The Desiderata Riddle

Blind Sleuth Mysteries #13

by Nick Aaron

A Mystery Spanning Millennia — The last days that Daisy Hayes spent in Rome in 1964 were quite exciting. She and Father Contini went back to the crypt and made some disturbing discoveries. Not about Desiderata herself, but about the archaeologist who had investigated the place in the thirties. The quest now led them to the German town of Trier, where they teamed up again in the fall of that same year to continue their research. In AD 67 things were looking good for Desi and the Pomponius family in their beautiful they lived like princes. But as her friends the Christians went through yet another period of persecution, the blind young woman found it hard to decide on who’s side she wanted to be and what she intended to do with her life. Would she find love? So both she and Daisy ended up trying to grapple with the greatest riddle of “Who are you really, Desiderata?” And what’s more, did she ever become a Christian? "Once again Nick Aaron delights in taking everything you think you know and turning it on its head. Then he makes you ask for more. Disturbingly addictive." — The Weekly Banner This 86k novel is the third ‘Millenia’ mystery in the Blind Sleuth series. The Blind Sleuth Mysteries Daisy Hayes was born in London in 1922. Her father was a bank manager, hoping for a son, but he had to settle for a blind daughter. Now what do you do when your child is blind since birth and you have the means to do all that is necessary to help her? You hire a private tutor to stimulate her verbal development in the first years of her life, because you realize how vital language will become for her. Then you send her to an exclusive school where everything is done to develop the minds and resourcefulness of blind girls. There they teach them all these fancy techniques of spatial orientation and mind mapping. And before you know it, your darling daughter has developed an exceptional intellect that just seems to draw murder mysteries like a magnet… The Blind Sleuth Mysteries form a portrait of the twentieth century as witnessed by this remarkable blind woman. In volume one Daisy takes us along with her through World War II. The second book brings us to 1989, the year the Berlin wall came down. At the same time these novels form the life story of Daisy Hayes. “First Spring in Paris” and “Honeymoon in Rio”, for instance, take place in 1946 and 1952, and connect nicely to “D for Daisy”, that ends in 1950. “The Nightlife of the Blind”, on the other hand, takes place in 1984, five years before “Daisy and Bernard”. "Cockett's Last Cock-up", in the same way, brings back a memorable character from "D for Daisy", and takes place four years after "Honeymoon in Rio! Now "The Desiderata Stone" and its sequels “The Desiderata Gold” and "The Desiderata Riddle" take us back to ancient Rome, AD 64, as well as to the 20th century Eternal City. Fasten your seat-belts.

292 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 2021

About the author

Nick Aaron is Dutch, but he was born in South Africa, where he attended a British-style boarding school, in Pietersburg, Transvaal. Later he lived in Lausanne (Switzerland), in Rotterdam, Luxembourg and Louvain. Currently he works for the European Parliament in Brussels, proofreading legislative texts in all 24 official languages.
Follow Nick on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Nick-Aaron-1...

Reviews

[Michael R. Zuelke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This third part of the Desiderata series is much like the first two - well researched, very well written and most entertaining. I truly loved the characters in this series, especially Desiderata, and found myself hoping for some more about her in the future. Nick Aaron has again done a wonderful job in this final portion of the series. Keep up your good writting, Nick!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

[Rosemary Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is apart of the stories about a blind woman in England, but also about a mystery that she, with the help of some friends, uncover a piece of Roman history.
It's written in a side by side commentary of both the Roman era and today's adventure.
This is the third of this particular scenario, which would best be read after the others, to understand the plot and characters being portrayed.
Although a book of fiction, it does tie historical events into the tale nicely, giving it a very authentic feel. Credit to the author's penmanship and imagination, to run two simultaneous stories, with tie ins to each other.

[Marietta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. I love Daisy, she can always think outside the box. There are so many people who will help her with whatever she needs. I will have to wait for the next book in the series Desiderata's Lost Cause as I have not found it yet. I know that it will be just as good as the rest of the series. Thank you for such an enjoyable series. I would recommend this author to other friends who like story that take place during the war and the coming years as well.

[Sharon Speedy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe it is just me but I could not get into this story. I stopped reading about halfway through.