The Chariots of Calyx

Rosemary Rowe is the pseudonym of Rosemary Aitken, a highly qualified academic, who has written more than half a dozen bestselling textbooks on English Language and communication. She has written fiction for many years under her married name. Libertus, one time slave and now Pavement Maker and citizen of Rome, is asked to investigate the brutal and untimely murder of Caius Monnius, Londinium's chief corn-officer. His enquiries lead him in many directions, until he feels he may well be going round in circles. Was it the keeper of the granaries who performed the brutal killing? The sinister pair Calyx and Glaucus, manager's of a chariot team are also suspects. Or could it be Fortunatus, the lover of Caius' wife?

Rowe's fourth Libertus offering - `The Chariots of Calyx' - rids us Marcus Aurelius Septimus as Libertus joins governor Pertinax in Londinium as he prepares to embark on his tour of Britannia (first stop Ebroarcum - which is meant as kindly gesture to Libertus, though he now knows Gwellia is not there - but you cannot refuse a governor!). Before it can go ahead, the frumentarius (corn officer) Caius Monnius is found strangled to death with a slave and his new wife, Fulvia suffered a slash to her arm when she was attacked. Pertinax asks Libertus to investigate in case the murder is political and he reluctantly goes to the house to discover a range of colourful characters, most prominent being Annia, the deceased's mother who lives in an annexe and currently houses Monnius' ex-wife Lydia and their son, Filius.The domineering and opinionated Annia is at loggerheads with Fulvia, the young beautiful new wife (incidentally having an affair with the Blues racing charioteer favourite, Fortunatus) and firmly believes the charioteer committed the deed. Into the mix comes the Celt Eppaticus (Rowe has a tendency to display them all as huge red haired barbarians in her novels) whose forced entry to the house demanding a return of some 5000 denarii and subsequent fleeing raises all kinds of questions.All of which sets up Libertus and his ever faithful sidekick, Junio, to take a trip to Verulamium to track down Fortunatus and for Rowe to exercise her `Ben Hur' literary reconstruction, which, incidentally, is not badly done at all. What they find is that the charioteer took a dive to ensure race fixing could be done and was, in fact, present in the capital the night of the murder. Returning to Londinium, Libertus finds himself subjected to a brutal torture after foolishly allowing himself to be taken captive when sniffing around the granary warehouses and Fortunatus' unfinished home by the Blue's leader, Glaucus. It is only his increasing reputation and perceived respect for him by the Roman infrastructure that ensures he is found before he is murdered. However, the palace slave, Superbus, whom Libertus had instructed to do some spying, is found dead. What turns the tide is when Fulvia is found stabbed to death inside her locked room and Libertus pulls all the characters together (having had Pertinax arrest and deliver both Eppicatus and Fortunatus to the house) for his denouement where the characters manage to provide the rest of the necessary information under the threat of torture. As a result the culprits are uncovered, a political scandal is prevented, and racing corruption uncovered, much to Glaucus' detriment after the legions catch up with him.Rowe's latest is a marvellous effort, combining wit, pace, intrigue and remarkable thought processes from our sleuth. We are now comfortable with Commudus' Britannic world and the deft obsequiousness that pervades daily life. The characters are comfortable, the assorted episodic cast a delightful jumble all addin