Initial evidence points to a couple of Crassus' slaves, who appear to have fled the scene of the crime to join Spartacus' rebellion. We soon learn that a patrician named Lucius Licinius, overseer of a villa owned by Marcus Crassus, has been brutally murdered. The caper begins when Gordianus the Finder - a gumsandal who tells us that "obtaining information is my specialty" - is roused from his bed by a stranger who demands that he travel to the wealthy community of Baiae to help solve a nasty murder case. But, thanks to Steven Saylor's skill and wry confidence, "Arms of Nemesis," the second in a series of mysteries set in the world of ancient Rome, is nothing of the sort. Wrap Hercule Poirot in a toga, toss him into a villa in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius and - voila! - an atrium mystery. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.ARMS OF NEMESIS By Steven Saylor. Saylor was born in Texas and graduated with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. He has appeared as an on-air expert on Roman history and life on The History Channel. Steven Saylor is the author of the long running Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, as well as the New York Times bestselling novel, Roma and its follow-up, Empire. Saylor has aquired the information of a historian but he enjoys the gifts of a born novelist." - The Boston Globe on A Murder on the Appian Way "A compulsively entertaining whodunnit." - New York Times Book Review on Arms of Nemesis Louis Post-Dispatch on Arms of Nemesis "Gordinaus has wisdom and prudence Saylor has intelligence, wit, and insight. "Saylor impeccably recreates life in Imperial Rome.and intriguing mix of historical accuracy and tense drama." - St. Enmeshed in a world of desperate slaves and duplicitous masters, extravagant feasts and sordid secrets, Gordianus must risk all he loves, including his life, to stop a senseless slaughter-and save the very future of Rome itself. Now Gordianus the Finder has been summoned from Rome by a mysterious client to find out the truth about the murder before the three days are up. In response to the murder, the wealthy, powerful Crassus vows to honor an ancient law and kill his ninety-nine remaining slaves in three days. The murdered man was the overseer of Marcus Crassus's estate, apparently killed by two runaway slaves bent on joining Spartacus's revolt.
The only clues are a blood-soaked cloak, and, carved into the stone at the corpse's feet, the word Sparta. The hideously disfigured body was found in the atrium.
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