Second Act

Claudia Seferius #9

by Marilyn Todd

The latest adventure for the Roman sleuth and glamorous heroine of "I, Claudia Busy, busy, busy . . . A house full of actors, Saturnalia coming up, the Guilds to outmanoeuvre, creditors on her back and, ahem, a slight cash-flow problem to deal with; a mother-in-law straining her nerves to breaking point and a certain security policeman, well, disturbing her senses . . . and Claudia doesn't even know about the murderer lurking in her house. Nevertheless, self-interest and a certain weakness for her aristocratic policeman lure her into lending some unasked-for help to his investigation into the Saturnalia Rapist, a mysterious and brutal figure terrorising Rome at this most festive season. Will she manage to unmask him, or will she just get herself into a whole lot of trouble?

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

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 exciting Roman mystery is the 9th part of the eventful and cheeky "Claudia Seferius" series.
It's another story which is written in a very playful witty way, the storyline is well worked out, and the characters come all very much alive within this deadly mystery.
Story-telling is of a very good quality, and the series main characters, being the bossy lady Claudia Seferius and the aristocratic policeman Marcus Orbilio, they come especially to the forefront in these mysteries as an exciting and lovely sleuthing couple.
The story is set in Rome, with the festive season of Saturnalia coming, and Claudia's house is full with actors, her nagging mother-in-law, her late husband's daughter Flavia, while lurking in the shadows of her house she's harbouring a murderer without her knowledge.
At the same time Claudia's aristocratic policeman and friend, Marcus Orbilio, is investigating the Halcyon Rapist, who's terrorizing Rome just like the year before at this most festive season, that being Saturnalia.
What will follow is a delightful and suspenseful rape and murder mystery with quite a few twists and turns, before the two plots will be unveiled to us in a most surprisingly eventful fashion.
Really very much recommended, for this is really an enjoyable series and this book is in my view: "Another Exciting Claudia Seferius Mystery"!