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Author
[Character] Book. Notes. |
Place |
Time |
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Anna Apostolou
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Paul
C. Doherty |
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[Pliny
the Younger, Roman administrator (A.D. 61-112), & |
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All Roads Lead to Murder: A Case from the Notebooks of Pliny
the Younger (2002) |
Smyrna |
A.D.
83 |
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| Traveling
back to Rome in a caravan Pliny and Tacitus stop overnight in Smyrna,
where a member of the caravan is brutally murdered. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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| see also the Darrell Schweitzer's short story featuring Pliny the Younger. | |||||||||
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[Hermion,
Spartan captain]
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Pharnabazus Sits on the Ground With the Spartan Captains (2002) |
The
Hellespont |
396
BC. |
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| Hermion,
a grizzled and battle-weary Spartan captain, tells the story of a meeting
with a local Persian ruler, Pharnabazus, on the shores of the Hellespont,
the river separating Europe and Asia. The encounter raises questions about
the death of the brilliant Athenian politician and general Alcibiades. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk] |
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see
also Daniel Chavarria's novel featuring
Alcibiades;
and Peter T. Garratt's short story featuring Alcibiades. |
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[Alcibiades,
Athenian general (c.450-404 B.C.)
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The Eye of Cybele: A Novel |
Athens
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434-429 B.C. |
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An
epic mystery, set in ancient Greece in the time of Pericles & his great
love Aspasia, finds a mad
priest and an entrancing whore joining the likes of Alcibiades and
Socrates in a quest for a lost jewel - the Dyndimenian Eye. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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see
also Peter Carnahan's novel featuring Alcibiades ; and Peter T.
Garratt's short story featuring
Alcibiades. |
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see also Brčni James Gillian Linscott's story featuring Socrates |
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Agatha Christie |
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[Hercule
Poirot, private detective] |
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The Labors of Hercules |
England |
20th
Century |
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A collection of short mysteries in which Hercule Poirot takes on 12 cases that parallel the Labors of Hercules from Greek mythology. |
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Clyde B. Clason |
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[Theocritus
Westborough, classical scholar] |
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Murder
Gone Minoan |
California |
20th
Century |
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Wealthy eccentric Greek Alexis Paphlagloss has recreated the Minoan palace of Knossos on an island off the coast of California, and when a rare Minoan goddess statue is stolen, elderly classical scholar and amateur sleuth Theocritus Westborough is brought in to investigate. |
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Barbara Cleverly |
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[Laetitia
"Letty" Talbot, archaeologist] |
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The Tomb of Zeus |
Crete |
1920s |
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Sweeping us to the exotic island of Crete in 1928, Cleverly introduces a marvelous new heroine: whip-smart and spirited Laetitia Talbot, an aspiring archaeologist with a passion for adventure–and for the mysteries that only the keenest eyes can see. Her host, a charismatic archaeologist, is racing to dig up the fabled island’s next great treasure–even, perhaps, the tomb of the King of the Gods, himself. But then a beautiful young woman is found hanged and a golden youth drives his Bugatti over a cliff. From out of the shadows come whispers of past loves, past jealousies, and ancient myths that sound an eerie discord with present events. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk] |
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Lindsey Davis |
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[Marcus
Didius Falco] The Falco Mysteries are set in 1st Century A.D. Rome. Mentioned here are those novels taking place in Rome's province of Greece. For the entire series, see Amazon.com or the Official Lindsey Davis website.
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See Delphi and Die |
Greece |
A.D. 77 |
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Falco is sent to Greece to ensure a young scholar finds his university without being sidetracked by sport, corpses, or the Seven Wonders of the World. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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| see also Lindsey Davis' short story featuring Milo of Croton & Pythagoras | |||||||||
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[Alexander
the Great, King of Macedonia and Greece (356-323 B.C.) & friends] |
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A Murder in Macedon |
Macedon |
336 B.C. |
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| (written
as Anna Apostolou) In the dark days that followed the murder of Philip of Macedon, suspicion and fear fill the royal palace. Philip's son, Alexander, sets out to find the culprit with help from two Hebrew friends, Miriam and Simeon. |
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A
Murder in Thebes |
Thebes,
Greece |
335
B.C. |
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(written as Anna Apostolou) |
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The House of Death |
The Hellespont |
334 B.C. |
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"Anxious
to dominate the Persian empire... Alexander the Great awaits a sign from
the gods. He instead finds intrigue, secret agendas, spies, and murder.
The appearance of boyhood friend Telamon gives him a trusted ear he
hopes." |
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The Godless Man |
Ephesus |
334
B.C. |
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| "After the Battle of the Granicus, in which Alexander defeated the Persian armies, several murders in Ephesus threaten to delay Alexander's "clean up" of his enemies. His friend and doctor, Telamon, takes charge of the investigation, with help from the Master of Secrets." (Library Journal) | |||||||||
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The Gates of Hell
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Halicarnassus |
334 B.C. |
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"When Alexander's determination to invade and conquer Halicarnassus, a city inextricably linked to his infamous father, is threatened by an unsettling series of murders within his own inner circle, Telamon must use his considerable powers of detection in order to uncover a treasonous plot linked to the legendary Pythian manuscript." (Booklist) |
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see also the Theodore Mathiesen's short story featuring Alexander the Great. |
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The Death of Alexander the
Great: What or Who Really Killed the Young Conqueror of the Known World? |
Babylon |
323
B.C. |
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Doherty
scrutinizes the circumstances surrounding Alexander's death as he lay
sweating beside a swimming pool in the summer palace of the Persian kings.
Did Alexander die of alcoholism, a hideous bout of malaria, or were other
factors involved? |
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| Read an interview with Doherty by the Historical Novel Society | |||||||||
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| [Aristotle,
philosopher, (384-322 B.C.) & Stephanos] |
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Aristotle Detective (1978; reissued 2002) |
Athens |
332
B.C. |
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Athens is unhappily under the rule of the Macedonian ‘barbarian’
Alexander the Great. In the midst of this unrest, Boutades, an eminent
citizen, is found brutally murdered. Suspicion falls heavily on young
Philemon, and his cousin Stephanos is elected to defend
his name in court. In desperation, Stephanos seeks assistance from
Aristotle, his former mentor — and Aristotle turns Detective. |
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Aristotle and Poetic
Justice |
Athens |
330 B.C. |
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Stephanos and Aristotle are drawn into solving the perplexing abduction case of Anthia, the heiress of a prominent silver merchant. Someone has snatched her from her home, but what is the motive: rape, a forced marriage or murder? All that is known is that the abductor and the heiress are on the road to Delphi and its ancient oracle. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk] |
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The Secrets of Life |
Athens & |
330 B.C. |
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Aristotle and Stephanos both find reasons to leave the hostile atmosphere of Athens. With a varied cast of travelers they set sail across the Aegean Sea to the sacred Isle of Delos, to Mykonos and beyond to the coast of Asia Minor. There they will soon be caught up in investigating conspiracy and murder. But first they need to survive life on the high seas. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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Poison in Athens |
Athens |
330 B.C. |
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Three law cases are exciting Athens. Misogyny, political wrath, and lack of judgment bring affairs to a boiling point, stimulating Aristotle to intervene. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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Mysteries in Eleusis |
Athens
& |
329 B.C. |
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A series of thefts in Athens seem to have some connection with a little shop that makes statuettes of Demeter and Kore. Stephanos and Aristotle decide to become initiates of Demeter. Their new connection with the Mysteries at Eleusis allows them to observe some things that don’t add up. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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Read an interview
with Margaret Doody.
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[Baudolino] |
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Baudolino |
Constantinople & elsewhere |
A.D. 1204 |
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Baudolino recounts his picaresque tale to famed
Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates, and
manages to touch on nearly every major theme of
the Middle Ages: the Crusades; the Holy Grail; cathedral cities; the Jews;
Prester John; sacred relics; and the
perennial power struggles between pope and emperor.
But the mystery at the heart of this story is, who killed Frederick
Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, on his way to join the Crusade? |
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[Bias, a priest] |
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Murder at the Panionic
Games |
Priene, Ionia |
650 B.C. |
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| Bias, a minor
priest, assists at the opening of the Panionic Games by securing the
blessing of Priene’s reigning deity, Poseidon. But while the games are
being blessed, Priene’s best athlete is poisoned and dies in Bias’s
arms. The citizens perceive Bias to be infected by the "miasma of
death" and he is challenged with the responsibility of finding the
killer.
[US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk] See Michael B. Edwards' website. |
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[Inspector Richard Ringwood] |
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The
Cretan Counterfeit |
London |
A.D. 1950s |
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Alan Gordon |
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[Theophilos
the Fool] The Fool's Guild Mysteries are set all around Medieval Europe. Here are listed only those tales taking place in and around Greek-speaking Byzantium & the Crusades. For the entire series, see Amazon.com.
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Thirteenth
Night |
Illyria (Balkans) |
A.D.
1201 |
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Set on the Adriatic coast of the Balkans, in the duchy of Orsino, Alan Gordon draws on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to conjure a mystery filled with enough passion, intrigue, danger, and shifting identities to delight the Bard himself. |
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see
also Kim Newman's short story "This
is Illyria, Lady," and Ron
Tiner's short story "A Kind of Wild Justice,"
based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
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The
Jester Leaps In |
Constantinople |
A.D.
1202 |
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This time Theo is sent to Byzantium to find out why six of his colleagues seem to have vanished and, if he's lucky, to stop an attack on Byzantium itself. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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A
Death
in the Venetian Quarter |
Constantinople |
A.D.
1203 |
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Theophilos
the Fool investigates the murder of a
silk merchant in the Venetian Quarter of Constantinople during a siege by
Crusaders who, instead of traveling to the Holy Land to battle the
infidel, have been subverted to plunder the richest city on Earth. |
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Widow of Jerusalem |
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A.D. 1191 |
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As they journey across the Alps in A.D. 1204,
Theophilos recounts to his wife a story from the Third Crusade, of the
most beautiful woman in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and her dwarf jester,
Scarlet. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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see
also the short
stories featuring Theophilos
the Fool. |
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[Demetrios
Askiates] |
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Mosaic
of Shadows |
Constantinople |
A.D. 1096 |
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Set in medieval Constantinople at the time of the First Crusade, Demetrios Askiatesis commissioned to investigate an assassination attempt on the Emperor's life. [US: Amazon.com] [Canada: Amazon.ca] [UK: Amazon.co.uk]
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Knights of the Cross |
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A.D. 1098 |
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Set at the Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade, among squabbling princes and rival armies, Demetrios Askiates is commissioned to investigate the murder of a Norman Knight.
[Amazon.com
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