Mary Ray (1) (1932–)

This one's another book by the author of "The Ides of April". Actually, it's supposedly the fourth installment in a series of five books. ("Ides" was the second.) I don't know if I lost much by not reading the series in proper order. I did enjoy this one, regardless. It's the tale of a boy named Philo, who lives in ancient Palestine in the city of Philadelphia. (modern day Amman) His father is a trader and he comes home from his latest journey with an unusual guest--a man who was staked out to die in the desert by Roman soldiers. Who the man is and how he fits in with the family's fortunes in the next couple of years are played out in the first half of the book. But the crux of the story is esentially Philo's coming of age. It's a nice, easy book worth checking out.
--J.… (more)

This one is a murder mystery, set in ancient Rome at the time of Nero. A senator is murdered and one of the slaves is suspect. By law, when one slave is found guilty of murdering his or her owner, all of the slaves must die. (I think the logic is that the rest of the household might be "tainted".) One of the slaves, Hylas, has escaped and now he must elude the police and try to find the true killer before the rest of his household is executed. It's a nicely written tale, with engaging characters. Worth checking out for a couple of hours of reading pleasure.
--J.… (more)