Catilina's Riddle by Steven SaylorMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The mystery portion of the book drags through every stage of its plotting, but as historical fiction, this is the best yet of this series. This is no doubt because of the change of setting: Gordianus has inherited a farm, introducing himself and the reader to a whole new aspect of life in ancient Rome (of course, it's not ancient Rome in the books). Also, the changes in his domestic situations with added family members provide another way for Saylor to reveal what it was to live in as not only a citizen but every other class of persons in that time period. The Real Person characters move in and out of the story almost effortlessly, even the best known one who is linked so closely to the family at the end of the book there's no way he won't be appearing in later stories. It's the setting and the supporting characters that keep me coming back to this series, Gordianus adopted children especially.
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