The Third Princess

This is the start of a new venture for the author Philip Boast. A series of mystery books set in the Roman period a la Lindsey Davis, Steven Saylor, David Wishart etc. Philip Boast has written some extremely good novels, Resurrection is one of my favourite books and there is no reason why he should not make a success of this series judging by this the first book. The name Septimus Severus Quistus Quistus, the lead character in these books doesn't exactly role off the tongue but as the story progresses it is soon shortened to Quistus. Our friend Quistus had everything, he is the seventh son, how lucky can you get. He had the world at his feet until one fateful hour when the wife he loved greatly and his family are brutally murdered, all except his seventh son and only daughter. Grief stricken and careless of his own safety, Quistus travels the empire searching for his lost children. Death would be a warm embrace for him but it seems that his carelessness with his life in a strange way acts as a cloak of invulnerability and Quistus faces many adventures on his endless travels in search of his loved ones . . .

I won't go into the story line as that has been very well by a previous reviewer.I have been reading Mr Boast for several years and have consistently wondered why a publisher in the US never picked him up. I wrote him an email once which he graciously responded to and told me that the US Publisher had told him something to the effect that US readers wouldn't "get" his books.This book is a joy and, like the previous reviewer, I look forward to other books in this series. He is a wonderful storyteller. Just the slightest bit off-center with wonderful obscure tid-bits thrown in which makes for something a little bit different and unique from the norm.Do give him a try. I really don't think you will regret it.

Picked this up in the murder mystery section, read the opening minor mystery `prologue' where our laconic and overly socially responsible sleuth solves the crime merely with Holmesian observation of the crime scene and promptly put it down as it felt overly artificial and laboured. Having then read a couple of other novels I decided to give this a final go and finish it and, to my delight, found it matured remarkably quickly into a novel that was gripping, insightful and darkly murderous. By end it had become a powerful novel that promises much for its sleuth should Boast continue to write about him. This is the first Septimus Severus Quistus mystery. Our hero is a man with a murdered family on his hands, time to mourn and an acutely observant mind. With a mores that Cato would have been proud of and an awareness of the social underclass at the time of Nero's Imperial Rome he is able to deftly deal with the artistically insane Emperor who is portrayed in a dangerously unhinged manner as he forces Quistus to take the British princess, Claudia, back to Britannia, by having her Christian colleagues mauled by lions in front of him. However, the acutely paranoid Emperor proceeds to send Stigmus after him to fulfil a darker destiny. The novel moves through the Gaulish countryside as Claudia, daughter of the British king Caratacus takes them on a detour to locate her missing daughter, Tara. Throughout we have to deal with the viciously viperish Docilosa, who's unhinged mind and desperation to claim her jewellery birthright leads Quistus to take her along as a captive until he fathoms out the truth. A murderous ambush and flight to the Isle of Wight leads us into a Celtic ritual as old as time. The wicker man demands death for the regeneration of the British people and Claudia is going to provide it in the form of Tara. With his faithful slave, Omba, Quistus finds his fellowship fracturing as personal ambition rives them apart and he is forced to rapidly find out the motivation behind them all. In the end we have a natural death that became a murder for political reasons and was uncovered in a coliseum denouement to be what it really was. Quistus saves a thousand slaves, frees both Claudia and Tara from Nero's hunt and earned the respect of millions with his perseverance of the truth. This is a fine novel with an expert entwining of the madness of Neronian imperial Rome and Celtic oppression that takes us from the dizzying heights of Rome to the murkier climes of Roman Britain in a manner that is quietly engaging. Boast's characterisation is faultless, his plot line crisp and clean and has ensured that the next novel about this stoical sleuth is a must-read.