Dream Boat

Claudia Seferius #7

by Marilyn Todd

Claudia Seferius is broke. Skint. Borassic. Cleaned out. Bust, and on her uppers. So when her teenage stepdaughter Flavia is abducted, Claudia can't just throw money at the problem. The cash simply isn't there - since her husband died, his fellow businessmen have banded together to freeze her out of trade. And the frustratingly delectable Orbilio can't help - he's been placed under strict house arrest after a skeleton was found walled up in the house that's been in his family for three generations. Now, with the Games of Apollo, a series of festivals and frolics, feasting and tomfoolery, due to start in two days, Claudia has saddled herself with the job of playing tag with the kidnapper. Meanwhile, mysterious Egyptian cult the Brothers of Horus is growing in popularity with Roman citizens. But several of its young female members are beginning to experience strange disturbances...

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery, Historical Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

MARILYN TODD lives with her husband on a French hilltop, surrounded by vineyards, châteaux and vines. As well as sixteen critically acclaimed historical thrillers, she's a prolific writer of short stories, most of which are crime, but range from commercial women's fiction to comic fantasy and all points in between. When she isn't killing people, Marilyn enjoys cooking. Which is pretty much the same thing.

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful Roman murder mystery is the 7th part of the cheeky and lively "Claudia Seferius" series.
This Roman mystery is told with a lot of wit, and the storyline is very well organised and structured by the author.
Story-telling is of a very good quality and the characters involved in this tale come all wonderfully to life, especially the main characters Claudia herself and Marcus Orbilio and their enjoyable up and down love theme.
This story is set in the beginning in Rome itself but soon moves out towards the Etruscan Hills, when at the same time a week of festivals and frolics is about to kick off, when Claudia's teenage stepdaughter is kidnapped.
At the same time in Rome there's a growing popularity for an Egyptian cult with the Roman citizens, especially young girls, but after some while these same young female members are beginning to feel strange disturbances after joining this Egyptian cult in the Hills, and so they want to escape this heavenly prison before it's too late, with Flavia, Claudia's stepdaughter, among them.
With no cash, because her fellow businessmen are freezing her out of trade, and the only man who'll be able to help her, Marcus Orbilio, has problems of his own, and so she's confronted with the task of tracking down the kidnappers herself, but eventually with the help of a girl named Flea, who's somehow involved in this so-called kidnapping, while Marcus Orbilio after escaping his house-arrest, and also her slave Junius, after some disastrous circumstances is freed from jail, are also able to help Claudia.
What will follow is an exciting murder mystery in which abductions and killings are taken place within this strange Egyptian cult, and in these circumstances Claudia Seferius has to do her utmost to free her stepdaughter from death and stay alive herself as well.
Really recommended, for this book is "A Dream-Boat Murder Mystery"!

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#7 in the Claudia Severius series of crime novels set in Classical Rome.

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claudia goes undercover to rescue her stepdaughter from a creepy cult of Horus. Very disturbing murders!!

[Mary Rocco · Rating 3 out of 5]

These Claudia Seferius books are not great literature, but they are fun, light reading.