The Publius Ovidius Mysteries

The Publius Ovidius Mysteries reimagine the exiled poet Ovid as an unwilling investigator in Tomis on the Black Sea. His self-importance, literary knowledge and connections to Rome make him both useful and dangerous to Marcus Avitius, the provincial adviser responsible for maintaining order. The frontier setting places local communities, Roman officials and imperial intelligence in constant tension.

Poetic Justice begins in AD 9 with killings patterned on Ovid’s verse. Death and the Poet moves to AD 14 and the death of Augustus, adding Ovid’s wife Fabia to the partnership. Written in Blood continues under Tiberius as Sejanus’s agents pursue a child protected by Livia and finally reveals Forsyth’s explanation for Ovid’s banishment. All three books are fiction; the source’s non-fiction classifications have been corrected.