I finally read this latest entry...here's my review from Goodreads and Amazon:


Historical fiction/mystery set in the 6th century in Emperor Justinian's Constantinople. Empress Theodora has just died, and John, Justinian's Lord Chamberlain, is tasked with finding out who murdered her. The catch is, neither he nor anyone else except Justinian believes she was murdered. She appears to have died of natural causes. But no one else's opinion matters when it comes to the Emperor.

The husband/wife writing team of Eric Mayer and Mary Reed take great pains to get most of their historical facts correct in this well constructed mystery with great characters and vivid settings. You think you don't like historical mysteries like this? Think again; that's what I thought too, but I'm nine books into the series and I have thoroughly enjoyed every last one of these offerings. I truly feel like I can "see" the city and the residences and the splendor of the Imperial residence and the churches juxtaposed with sometimes seedier and more squalid settings around the city. I believe in these characters, both those taken from history like the Emperor and his "other" Lord Chamberlain (Narses) and generals like Germanus and Belisarius and all the others, and the fictional characters like the Captain of the Excubitors Felix, the physician Gaius, the lawyer Anatolius and of course John, the eunuch who was captured, castrated and enslaved by the Persians as a young man and who has risen through the palace ranks to become Lord Chamberlain.

I'm not sure, but this feels like it might be the end of this series. Is it? I hope not. But if you haven't read any of these, and you like mysteries, you have a treat waiting for you. Don't let the historical aspect, or the fact that they are set in the 6th century, hold you back.

***

So is it? So much has changed and ended, I wonder if there is anywhere to go in this series. Eric, if you're reading, can you shed any light?

*****