Detectives in Togas

Detectives in Togas #1

by Henry Winterfeld, Charlotte Kleinert (Illustrator), Clara Winston (Translator)

In these two delightful history-mysteries, seven boys in Ancient Rome solve strange crimes . . . thanks to some help from their cranky teacher, a little bit of logic, and a lot of amusing misadventure.

Yes, Rufus wrote CAIUS IS A DUMBBELL on his tablet at school, but no, he did not break into the schoolroom, did not tie up his teacher, and certainly did not paint his slur about Caius on the Temple of Minerva (even if it is in Rufus's own handwriting). Rufus is doomed unless his six classmates can find out who is really responsible. Every hour seems to bring a new, confusing clue . . . until the boys finally stumble upon someone who is not what he appears to be.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, School, Historical, Young Adult

249 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 1956

About the author

Henry Winterfeld (born April 9, 1901, in Hamburg, Germany; died January 27, 1990, in Machias, Maine), also published under the pseudonym Manfred Michael. He was a German writer and artist famous for his children's and young adult novels.

Reviews

[Trace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rate this book a 4, Luke rates it a 5. He grudgingly agreed to give it a 4.5 star rating (even though Goodreads does not support half star ratings)....

Luke was riveted to his seat each night we read this book. And at the end of each chapter, he would become upset if I didn't continue...
Always a sign of a great book, no?

We had a couple of books handy when reading this book:

City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction by David Macaulay
The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome by Peter Connolly

And we were able to see just how accurate this historical fictional account of ancient Rome really is! Henry Winterfeld really is to be commended for creating such an entertaining AND educational story!

We learned quite a bit and laughed quite a lot.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this wonderful story (in original language - German)to both of my sons at the age of 10 . It is an all time capturing kids classic and unnoticely tells them about the culture of ancient Rome and how the live of boy of noble origin looked like then.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book cleverly weaves details about life in the Roman Empire into a kid-friendly mystery.

Personally, I did not find the story all that interesting, but I will say that my 9 and 7 year-olds frequently asked me to keep reading when I intended to stop. Despite their interest, I think they were still too young to really keep track of the twists and turns in the story, and to figure out the implication of each.

There is also a fairly gruesome death at the end which, since it happens to the "bad guy," is, I presume, supposed to be a relief to the reader. While my kids were not terribly disturbed by it, I can't say I'm a fan of that kind of ending - at least not for kids this young.

Overall, it was a fairly painless way to learn about life in the Roman Empire, but the story itself... meh, I could take it or leave it.

[Kait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a quick middle grade book re-read to close out March and bring my total to 20 books! “Detective in Togas” was always one of my favorite reads as a kid and it remains an entertaining mystery set in Ancient Greece where a bunch of kids find their teacher tied up and then one of their classmates ends up in prison for defacing a temple– how is it all connected and who’s behind it?

[Meghan Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very skeptical when I saw this book on the CMCS 4th Grade curriculum, but it has consistently gotten rave reviews from the 4th graders themselves, and is a genuinely fun introduction to the mystery novel. I'd call it a living book.

[Elizabeth Aucoin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in 3rd grade and remembered loving it - it still holds up for what it is. Definitely a solid kids book that teaches about Roman culture in a ~fun~ way. Nice to re-read. No shame

[Caly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in middle school and it was probably the only school book I read that year that I absolutely loved. Honestly, I need to go back and reread it to give an updated rating, but my middle school self would definitely give it 5 stars.

[h i n d]

What a great last sentence to end the book "Caïus est un âne" 😂

Yes boss, I'll read it.
"Pour enrichir mon vocabulaire de français"

[Katie Unger]

So much ancient Roman history packed into a hilarious, page turning mystery. My kids could not get enough of the story, they begged me to keep reading every night. Such a fun story to pair with our study of ancient cultures.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite books as a kid and it still holds up. A funny, well-told mystery and the setting is so fun. 4 stars.

[Jenna Marie ~Scheming Scribbler~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caius is a dumbell; for the class of seven Roman boys, this is common knowledge. However, when someone paints it on the Temple of Minerva and people begin to blame Rufus, one of the boys, it is not so funny. The boys are sure that Rufus is not the culprit, until Rufus mysteriously disappears. When some strange clues about his disappearance turn up, the six remaining boys are left with many questions. Where did their friend go? And who did vandalize the temple wall?

This book is a true treasure. Full of witty jokes and unexpected turns, this story, set in ancient Rome, will not be put down! This book is loved by my entire family, and I cannot reread it enough times!

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom read this to me and my siblings when we were homeschooled. I just had a blast reading it to my fourth graders as we began our study of ancient Rome. They were quickly caught up in the mystery and on the edge of their seats till we reached the end.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, fun, and witty story for children!

[Laura (Book Scrounger) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun mystery set in ancient Rome. It follows a group of school boys who have to solve a mystery after one of them is accused of defacing a temple, which the author said was inspired by seeing the phrase "Caius asinus est" in a childish scrawl on the wall of a temple in Pompeii. Which tells me that, in many ways, tween boys have not changed all that much in two thousand years.

At first I had a hard time keeping the characters straight since most people's names end in "-us", but eventually most of them developed some distinctive traits. But overall I enjoyed it -- it includes details of Roman life and social order without coming across as "educational" at the expense of story. While I guessed the "twist" at the end a while before it was revealed, I'm not the intended audience for this book, and I think my ten-year-old will probably enjoy it too.

[Elysia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious. Did it as our final read aloud for 2nd grade. 8yo loved it.

[Tirzah Eleora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detectives in Togas is a funny and entertaining read with plenty of silly Roman shenanigans that make it great for younger children. I myself found it too silly and childish, but that is precisely what younger me would have loved.

[Sticky Note Book Recs Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book aloud to my children for bedtime, and near the middle of the book, they didn't want to quit reading, and were dying to know what happened next! For a children's book, I didn't think the 'mystery' part of the book would be that deep, but surprisingly enough, I was still left trying to figure out what was going on up until the last 1/4 of the book!
I loved the way they fit the history in with the story, a great way to let my kiddos step back in time and pretend to be hanging out with children from Ancient Rome!

[Jean-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This read aloud complemented our ancient Rome history lessons. While many middle grade mysteries can be predictable and watered down this one kept my kids (ages 7 and 10) guessing until the end. It was an exciting story that also offered us quite a bit of insight into ancient Rome and the Roman lifestyle. We actually enjoyed it so much that we plan to read "Mystery of the Roman Ransom" from the same series before we move on from our ancient Rome unit. Any excuse for more time allocated for read alouds.;-)

[Alexandra Beckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a perfect companion to our Ancient Rome studies. It’s part comical, mystery, and historical fiction. Like the second book by the same author, my 8yo daughter was enthralled by the suspense and begged to read ahead several chapters on her own.

Author’s note from the opening:

“During the 1936 excavations in Pompeii, a temple wall came to light on which had been scribbled, in a childish hand, the words:

Caius Asinus Est

That scrawl from the days of Ancient Rome was the inspiration for this book.”

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son (6) loved this book and so did I. Pretty funny for me as an adult, which I can appreciate. My son and I did this as a read-aloud. It was somewhat complicated for him to keep up with all of the characters since there were so many, but wasn’t really too necessary to understanding the story. Loved also that it incorporated Roman/Greek elements of history since he is currently studying that in first grade.

[Anne]

I haven't read this since I was 11, tops, but it's still a delight. I love how dorky all the boys are. The best part is that I honestly can't remember a lick of the mystery. However, I remember the illustrations vividly. Hella appealling.

[Anna Kate Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a fun book. I remember this book being assigned in middle school and loving it. I picked it up again for a fun read and the mystery and absurdity of it is just a great time. Very silly, but quite entertaining :)

[Rachael Marsceau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter loved it, which surprises me because the vocabulary and sentence structure were definitely above his level. Cool to see we could make it through this long of a book, though!

[Kelsie Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun way to experience Ancient Rome. Read with the kids for school in the spring.

[Kaden Nimmers · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was really hard to figure it out . but once the riddle came in I figured it out

[Angela Heider-Willms · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die drei Bücher um die Jungen der Xanthosschule, die hier ihren Auftakt finden, habe ich als Kind, das sehr an römischer Geschichte interessiert war, sehr gerne gelesen und als clever gestrickte Detektivgeschichte mit ungewöhnlichem Setting in Erinnerung behalten. Diese Qualitätsmerkmal hält auch heute noch an.

Allerdings ist das Buch nicht sehr gut gealtert - wobei ich erst heute festgestellt habe, wie alt es tatsächlich ist. Ersterscheinungsdatum ist 1953 und das merkt man dem Buch heute doch sehr an. Nicht nur ist der Schreibstil ziemlich hölzern (vor allem bis zum Erbrechen beladen mit Adjektiven), Frauen- und Mädchenfiguren kommen, wenn überhaupt nur am Rande oder als Dekorationsobjekt vor und Relikte wie das N-Wort dürften modernen Leser*innen doch sauer aufstoßen. Ob das in aktuelleren Auflagen geändert wurde, weiß ich nicht, wünschenswert wäre es, denn ich kann mich an keine vergleichbare Serie erinnern.

[Lanny]

I pulled out this book for a read-aloud to accompany of our study of Roman history. Initially, I was disappointed to find that it was more at a 3-5th grade reading level and I thought it would go over my kids' heads. However, I was wrong and they loved it. They couldn't wait to solve the mystery. I appreciated how it mentioned lots of different Roman locations and artifacts. I would definitely recommend it as a read-aloud to supplement Roman history.

[Jessica Kirsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟
I have done this book as a read aloud twice. It's a fun middle-grade story, set in ancient Rome, and starring several pre-teen boys. Mysterious and dramatic, it is entertaining. However, I haven't loved reading to the under-10-year-old crowd. There's just too many names, titles, and references to keep track of, and I spend a lot of time recapping. However, both 9-year-old and 7-year-old were sad to see the story end, so I guess that's a win!

[~Calyre~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jules leva le doigt.
"Et pourquoi Rufus l'aurait-il fait? demanda-t-il. Il lui aurait été plus simple d'écrire directement sur le mur.
- Pas si simple que ça! répondit le maître. As-tu déjà essayé d'écrire dans l'obscurité?"
Jules ne sut que répondre.
"Ah! tu vois? fit Xantippe très satisfait. Toi, tu n'es même pas capable d'écrire correctement en plein jour!"

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was entertaining, but just ok. My main issue was that there were several boys in this book, together almost all the time, and yet personality wise I couldn’t tell them apart. I enjoyed watching them puzzle through the mystery. My kids did love this though! Every time we read a chapter they always wanted offer up guesses for what they thought happened and who the culprit was.