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Marcus Corvinus #19
Family Commitments
Bathyllus was standing with his back to me, and sitting on the bed was a seriously-unshaven late-middle-aged man in a grubby threadbare tunic.
Bathyllus turned round, the guy got up, and they both stared at me, jaws dropping, like actors at the end of a play where the god is lowered from a crane to sort out a too-convoluted plot.
‘Hi, sunshine,’ I said to Bathyllus. ‘So who’s your friend?’
I’d never, ever seen Bathyllus lost for words before, but I saw it now. He swallowed a couple of times, coughed, and then said:
‘This is Damon, sir. He’s my brother.’
When Corvinus’s major-domo Bathyllus’s long-lost brother turns up in a Suburan tenement he is totally gobsmacked. And things don’t improve when he discovers that Brother Damon is a serial crook on the run whose owner and partner-in-crime has just died under very suspicious circumstances. Digging into the whys and wherefores brings its own dangers. Especially when the case turns political...
The fact that his mother suspects her octogenarian husband Priscus of having an affair and wants him to look into the matter doesn’t help much, either.
The twentieth book in the Marcus Corvinus series.
Bathyllus turned round, the guy got up, and they both stared at me, jaws dropping, like actors at the end of a play where the god is lowered from a crane to sort out a too-convoluted plot.
‘Hi, sunshine,’ I said to Bathyllus. ‘So who’s your friend?’
I’d never, ever seen Bathyllus lost for words before, but I saw it now. He swallowed a couple of times, coughed, and then said:
‘This is Damon, sir. He’s my brother.’
When Corvinus’s major-domo Bathyllus’s long-lost brother turns up in a Suburan tenement he is totally gobsmacked. And things don’t improve when he discovers that Brother Damon is a serial crook on the run whose owner and partner-in-crime has just died under very suspicious circumstances. Digging into the whys and wherefores brings its own dangers. Especially when the case turns political...
The fact that his mother suspects her octogenarian husband Priscus of having an affair and wants him to look into the matter doesn’t help much, either.
The twentieth book in the Marcus Corvinus series.
251 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 19, 2017
37 people are currently reading
52 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 19, 2020
This thrilling Roman mystery from the formidable author, David Wishart, is the 19th volume of the ever engrossing "Marcus Corvinus" series.
Historical details concerning this Roman mystery can be found at the back of the book within the Author's Note, while at the beginning you'll find a wonderful list of Dramatis Personae, with real historical and great fictional ones.
The author always intends to stay as close to real historical events, and so to make this mystery as accurate as possible historically, a feat that certainly should be appreciated.
Once again the story-telling is of a superb quality from this author, all characters, whether real historical or wonderful fictional, come splendidly to life within this mystery, and the atmosphere of Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius comes breathtakingly off the pages.
The story is set in Rome, in May, AD 44, and our main fictional character, Marcus Corvinus, finds himself now investigating two cases at once, the first being the supposedly love overtures from his stepfather, Priscus, husband to Corvinus's mother, Vipsania, with the proprietrix, Polyxene, and the second being the murder of, Oplonius, about a very expensive necklace, in which Bathyllus's younger brother, Damon, is also involved, while lurking in the background there's the crook, Sempronius Eutacticus, concerning that same necklace.
What is to follow is an intriguing political and exciting domestic Roman mystery, in which Corvinus, with his intellectual sidekick, his wife, Rufia Perilla, will get involved not only with the aforementioned people and crimes, but also with the powerful high and mighty of Rome, and in this dangerous environment Corvinus must try to solve first Priscus's overtures, and after that and more importantly the second case that seems more than just a case about the necklace.
Highly recommended, for this series is still as great as from the beginning, and what this episode is concerned, I like to call it: "Another Marcus Corvinus Masterpiece"!
Historical details concerning this Roman mystery can be found at the back of the book within the Author's Note, while at the beginning you'll find a wonderful list of Dramatis Personae, with real historical and great fictional ones.
The author always intends to stay as close to real historical events, and so to make this mystery as accurate as possible historically, a feat that certainly should be appreciated.
Once again the story-telling is of a superb quality from this author, all characters, whether real historical or wonderful fictional, come splendidly to life within this mystery, and the atmosphere of Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius comes breathtakingly off the pages.
The story is set in Rome, in May, AD 44, and our main fictional character, Marcus Corvinus, finds himself now investigating two cases at once, the first being the supposedly love overtures from his stepfather, Priscus, husband to Corvinus's mother, Vipsania, with the proprietrix, Polyxene, and the second being the murder of, Oplonius, about a very expensive necklace, in which Bathyllus's younger brother, Damon, is also involved, while lurking in the background there's the crook, Sempronius Eutacticus, concerning that same necklace.
What is to follow is an intriguing political and exciting domestic Roman mystery, in which Corvinus, with his intellectual sidekick, his wife, Rufia Perilla, will get involved not only with the aforementioned people and crimes, but also with the powerful high and mighty of Rome, and in this dangerous environment Corvinus must try to solve first Priscus's overtures, and after that and more importantly the second case that seems more than just a case about the necklace.
Highly recommended, for this series is still as great as from the beginning, and what this episode is concerned, I like to call it: "Another Marcus Corvinus Masterpiece"!
July 18, 2023
Corvinus finds himself up against it again. It all starts simply enough with some food stolen from the kitchen, where it eventually leads will see Corvinus very close to losing everything. Bathyllus as it turns out has a brother, the two are several years apart but sold into slavery (by their father) at the same time, to different masters. Bathyllus was bought by Corvinus s grandfather and his brother Damon by the Secundus family. Damon has ended up in dire straits all these years later with a master who has been murdered, his master was a bad sort, a conman and preyed on travellers stealing whatever they had that was worth anything. After finding his masters body Damon had fled the scene, he knew Bathyllus loved in Rome and who his master was so he was able to track him down. Hence the stolen food Bathyllus had hidden Damon away but took the food from Merton's kitchen for his brother, Corvinus just so happens to be passing by when Bathyllus is going into the tenement to visit his brother and.curious follows him. He cannot know if then but that simple gesture will put him and Perillia in the greatest danger they have ever faced. ............................
January 20, 2018
Another outing for Marcus where he investigates mysteries involving family members popping up from nowhere. There's the requisite dead body; a slave of the victim who is also a brother of Bathyllus, Marcus' butler; and a mystery surrounding Marcus' stepfather, Priscus. Does the old goat have a mistress as Marcus' mother suspects? From having nothing to do and being bored to tears, Marcus is plunged into the midst of intrigue. There's a missing necklace to find, provenance: it once belonged to a queen of Syracuse and is now sought by Sempronius Ectaticus, the crook and criminal mastermind we've met in previous novels. Good mystery and up to Wishart's standards. I never tire of Marcus and his insouciance.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
October 21, 2018
How I love this series. I've been reading the Macus Corvinus novels for years and I'm so pleased that David Wishart is continuing with them by self-publishing. The familiar dry humour, witty dialogue and much-loved characters return, including the sardonic major-domo and the megalomaniac chef. The murder mystery is excellent, although I did get a little confused in a couple of places as the number of people involved multiplies. Fab conclusion, though. Full review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights. 4-4.5 stars.
September 9, 2019
Family Commitments starts a classic mystery, but ends up on the political side of the series. Long lost relatives, purloined jewellery, the obligatory dead bodies, and people Corvinus definitely doesn't want to tangle with all feature in this entertaining novel.
What to Expect
Corvinus' household is in turmoil: his touchy chef is on a rampage, his stolid major-domo suddenly looks green behind the gills, and his mother is convinced his octogenarian step-father is having an affair. Trying to make sense of any of that so he can get some peace and quiet leads Corvinus to long-lost relatives on the lam, dead bodies, crooks, missing very expensive jewellery, and - eventually - to the political machinations of emperor Claudius' court.
This is book 19 of the series, but it does make reference to previous characters and books and is therefore best read in order.
What I liked
Wishart keeps an excellent balance of humour and suspense in his prose, balancing Roman trivia and mystery writing which make this series a pleasure to read. He breathes life into all his characters, with their personal and cultural foibles, and you can just see their realistic interactions, bringing a plausible behind the scenes view of known historical facts.
Corvinus himself has a most unique voice that is a joy to read, though throughout the series 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 - we're not reading in Latin, after all, so taking a purist view is in itself a untenable proposition.
What to be aware of
Like all the political novels in the series, there is a varied cast that has been referenced in previous novels. It may take careful reading to follow them - even with Corvinus/Wishart recaps - and it helps to have read the previous novels.
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 Saturnalia as winter Festival). Interestingly, as the series progresses Wishart slowly includes more of them.
Summary
This is another great read in the series. If you enjoyed historical 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.
--
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' household is in turmoil: his touchy chef is on a rampage, his stolid major-domo suddenly looks green behind the gills, and his mother is convinced his octogenarian step-father is having an affair. Trying to make sense of any of that so he can get some peace and quiet leads Corvinus to long-lost relatives on the lam, dead bodies, crooks, missing very expensive jewellery, and - eventually - to the political machinations of emperor Claudius' court.
This is book 19 of the series, but it does make reference to previous characters and books and is therefore best read in order.
What I liked
Wishart keeps an excellent balance of humour and suspense in his prose, balancing Roman trivia and mystery writing which make this series a pleasure to read. He breathes life into all his characters, with their personal and cultural foibles, and you can just see their realistic interactions, bringing a plausible behind the scenes view of known historical facts.
Corvinus himself has a most unique voice that is a joy to read, though throughout the series 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 - we're not reading in Latin, after all, so taking a purist view is in itself a untenable proposition.
What to be aware of
Like all the political novels in the series, there is a varied cast that has been referenced in previous novels. It may take careful reading to follow them - even with Corvinus/Wishart recaps - and it helps to have read the previous novels.
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 Saturnalia as winter Festival). Interestingly, as the series progresses Wishart slowly includes more of them.
Summary
This is another great read in the series. If you enjoyed historical 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.
--
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 9, 2017
Corvinus is without a task when this book starts. Then he gets two in short order neither of which he wants and both related to family. His mother believes her old doddering husband is cheating and decides Marcus should follow him to uncover the truth. He of course cant believe this is true and cant get out of this situation either. He follows Priscus and seems him embrace a young woman at an antiques store and disappear into the back room. NOT GOOD. While walking home, he sees his servant in the wrong place. Oops he is visiting his long lost still enslaved brother. Marcus has to help as pater familias but also its harboring a slave and oops his master has been murdered. REALLY NOT GOOD. As Marcus tries to unwind this mess he uncovers way more than is safe to know all the way back to the emperor. Family commitments pull in very dangerous ways in this entry.
October 13, 2019
Initially this was a very enjoyable and intriguing mystery. I loved the personal nature of the mystery and how Bathyllus (who is a wonderful character) was brought into the forefront of the action. As to be expected from the series, the mystery is complex, but becomes overly so in the third quarter of the book where the mystery starts to involve fictionalised historical figures, including the emperor. I thought this really disrupted the flow of the story which up to that point had been quite a personal mystery to Corvinus. The introduction of so many characters names in such a short space of time was very off-putting to the point where I was barely following the plot. Remarkably, in the last quarter, Wishart manages to pull the plot together into something that is somewhat comprehendible and make a satisfying ending to the book.
July 25, 2017
A much better Corvinus mystery, in my opinion, especially in relation to what I found to be a disappointing previous work. This is more like the "old" Corvinus books - with plenty of Roman politics (which as usual can be so complex with similar names and divorces, etc.) and an amusing side-mystery that lets us see ongoing relationships between Corvinus and his family.
Not sure why this is listed both here and Amazon as #20....it seems to be #19?
Not sure why this is listed both here and Amazon as #20....it seems to be #19?
August 30, 2018
Messalina ;(. Plots and schemes, and death.
December 17, 2021
( Format : ebook )
"Hi sunshine... So who's your friend?"
review follows
"Hi sunshine... So who's your friend?"
review follows
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews