The Case of Vulcan: A Murder Mystery of Ancient Rome

by Francis M Mulhern

Stolen gold, a dead priest and a mystery fit for the gods

Rome’s treasures are gone and a priest lies dead within the burned-out shell of the Temple of Vulcan. Did he die a hero protecting the riches stored at the temple as everyone says or is there a more sinister reason for his death?

Facing financial ruin if he cannot find the missing gold and silver, Secundus makes enemies of Rome’s rich and powerful as he grapples with hostile priests, corrupt patricians and a mystery which seems to hold no clues. From the depths of the fire comes hope as a potential new home appears on the market and his attention is drawn away from the murder to more domestic affairs.

And then as all hope of a solution to the mystery seem lost the gods gift him a sign and he is plunged into a frantic search for the truth as time passes and his patron demands answers or payment. With hours to spare Secundus must choose to risk his all on a last throw of the dice or see his family disgraced in this next thrilling murder mystery in Ancient Rome.

194 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 21, 2022

Reviews

[Mary Heron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different and compelling. The mystery is a simple one find out who stole the fortune Secundus's father's patron had stored at the temple.of Vulcan, murdering a priest and burning down the temple in the process. Easy Peasy. Or it should be, how could a gang (it would have to be to move so much metal, gold, silver and lead ingots) move about unnoticed on quiet residential street, they couldn't have gone far with that much metal and would need a place nearby to hide it. Then there's the dead priest, apparently he'd gone a bit crazy in his.last few months and had taken to walking the streets at night raving about the God Vulcan yet nobody appears to have seen anything. There is a personal risk regarding the theft too. Secundus father is reliant on the support of his patron and is in a great deal.of.debt to him, if the funds are not found he will.call in these debts which will mean ruin for the family. No pressure then....................... As stated in my last review these books are set in the early days of the republic so there are not many references to historical people or.places (which makes a pleasant change as few Roman mysterys can resist mentioning Ceasar etc) there is a great emphasis placed on the influence of the Gods, with offerings being made to several different deities throughout the day, depending how things are going. I. E. To give thanks if Secundus is successful or pray for help if he is struggling. The only issue I have with the books( and it's a small one) is Gracchius and his constantly running nose, it turns my stomach a bit of I'm honest, just imagining it..... urrgh..............

[Francis Mulhern · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vulcanal was an old but small shrine near the Forum in Rome. The priests of Vulcan lit sacred fires to the god each day to ask the god to help avert harmful fires, but they were also (in ancient times) blacksmiths and they melted the metals gained from war into ingots for the treasury of Rome. In doing so this created a super back-drop for a mystery story.
I asked myself 'why would Secundus be interested in a death at the Vulcanal' and in this story he needs to find find an enormous amount of silver and bronze that has been stolen from the temple or his fathers' debts will be called-in and the family will face financial ruin.

A priest is dead, murdered by robbers who then torched the temple. And yet Secundus isn't happy with the accepted story that the man was protecting the silver and bronze as something just doesn't seem right. When he proves that this is the case he must then confirm what actually happened, why the priests are so secretive and how so many ingots of precious metal were removed from the temple on the night of the fire and nobody saw anything, not even the people living in the houses along the street who came out to attempt to douse the fire.
His devotions to Minerva and Janus appear to be paying off as he uncovers more clues, but his luck then seems to run out as another dead man is found and then his fathers' patron calls in the debt and claims that Secundus has no god-given skill and is wasting his time.
With time pressing and another murder on his hands Secundus must make a gamble, a guess to save them from financial ruin lands him in trouble with is neck at the end of a blade - but who will save him?

In this book I tried to link the political backdrop of the system of patrons within Rome to a broader story of murder. The Merenda family are only small-fry in a much larger game and as Secundus' father is pushing the family up the social and political ladder they make enemies of those in the same social standing as well as those who are above and want to keep their place in society. This positioning was an everyday occurrence at the time and Secundus will need to get used to this if he is to continue to develop his position in the world.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book follows directly upon the previous one, with Secundus weeks after completing the previous mystery becoming involved in a second one where a fire burns down the temple of Vulcan and ingots stored for the city are stolen. The story kind of plods along with excessive details on people's unpleasant physical behavior and a lot of bad investigation. Glaring clues are ignored, and a new character is introduced simply to be a time crunch/foil for the hero.

Its okay, but the first was much more engaging and handled better. This felt padded and a lot of information was kept from the reader then suddenly introduced when needed -- things and characters our hero would have known about but we do not until they are dropped into the story. I'll give it a third book but this one was a bit disappointing.

[William N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better

The first book in this series was quite good. This one was even better. The plot twists were interesting. The character developments and twists, especially concerning the two families was excellent. Looking forward to the next volume in this unfortunately short series. Hope Milberg writes more.

[K Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in the Secundus Sulpicius murder mysteries of ancient Rome series.

In this second book of the series we join Secundus in his search for the murderers of a priest, killed on the same night that a fortune in gold and silver is stolen. With the help of his friend Graccus and young Micas, Secundus follows one lead after another. With very little to help him find those responsible, and a Patrician threatening to ruin Secundus’s family if the fortune is not found and returned, the situation looks dire.

Once again Francis Mulhern takes us back to ancient Rome, introducing us to a new set of characters while bringing back the characters that populated Secundus’s first foray into the world of crime-solving. Whether or not you have read the first in the series, this book will draw you in and entangle you in a mystery that will have you on the edge of your seat by the conclusion.

While reading these books I have been curious, frustrated, have laughed out loud and felt so very sorry for some of those we encountered. If you enjoy a good mystery, history and strong characters this book, and this series, is a good one to pick up and spend time with. I’m torn between picking up the next in the series and wanting to wait so that I can make them last longer.

Thanks again for another great story.