Shadows in the Night: An Aurelia Marcella Roman Mystery

I enjoyed this book. Ms. Finnis is very knowedgeable about Roman history and roman Britain in particular. Her characters are very well drawn and I find the character of Aurelia particularly entertaining. Ms. Finnis gets more comfortable with each book in the series (I have read 3). That said, I sort of felt like I was reading Nancy Drew or Angela Brazil. There was such a "jolly" atmosphere about the characters. The contemporary slang seemed a bit jarring, and, as a previous reviewer mentioned, it went on far too long. All in all an enjoyable read-I would actually give it a 3.5, but I rounded up to 4.

I've happily discovered a new author who writes historical murder mysteries. I highly recommend this book. I couldn't put it down.

The author Jane Finnis was born in Britain, in what she describes in her own words as "God's Own Country, Yorkshire." As I too am from Yorkshire it is not a statement I am about to argue with. She studied history at London University and then stayed on in the capital and worked for some years as a freelance broadcaster for the BBC. She is now settled back in Yorkshire, close to the coast. She has always had a love of the Roman era and when she finally found time to do some writing, it seemed to be the obvious period in which to set her books. The book is set in Roman Britain in 91 AD. The country of Britain has never really bowed to the yoke of Roman authority and even though it is almost 50 years since the Roman invasion, many of the tribes in the north refuse to take up the ways of their Roman masters like those in the south of the country. Tension is high and a young innkeeper from Italy, Aurelia Marcella, who runs an inn called the Oak Tree on the road to York finds herself under attack from a native war band, whose aim in life is to get rid of all things Roman. A traveller is almost killed close to the inn and he and Aurelia try their utmost to track down the rebels and their mysterious leader. I don't know whether it is because the book was set where I was born and still live but I enjoyed it tremendously. Having a woman as the lead character was I believe inspirational, particularly when other characters from other author's placed in similar backgrounds, i.e. Falco, Gordianus, etc. are all male and although Falco the character of Lindsey Davis has visited Britain he is usually to be found in the streets of Rome. A series of Roman mysteries set in Rome is I believe an exciting format.

The two courses in Roman studies I took at UMass/Boston both studied excavation work at Pompeii and both had slides of businesses owned by women there at the time of volcanic eruption in 79AD; therefore I was baffled that one of the reviewers thought that a woman operating her brother's business while he, a Roman centurion, was away on operations, was unbelievable. However, I do have to agree that I did find unbelievable that she would leave the inn boundary by herself. Roman ladies, as far as I have read, were always accompanied by one or more attendents beyone their home area. I thought that the book was well written and most entertaining and conveyed a vey good sense of place.

After Mt. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the town of Pompeii, one of the roman families who escaped the devastation moved to the small backwater town of Oak Bridge near Eburacum, Britannia. Aurelia Marcella and her twin sister Albia own the Oak Tree Mansio, a popular guest house and posting station. After five decades of Roman rule, a certain segment of the native population want to throw the outsiders out of their country and are willing to use violence to do it.The rebels have the support of the Druids who believe the Romans are desecrating the land and the forests. One of the primary targets of the insurgents is the destruction of the Oak Tree Mansio and the deaths of everyone associated with it. Led by Aurelia and with the help of trusted allies, the property is well guarded but an attack is barely beaten off because a traitor in their midst gave crucial information to the enemy. Unless they can find out who that collaborator is, lives will be lost and property destroyed.GET OUT OR DIE pretty much sums up the feelings of the natives living under occupied rule. The conspirators are smart and clever and could be any native or even a Roman who has a grudge against his or her homeland. Jane Finnis' story is told through the eyes of Roman businesswoman Aurelia Marcella who doesn't understand why anyone would object to being part of the far flung empire. This is a fast paced action packed historical conspiracy thriller that readers will find fascinating due to the perspectives of the cast.Harriet Klausner