‘It’s a funny thing about holidays in the country, but after only a few days away you feel as if you’ve been out of circulation for a month…’Holidaying out in the sticks in the Alban Hills, Marcus Corvinus is bored out of his skull until, conveniently, one of the candidates for the position of local censor is found murdered.So who killed Bolanus? Can Corvinus find the murderer before the Latin … before the Latin Festival raises the stakes? How do the Latin Nationalists fit into the picture? And last but not least, what exactly is his chef Meton up to in the kitchen with Dassa the Sheep?
Corvinus doesn’t know any of the answers, either.
The eighth book in the Marcus Corvinus series.
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A Vote for Murder sees Corvinus on vacation in the Latin countryside, where he’s invariably called upon to assist the local authorities with the murder of a political candidate.
*** What to expect
In a classic Corvinus, what starts off as the obvious murder of a high-profile local politician quickly devolves into a intrigue and plots at the highest levels of the Roman empire. As bodies pile up and the deadline looms, Corvinus strives to extract information from hostile locals and make sense of who’s is about to be murdered next.
Although this is book 8 of the series and there is some continuity from past books (recurring characters), because events are not related to the previous novels it can be read out of order. Only the first three novels deal with more historical events (where order is important), and the rest of the series so far are fairly independent mysteries.
*** What I liked
As with Old Bones (book #5 in the series), I love the treatment of the Roman countryside. So much literature is focused on Roman society itself, that it’s easy to lose the view of how the conquered people around Rome viewed the big city. Here Wishart deals with the Latins, who hare a lot of background with Rome but are striving to maintain their unique cultural heritage. Wishart does an amazing job of bringing these characters and their unique outlook to life, and gives us readers an excellent, different view of the early Roman empire.
Though the mystery part of standard, I loved the bit at the end. After all the corpses and murderers are accounted for, after the dust settles, that extra last chapter had me rolling in laughter. This book in general has an excellent humourous B-plot running through it.
As with the previous novels, Wishart uses a modern language to bring the characters to life. He’s also using a time-honoured trope of representing the Roman patriarchy similar to British aristocracy. The result is a novel that reads as a cross between Sam Spade and Downton Abbey, on a backdrop of ancient Rome. It makes for very enjoyable reading for lovers of those genres.
*** What to be aware of
I found the mystery aspect a bit predictable. For the majority of the novel it seemed like Corvinus is missing the obvious, although, to be fair, there is an extra twist at the end. Still a very worthwhile read, for all the reasons listed above.
Though Wishart’s prose is excellent, he avoids all Latin terms to the point where it’s a bit much (like referring to a toga as a mantle, or to the Forum as Market Square). I find this a bit diluting the experience of Rome, which is a big factor to anyone reading Roman-era fiction.
*** Summary
This is a good addition to the series, with a lighter tone than others. If you like Roman-era mysteries by Lindsey Davis, Steven Saylor, Ruth Downie and the like, you really need to read the Corvinus series as well. This is as good a starting point as any.
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Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic – for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.