, his relationships with his wife, mother and stepfather are lots.of.fun as are those of his staff (I have trouble.using the word slaves) in fact one is.often left wondering who thenctul.master of the house is........................
April 22, 2019
Food for the Fishes is a cosy-style mystery, where Corvinus is entangled in a murder amongst a rich family rife with infighting that wouldn't shame an 80's melodrama.
What to Expect
Corvinus is on holiday again, this time in Baiae - vacation capital for Rome's rich and powerful. One such family runs a lucrative fish-farming business - but when the father is found dead and the town's drunk is accused, Corvinus can't help but get involved.
We get treated to a cosy-style, small-set murder mystery, where every member of the family and business hates the others with a passion that wouldn't look out of place in the 80's Dynasty or Dallas. Corvinus does his usual best, as does Wishart with twists and turns that keep surprising the reader and stymieing Corvinus.
Although this is book 10 of the series and there is some continuity from past books (recurring characters), because events are not related to the previous novels it can be read out of order.
What I liked
Wishart breathes life into Roman life, with engaging characters and complex plots. His research and anecdotes are always top notch, the writing style fluent and immersive. Corvinus has a most unique voice that is a joy to read.
As with the previous novels, Wishart uses a modern language to bring the characters to life. He's also using a time-honoured trope of representing the Roman patriarchy similar to British aristocracy. The result is a novel that reads as a cross between Sam Spade and Downton Abbey, on a backdrop of ancient Rome. It makes for very enjoyable experience for lovers of those genres.
What to be aware of
Though Wishart's prose is excellent, he avoids all Latin terms to the point where it's a bit much (like referring to a toga as a mantle, or to the Forum as Market Square). I find this a bit diluting the experience of Rome, which is a big factor to anyone reading Roman-era fiction.
Summary
This is an excellent addition to the series. If you like cosy mysteries and Roman-era detectives (e.g. by the likes of Lindsey Davis, Steven Saylor, and Ruth Downie), you really need to read the Corvinus series as well. This is as good a starting point as any.
--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
What to Expect
Corvinus is on holiday again, this time in Baiae - vacation capital for Rome's rich and powerful. One such family runs a lucrative fish-farming business - but when the father is found dead and the town's drunk is accused, Corvinus can't help but get involved.
We get treated to a cosy-style, small-set murder mystery, where every member of the family and business hates the others with a passion that wouldn't look out of place in the 80's Dynasty or Dallas. Corvinus does his usual best, as does Wishart with twists and turns that keep surprising the reader and stymieing Corvinus.
Although this is book 10 of the series and there is some continuity from past books (recurring characters), because events are not related to the previous novels it can be read out of order.
What I liked
Wishart breathes life into Roman life, with engaging characters and complex plots. His research and anecdotes are always top notch, the writing style fluent and immersive. Corvinus has a most unique voice that is a joy to read.
As with the previous novels, Wishart uses a modern language to bring the characters to life. He's also using a time-honoured trope of representing the Roman patriarchy similar to British aristocracy. The result is a novel that reads as a cross between Sam Spade and Downton Abbey, on a backdrop of ancient Rome. It makes for very enjoyable experience for lovers of those genres.
What to be aware of
Though Wishart's prose is excellent, he avoids all Latin terms to the point where it's a bit much (like referring to a toga as a mantle, or to the Forum as Market Square). I find this a bit diluting the experience of Rome, which is a big factor to anyone reading Roman-era fiction.
Summary
This is an excellent addition to the series. If you like cosy mysteries and Roman-era detectives (e.g. by the likes of Lindsey Davis, Steven Saylor, and Ruth Downie), you really need to read the Corvinus series as well. This is as good a starting point as any.
--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
July 14, 2015
Marcus Corvinus, the [sardonic, sassy, Senatorial, smart-talking, but smart] Roman detective at the Jersey shore. No, he's not really in in Jersey, but at Baiae, the Roman vacation spot for the upper-crust.
Corvinus and family [wife, mother, stepfather] are vacationing in Baiae, a posh resort for the idle rich. The local successful fish-farmer, Murena [which means eel], falls into a tank of moray eels and dies. To save an acquaintance who has been falsely accused of the murder, Corvinus decides to investigate, to the dismay of his family. Later they accept the fact of his sleuthing and help him with suggestions. There are more and more suspects, more and more leads, which lead to more leads, red herrings... Are two more murders connected to the first somehow? Corvinus's wife, Perilla, helps him by winning a crucial gambling game, "Twelve Lines", the ancestor of Backgammon. Really, that was fairly exciting. The author gave an explanation of "Twelve Lines" in his "Author's Note".
I really liked this mystery, but had to accept Wishart's Roman world at face value, as does anyone who reads this series. His concept was jarring at first. Customs and ways of life seemed authentic, but I had to suspend belief in certain aspects. Speech was **absolutely** anachronistic [down to the British and Yiddish slang and idioms of our time]. I'm still shaking my head and wondering at Wishart's choosing to use English terms for the Latin common words: e.g., Market square = Forum, Mantle = for men, a toga; for women, a stola, and others. But I loved seeing the wheels turn in Corvinus's head while he's trying to solve the mystery. I loved his thought processes and deductive reasoning. He pours these out in extended interior monologues. I also loved his metaphors, similes and his mild swearing expressions. I chortled my way through the book's sardonic humor and was really engrossed in solving the mystery. Corvinus is similar to Lindsey Davis's Falco, but not quite the same. [Falco did arrive first by a few years, though.] As an analogy for the two detectives I thought of music: the contrapuntal sounds of Bach and the percussive driving music of Stravinsky.
This novel is highly recommended for light reading: a witty, deductive mystery.
Corvinus and family [wife, mother, stepfather] are vacationing in Baiae, a posh resort for the idle rich. The local successful fish-farmer, Murena [which means eel], falls into a tank of moray eels and dies. To save an acquaintance who has been falsely accused of the murder, Corvinus decides to investigate, to the dismay of his family. Later they accept the fact of his sleuthing and help him with suggestions. There are more and more suspects, more and more leads, which lead to more leads, red herrings... Are two more murders connected to the first somehow? Corvinus's wife, Perilla, helps him by winning a crucial gambling game, "Twelve Lines", the ancestor of Backgammon. Really, that was fairly exciting. The author gave an explanation of "Twelve Lines" in his "Author's Note".
I really liked this mystery, but had to accept Wishart's Roman world at face value, as does anyone who reads this series. His concept was jarring at first. Customs and ways of life seemed authentic, but I had to suspend belief in certain aspects. Speech was **absolutely** anachronistic [down to the British and Yiddish slang and idioms of our time]. I'm still shaking my head and wondering at Wishart's choosing to use English terms for the Latin common words: e.g., Market square = Forum, Mantle = for men, a toga; for women, a stola, and others. But I loved seeing the wheels turn in Corvinus's head while he's trying to solve the mystery. I loved his thought processes and deductive reasoning. He pours these out in extended interior monologues. I also loved his metaphors, similes and his mild swearing expressions. I chortled my way through the book's sardonic humor and was really engrossed in solving the mystery. Corvinus is similar to Lindsey Davis's Falco, but not quite the same. [Falco did arrive first by a few years, though.] As an analogy for the two detectives I thought of music: the contrapuntal sounds of Bach and the percussive driving music of Stravinsky.
This novel is highly recommended for light reading: a witty, deductive mystery.
March 22, 2021
Petronius Maximus meets Raymond Chandler? And maybe with an additional helping of Dashiel Hammett and Mickey Spillane too.
A workmanlike and sufficiently entertaining detective mystery, though I did figure out who did it rather a short way into the story (and I’m not usually very good at that). I have read all of the Corvinus stories up to and including this one and this review pretty much sums them all up for me. Some of the plots and stories have been better than others, as might be expected in any series like this one, but I will admit to having been entertained by them all so far. I think the tales with an element of the political have been the most interesting to me but not exclusively so.
I have noticed that over the course of the novels, Corvinus’ wife, Perilla, seems to have slid into stereotype territory and often appears to be little more than a convenient device to receive information dumps to keep the reader up to date with what stage the plot has reached. It gets a bit tiresome at times. The chalk and cheese aspect of their relationship is quite entertaining however, though how Corvinus hasn’t yet sunk (or perhaps staggered is more apt) into alcoholism and an early death is another mystery as far as I am concerned. It all seems a bit Nick and Nora Charles to me, though some readers younger than I am might not understand that reference .
I notice that some other reviewers have mentioned the widespread use of modern slang words and phrases by the protagonist (and other characters at times) and I find these will sometimes jolt me out of my immersion in the story. Where I come from the term “sunshine” addressed to another person is usually seen as being patronising at best, if not downright insulting, while calling someone who isn’t genuinely a friend “pal” is considered a sneer and probably a provocation towards starting a fight. I assume the Romans may have had a Latin equivalent for “okay” and a lot of other modern slang also, but Latin is very differently structured to English so it is difficult to see what else the author could have done. It has been suggested by certain authorities that the equivalent of “okay” in Latin might be “bene” or “ita vero” “ita est”, just plain “ita” and even “sic”, none of which really convey the sense of it very well and I think it would be less convincing for Corvinus to confront one of his suspects with “Ita vero, pal, time to come clean.”, or some such, than to simply use modern English. Having said that, while reading the stories I do sometimes end up with an unwanted image of Corvinus coming out with “Okay, shweetheart” through Humphrey Bogart-ish, gritted teeth as he addresses one of the other characters. Shades of Philip Marlowe and film noir
Nevertheless, I have been well entertained by the novels so far and I do think the author does an especially good job with his “backgrounds” , believably creating the sights, sounds and smells, and the all round atmosphere of ancient Rome, Italy and sometimes beyond, in the early first century A.D. with an air of authority as well as authenticity. I expect I’ll keep reading them until the plots finally run out of steam or Corvinus keels over with liver failure.
A workmanlike and sufficiently entertaining detective mystery, though I did figure out who did it rather a short way into the story (and I’m not usually very good at that). I have read all of the Corvinus stories up to and including this one and this review pretty much sums them all up for me. Some of the plots and stories have been better than others, as might be expected in any series like this one, but I will admit to having been entertained by them all so far. I think the tales with an element of the political have been the most interesting to me but not exclusively so.
I have noticed that over the course of the novels, Corvinus’ wife, Perilla, seems to have slid into stereotype territory and often appears to be little more than a convenient device to receive information dumps to keep the reader up to date with what stage the plot has reached. It gets a bit tiresome at times. The chalk and cheese aspect of their relationship is quite entertaining however, though how Corvinus hasn’t yet sunk (or perhaps staggered is more apt) into alcoholism and an early death is another mystery as far as I am concerned. It all seems a bit Nick and Nora Charles to me, though some readers younger than I am might not understand that reference .
I notice that some other reviewers have mentioned the widespread use of modern slang words and phrases by the protagonist (and other characters at times) and I find these will sometimes jolt me out of my immersion in the story. Where I come from the term “sunshine” addressed to another person is usually seen as being patronising at best, if not downright insulting, while calling someone who isn’t genuinely a friend “pal” is considered a sneer and probably a provocation towards starting a fight. I assume the Romans may have had a Latin equivalent for “okay” and a lot of other modern slang also, but Latin is very differently structured to English so it is difficult to see what else the author could have done. It has been suggested by certain authorities that the equivalent of “okay” in Latin might be “bene” or “ita vero” “ita est”, just plain “ita” and even “sic”, none of which really convey the sense of it very well and I think it would be less convincing for Corvinus to confront one of his suspects with “Ita vero, pal, time to come clean.”, or some such, than to simply use modern English. Having said that, while reading the stories I do sometimes end up with an unwanted image of Corvinus coming out with “Okay, shweetheart” through Humphrey Bogart-ish, gritted teeth as he addresses one of the other characters. Shades of Philip Marlowe and film noir
Nevertheless, I have been well entertained by the novels so far and I do think the author does an especially good job with his “backgrounds” , believably creating the sights, sounds and smells, and the all round atmosphere of ancient Rome, Italy and sometimes beyond, in the early first century A.D. with an air of authority as well as authenticity. I expect I’ll keep reading them until the plots finally run out of steam or Corvinus keels over with liver failure.
July 31, 2018
Noir - Roman style
January 1, 2020
This was like Agatha Christie meets the Roman world, with a family murder mystery with many hidden skeletons in the closet and many complex relationships between the various characters. The mystery really went well with the setting of Baiae. My favourite so far of the books I’ve read so far in the series.
August 24, 2018
An amusing read. A family murder mystery. Nothing too serious. My only annoyance. Corvinus, the head of the family, a capable man, allows himself to be dominated and dictated to by all the women in his family. His wife, his mother continually tell him how to behave and act. tsk tsk.
July 11, 2010
Marcus Corvinus, Ancient Roman aristocrat, layabout and amateur detective, is holidaying by the sea at Baiae with his wife, mother and stepfather when the town drunk Trebbio is accused of the murder of local fish farmer Murena. Only thing is, Corvinus is sure Trebbio didn't do it. So he must find who did. Not easy, since the Murena Fan Club had a total membership of approximately none, particularly within the deceased's toxic family - a widow, daughter, two sons and a son-in-law are all firmly in the frame, and that's just for starters. But these problems pale into insignificance beside the fact that Corvinus's mild antiquarian stepfather Priscus has, rather late in the day, decided to let his hair down and go off the rails...
You can get a good education in the intricacies of Roman fish-farming (including more than you want to know about the dietary habits of moray eels) and the finer points of Five Lines, the forerunner of backgammon. But as ever, Corvinus's relations with his family and staff provide some of the best entertainment. Since we're out of Rome, Flavonius Lippillus the police chief is absent, but the late mid-life crisis of Priscus more than makes up for it.
You can get a good education in the intricacies of Roman fish-farming (including more than you want to know about the dietary habits of moray eels) and the finer points of Five Lines, the forerunner of backgammon. But as ever, Corvinus's relations with his family and staff provide some of the best entertainment. Since we're out of Rome, Flavonius Lippillus the police chief is absent, but the late mid-life crisis of Priscus more than makes up for it.
July 2, 2015
Marcus and Perilla are in Baiae with his mother and step father. Everyone is enjoying the pleasure town, Marcus has found a regular townie wine shop and befriends one of the regulars. When that man's hated landlord is found dead, Marcus sets out to save his accused skin. THe family is a collection of nasty folks and dirty business deals abound. Interesting side story with Priscus getting into the Baiae lifestyle. Interesting story and like Marcus I should have figured it out from jump for a very obvious clue.
March 27, 2008
An easier book to follow. Almost all the suspects in his book never are nice.
May 23, 2013
If not waiting for something new to be published I often seem to work my way through series, which is what I am doing with the Corvinus books. Must have missed them when they came out originally
January 26, 2018
A good, intricate murder mystery, spiced up by step-dad Priscus's excesses at the gambling tables—and in other ways. Who-finally-dunnit was definitely unexpected!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews