Death Comes By Amphora
Non-series
Roger Hudson
Twenty First Century (Trade
paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-904433-68-5 (1904433685)
ISBN-13: 978-1-904433-68-2 (1904433685)
Publication Date: September 2007
List Price: $12.95
Synopsis
(from
the publisher): In Ancient Athens in 461 BC, aristocratic General Kimon
has driven back the might of the Persian Empire and forged a new empire
for Athens, making his city the commercial centre of the Eastern
Mediterranean. Now he is struggling for his political existence against
the radical democratic reforms of the demagogue Ephialtes and his
ambitious supporter Perikles.
Into this political turmoil steps Lysanias, just 18, just reached
manhood, and an innocent amidst the deceit and corruption of the big
city. Recalled from an Athenian colony by a mysterious message from his
wealthy uncle Klereides, he discovers that his uncle has died in
suspicious circumstances, that he is the heir, and that his obligations
now include marrying his uncle’s teenage widow.
Convinced that his uncle was murdered and driven by the ancient duty of
vengeance, Lysanias sets out to discover the truth, aided by his
elderly slave Sindron. Their investigations take them deep into the
murky interlocking worlds of Athenian politics, business, finance,
religion and even art, where it seems Klereides had many enemies and
where even his friends cannot be trusted. With his own loyalties torn
between the rival political factions, aristocrats and workers, due to
his early training as an artisan, Lysanias himself faces violent death
before he and Sindron discover the culprit and Ephialtes’
assassin.
Review:
With a combination of scholarly research and highly creative
imagination British author Roger Hudson has fashioned a believable and
highly readable story in Death Comes By Amphora, a murder mystery that could as easily
happened in Greece’s Golden Age of Athens as in modern
America.
Hudson admits in an author’s insightful afterword that not
much is known about the times in which his novel is set so he has used
a certain degree of literary license to create the settings, the
atmosphere, the characters and even the events he interweaves into his
plot. It is a masterful job with references to the city of
Athens’ known landmarks, to the Greek gods and goddesses, to
historical icons, and to characters with Greek names and their
interests in the politics of the day. And in the middle of it all are
the central characters, “18 yesterday” Lysanias,
now a designated citizen with a vote, and his older slave and mentor,
Sindron. As it turns out the pair could easily have been the prototypes
for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in their reliance on observation and
deductive reasoning to solve the murder of Lysanias’ opulent
uncle Klereides, done in by a huge shipyard amphora falling on him
when he is lured to the docks late at night for a meeting with a
stranger. While some believe the death to be an accident, especially
those who might profit by it, Lysanias follows the clues, and tracks
the suspects he believes have placed profit ahead of justice. With
Sindron as his assistant and a sounding board for his theories, he
mingles with business leaders, mixes with politicians and generals, and
sorts out the good from the bad among his relatives, including a
belligerent cousin and his domineering grandmother, Makarias. He
reserves a couple of trysts for his own exploration with the
15-year-old wife of his uncle whom he is now obligated by custom to
marry, a custom he is quick to embrace, literally as well as
figuratively in a couple of lively scenes. In addition to the intrigue over
the uncle’s death, there are concerns and physical clashes
between the lower classes of artisans and workers and the elite, ruling
class, causing further conflict for Lysanias who straddles both camps,
formerly as an artisan and now as a wealthy tycoon. Sindron as well
brings his cartload of conflicts, torn between loyalty to Lysanias, his
dipping into his master’s funds for a risky venture and the
lure of easy money for spying upon him for bankers with motives of
their own. In the end loyalty to friends and to family wins out with
Sindron occupying a place of influence in Lysanias’ new
household after a murder has been solved, a political resolution to it
being accepted by Lysanias even though Sindron’s
“sense of rightness, of justice would be outraged he
knew.” And in the final paragraph there’s a door,
or should we say a portico, left open for a sequel or two with the
Athenian dynamic duo.
Sometimes told from the point of view of different characters, but
always consistently true to the plot, atmosphere and setting, Death
Comes By Amphora is a first-rate history/mystery, complete with
credible maps of the Athens and the Agora (city market place) of 461
BC, a list of characters with the names in italics of those who were
known real people, and the author’s two-page historical note
about the history used in the book.
Special thanks to M. Wayne Cunningham (mw_cunningham@telus.net) for contributing his review of Death Comes By Amphora and to Roger Hudson for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review
Copyright © 2008 — M. Wayne Cunningham
— All
Rights Reserved
Reprinted with Permission
Omnimystery keywords for Death Comes by Amphora
...
Location(s) referenced: Athens, Greece.