It's 535 AD in Constantinople and John, a slave and ex soldier, has risen in the ranks to become Justinian's, Byzantium's Emperor, right hand man. When John finds his friend, The Keeper Of The Plate, murdered in an alley he is given leave to find the killer. Intrigue builds when the Emperor and his wife, Theodora, rescind that permission... but will John risk life and limb to continue his investigation?
I found this book slow to start and maybe even a little naive at first - although that probably doesn't make any sense except to me - but after the first couple of scene setting chapters the story takes off.
You are taken to early Christian Byzantium with John, who encounters the poorest of the poor and the richest of society and treats them all with great respect - well almost all. I really felt that I learned a fair amount of how society was probably structured and how they interacted at that time but most of all I really enjoyed this book.
Did I guess who had done it? Well, no. To say the plot twists and turns is not really true but the profile of the crimes - did I not say that the body count doesn't stay at one? - keeps altering and so therefore so do(es) the likely killer(s) in the readers mind.
A thought provoking historical crime story that will keep you reading - and enjoying.
Publisher - Head Of Zeus
Genre - Historical crime fiction
Buy One for Sorrow: 1 (Death in Byzantium)
from Amazon
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