The Fateful Day

Starred review from November 10, 2014
A grim discovery during a time of great turmoil for the Roman Empire drives Rowe’s 15th whodunit, one of her best featuring pavement maker Longinus Flavius Libertus (after 2013’s Dark Omens). In 192 C.E., Marcus Septimus Aurelius, Libertus’s patron, travels from Britain to Rome to congratulate his friend Helvius Pertinax on his ascension to emperor. When Libertus stops by Marcus’s estate to oversee some farming work, he’s disturbed to find the estate’s gate open and unattended. He soon learns why when he finds the gatekeeper’s hanged corpse. Since the man’s hands are bound behind him, he obviously isn’t a suicide. As Libertus investigates, he’s posed with as challenging a puzzle as he’s ever encountered. This suspenseful outing, with its unexpected twists, compares favorably with the work of such masters of this subgenre as Gary Corby and Steven Saylor. Spoiler alert: readers not conversant with the historical details of the period might want to skip the foreword.

October 14, 2013
Rowe’s 14th whodunit set in second-century Britain (after 2012’s A Whispering of Spies) offers a surprisingly undramatic story line, given the events roiling the Roman Empire at the time. News of the death of the capricious and tyrannical emperor Commodus alarms the citizens of Glevum (the modern-day Gloucester). Given the inconsistencies in reports of the cause of death, some fear that the emperor has spread the rumor of his death as a ruse to identify those opposed to his regime who might now express their political views. Against this backdrop, magistrate Gaius Mommius Genialis, who’s about to marry a widow whose first husband perished at sea, hires pavement maker Longinus Flavius Libertus to replace a mosaic in the widow’s home that the artisan once made depicting a boat. Genialis promises Libertus a large bonus if he completes the work quickly. When Genialis vanishes, ascertaining his fate becomes the book’s main puzzle. Rowe has done a better job in previous entries of mixing mystery with history.

January 1, 2015
Pertinax is the new Roman emperor, succeeding the much-hated Commodus. Although he's fair and honest, Pertinax lacks political savvy, which could prove his undoing. Nonetheless, the empire has high hopes, and Libertus is not surprised when his patron, Marcus Septimus Aurelius, travels to Rome to meet Pertinax, who's an old friend. Tasked with watching over Marcus' villa while he is away, Libertus is surprised to see an obviously wealthy citizen stopped outside the villa gate. But when Libertus approaches, the man hurls abuse at him and nearly runs him over with his carriage. When Libertus enters the villa grounds, he makes a terrible discovery and once again is drawn into a murder investigation. Matters are complicated further when Libertus learns that Pertinax has been assassinated and subsequently discovers a link between the murder at his patron's villa and the dead emperor. Rowe offers an intriguing look at life in the Roman Empire, a likable hero, and plenty of suspense in this latest installment in her popular series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)