Book
Death and the Poet
First published 2025
Tomis, AD 14. Ovid has established a reluctant routine in exile when the vegetable seller Dokimos is found beaten to death. The evidence appears to identify a jealous neighbour, but Ovid and Marcus Avitius suspect that the local authorities have accepted the easiest answer. Their inquiry is complicated by the declining health of Augustus, whose approaching death makes every Roman official on the frontier anxious about advancement under the next emperor.
Ovid’s wife Fabia arrives from Rome carrying a cryptic message from Livia and becomes an active participant in the investigation. Another crime exposes corruption protected by the legate Flaccus, while Ovid’s hope of recall depends on interpreting the intentions of both the imperial household and enemies closer to Tomis. The transition from Augustus to Tiberius shadows the murder case, showing how a provincial injustice can be sustained by officials more concerned with the succession than with the death of an ordinary man.
More from this period
5 more top-rated novels about Reign of Augustus
Ranked by rating and voting volume; books already shown on this page are omitted.
More from this period
5 more top-rated novels about Reign of Tiberius
Ranked by rating and voting volume; books already shown on this page are omitted.
More from this period
3 more top-rated novels about Roman Danube Frontier
Ranked by rating and voting volume; books already shown on this page are omitted.
More by the author
Other books by Fiona Forsyth
Discover more
Authors similar to Fiona Forsyth
Recommended from shared genres and periods.
Richard Foreman
43 books
Alex Gough
15 books
Robert Harris
14 books
Christian Cameron
41 books
Peter Tonkin
18 books