Marcus Corvinus Series

Book 1

Ovid

by David Wishart

Published 17 August 1995

In AD8, Augustus banished the poet Ovid to Tomi, on the Black Sea. In spite of repeated appeals by his friends in Rome for the sentence to be revoked, he died in exile ten years later.

No one knows why Ovid was banished.

The most convincing explanation is that Ovid was involved somehow with the emperor's granddaughter Julia, who was exiled the same year for immorality. However, Julia's sexual partner was sentenced to nothing worse than social ostracism. Her husband, on the other hand, was executed shortly afterwards for treason ...

Why should the witness to a crime be punished far more harshly than the person who committed it? And why - was he not allowed to return to Rome with the other exiles on Tiberius's accession?

All these questions are debated and explained in a lively and dramatic way by Marcus Corvinus, an engaging mixture of Philip Marlowe and a Roman hooray Henry, who adds a new dimension to the ranks of literary sleuths.

Book 2

Germanicus

by David Wishart

Published 21 August 1997

Marcus Corvinus feels his heart sink when he is summoned by the Empress Livia. Age has not sweetened her and she's about as trustworthy as a snake with a migraine. But Livia has a way of asking a favour that is impossible to refuse - which is how Marcus finds himself investigating the death of her grandson, Germanicus. And uncovering a multi-stranded web of betrayal and deceit.

Book 3

Sejanus

by David Wishart

Published 16 July 1998

Immediately after his father's funeral, Marcus is approached by two senators who want him to dig up some dirt on Sejanus, emperor Tiberius's deputy and likely successor. Despite the dangers, Marcus cannot resist the thrill of more detective work, and his investigations uncover a trail of treason, betrayal - and murder.

Book 4

The Lydian Baker

by David Wishart

Published 15 October 1998

In voluntary exile in Athens, Marcus Corvinus receives a letter from his antiquarian stepfather Priscus, who has learned that the 4¬? ft solid gold statue of a female baker, one of a large number of valuable gifts to the Delphic Oracle by the 6th century BC King Croesus of Lydia, has reappeared and is being offered for sale in Athens on the black market. Corvinus agrees to be his agent and to try and buy it. But, as a result, he finds himself caught up in the world of organised crime, as well as in a deadly struggle of interests with other, less scrupulous, collectors.

Book 5

Old Bones

by David Wishart

Published 3 August 2000

Laddish Marcus Corvinus is spending his time in ancient Tuscany, sampling wine and ogling local talent (under the beady eye of his lovely wife Perilla) when his stepfather is accused of murder. It doesn't take long for Marcus to get him off the hook, but finding the true culprit is rather trickier. As he pursues his investigation, Marcus uncovers a major wine-making fraud as well as a sorry tale of infidelity, treachery, deceit and betrayal. And when he uncovers the real murderer, the reason for the crime turns out to have its roots in myth and history.

Book 6

Last Rites

by David Wishart

Published 2 August 2001

It is the morning after the nocturnal rite of the good Goddess, an all-female ceremony strictly out of bounds to the male of the species, and the body of a young woman has been found, her throat cut. Suicide or murder?

Hoping to avoid scandal, Senator Lucius Arruntius calls in Marcus Corvinus to do some discreet sleuthing. Marcus is helped in his investigations by a feisty flutegirl and by his clever, loyal wife Perilla (even though her attention is somewhat distracted by the acquisition of a revolutionary new clock). But - inevitably - to solve the mystery, Marcus must look beyond the obvious and first untangle a complex web of treachery and deceit.

Book 10

Food for the Fishes

by David Wishart

Published 14 March 2005

When Licinius Murena, wealthy owner of a fish-farm, is found dead, drowned in one of his own eel tanks, not many tears are shed. Certainly not by Trebbio, who had just been booted out of his cottage by the landowner, and was heard bad-mouthing him drunkenly in public the day before Murena's death. Nor by the widow, a little stunner half Murena's age who allegedly spent an inordinate amount of time 'under the doctor'. Nor by his daughter or his farm manager. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Marcus Corvinus is the man to find out. With the help, of course, of his clever wife Perilla - if she can spare the time from her newly acquired passion for gambling...As we follow the Byzantine thought processes by which our hero solves the crime, we are entertained along with way with accounts of pisciculture and with a handy guide to 'Twelve Lines', the Roman precursor of backgammon.

Book 11

In at the Death

by David Wishart

Published 22 March 2007

The surprise suicide of a young man with – apparently – everything to live for, prompts his family to ask Marcus Corvinus to investigate. All they really want is an explanation. But Marcus’s sleuthing uncovers many contradictory elements in the tale, and he is forced to conclude that this wasn’t suicide at all, but murder. As usual, he needs Perilla’s agile brain to untangle the complexities of the case and the pair come to realise that the suicide scenario has a political, as well as a personal, dimension. As if that’s not enough, Corvinus finds his investigations hampered by his new role as reluctant dog-sitter to the seriously misnamed Placida, a Gallic boarhound with a gargantuan appetite and minimal personal hygiene.

Book 13