1. Roman Blood
Rome, 80 BC. The young advocate Cicero asks Gordianus to investigate the prosecution of Sextus Roscius, an Umbrian landowner accused of murdering his father. The charge of parricide carries a horrific punishment, but the official case rests on testimony shaped by fear and political influence. Gordianus…
2. Arms of Nemesis
The Bay of Naples, 72 BC. A steward is murdered at the villa of Marcus Licinius Crassus, and two enslaved men disappear. Crassus assumes they have fled to join Spartacus and invokes the law that permits the execution of the entire household if the killer is…
3. Catilina’s Riddle
Etruria, 63 BC. Gordianus withdraws to a country farm while Cicero serves as consul and warns that Lucius Sergius Catilina is preparing a revolution. Cicero asks his former investigator to watch Catiline’s movements and report on visitors using the surrounding estates. A series of mutilated bodies…
4. The Venus Throw
Rome, 56 BC. The philosopher Dio of Alexandria comes to Rome seeking support against the government of Ptolemy XII, but he is murdered before Gordianus can protect him. Clodia hires the Finder to investigate, drawing him into a case involving Egyptian agents and Rome’s most notorious…
5. A Murder on the Appian Way
Rome, 52 BC. Publius Clodius Pulcher is killed after an encounter with the followers of Titus Annius Milo on the Appian Way. His death brings armed gangs, riots and the burning of the Senate house, while Milo prepares to stand trial for murder. Pompey asks Gordianus…
6. The House of the Vestals
This collection follows Gordianus through cases set mainly between 80 and 73 BC, after Roman Blood and before Arms of Nemesis. The mysteries range from theatre murder and disputed inheritance to piracy, blackmail and an accusation involving a Vestal Virgin. The stories also show how Gordianus…
7. Rubicon
Rome, 49 BC. Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon and advances into Italy while Pompey and the Senate prepare to abandon the capital. Before Pompey leaves, his cousin is found strangled in Gordianus’s garden, making the Finder personally responsible for solving the murder. Gordianus’s family is divided…
8. Last Seen in Massilia
Massilia, 49 BC. Gordianus enters the city during Caesar’s siege after receiving a message that his son Meto, who has been working as a double agent, is dead. Cut off from reliable news, he must move among Roman exiles and Massilian leaders who regard every stranger…
9. A Mist of Prophecies
Rome, 48 BC. A young woman known as Cassandra, reputed to possess prophetic powers, dies in Gordianus’s arms in the Forum. She had moved among several of Rome’s most influential women, each of whom may have used her predictions for private or political purposes. As Caesar…
10. The Judgment of Caesar
Egypt, 48 BC. Gordianus travels to Alexandria with Bethesda while the Roman civil war follows Pompey and Caesar into the eastern Mediterranean. The city is divided by the dynastic struggle between Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII, and Caesar’s arrival turns a local succession crisis into…
11. A Gladiator Dies Only Once
Nine stories follow Gordianus during the years between his earliest major investigations. The cases take him from Rome to Hispania, Pompeii, Syracuse and the Bay of Naples, involving theft, suspected poisoning, political rebellion and the apparent return of a gladiator who has already died in the…
12. The Triumph of Caesar
Rome, 46 BC. Caesar prepares four triumphs celebrating victories in Gaul, Egypt, Pontus and Africa. Cleopatra is present in the city, Vercingetorix awaits execution and political opponents must decide whether Caesar’s clemency can be trusted. Calpurnia fears that someone intends to kill her husband and asks…
13. The Throne of Caesar (Roma Sub Rosa Book 16)
Rome, 44 BC. Julius Caesar has become dictator for life and is preparing to leave for war against Parthia, but rumours of conspiracy are spreading through the city. Gordianus has retired from investigation, yet Caesar and Cicero both draw him back into public danger by asking…