Tag: historical crime

#BookReview Rivals of the Republic by Annelise Freisenbruch

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RivalsoftheRepublicAbout the Book

Rome, 70BC. Roman high society hums with gossip about the suspicious suicide of a prominent Roman senator and the body of a Vestal Virgin is discovered in the river Tiber.

As the authorities turn a blind eye, Hortensia is moved to investigate a trail of murders that appear to lead straight to the dark heart of the Eternal City.

Format: Paperback (288 pages)          Publisher: Duckworth
Publication date: 10th August 2017  Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Find Rivals of the Republic (Blood of Rome #1) on Goodreads

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My Review

In Rivals of the Republic the author has taken actual historical events and characters, including well-known figures such as Cicero, Pompey and even a young Julius Caesar, and used her imagination to weave an intriguing and dramatic story around them. And don’t worry about getting confused because the book includes a dramatis personae in case you need a reminder of who everyone is.

The book’s female protagonist, Hortensia, was a real person although little is known about her beyond the fact she was the daughter of renowned lawyer Hortensius Hortalus. But when it comes to historical fiction, a gap is something authors love because they can use their imagination to fill it, as Annelise Freisenbruch has done here. The author’s Hortensia is a young woman of noble birth who is intelligent, has inherited the rhetorical skills of her father and possesses an independence of spirit that makes her challenge the conventions and limitations of patriarchal Roman society. The role of a woman like Hortensia is to make a marriage that is advantageous to her family, increasing their wealth or influence. They are certainly not expected to appear in the law court as Hortensia does in one particularly entertaining scene in which her inspired defence of a wronged woman proves she is more than equal to any male opponent.

The plot is intricate without being confusing and progresses at a good pace with plenty of twists and turns as it builds to an exciting conclusion. Although many of the characters are real life figures, there are a few fictional ones, notably a ‘boo hiss’ villian complete with scarred face and ‘strange amber eyes’. There is intrigue, conspiracy and political machinations conducted by individuals driven by a lust for power and wealth. They are utterly ruthless when it comes to ridding themselves of opponents. Luckily Hortensia finds a useful ally in ex-gladiator, Lurcio, and despite the difference in their social station they make a great partnership: a winning combination of brains and brawn.

The author has clearly used her knowledge of the period to cram the book with the sort of detail – of food, dress, social and religious customs – that makes a historical novel come alive.  There’s a clear sense of the gulf between the lives of noble families such as Hortensia’s and the experiences of ordinary people. For example, in this account of Lurcio’s visit to the Subura, a lower-class area of Rome notorious as a pleasure district.

‘There was no street lighting in the damp alleyways and few of the residents could afford the cost of a lantern-bearer to illuminate their way, but the beat of footsteps, the rattle of vehicles and the screech of voices had barely abated since the sun went down. The waft of hot chickpea soup and thick sausage stew from the cook shops competed with the stench from the underground sewer, tempting the custom of those who did not dare risk a cooking fire in the precipitous, decaying tenements that teetered like crumbling cliff-faces above the narrow streets.’

Although Rivals of the Republic was intended to be the first in the ‘Blood of Rome’ historical crime series, there have been no further instalments to date. (The author now writes children’s books under the name Annelise Gray.) This is a shame because, on the strength of Rivals of the Republic, I think it had the makings of a first-rate series sure to appeal to fans of historical crime fiction. Perhaps the author may come back to it at some point.

I received a review copy courtesy of Duckworth.

In three words: Intriguing, engaging, authentic

Try something similar: The Senator’s Assignment by Joan E. Histon

Annelise GrayAbout the Author

Annelise Freisenbruch received her PhD in Classics from Cambridge University. She has worked as a researcher for the BBC and has appeared in documentaries about ancient Rome for PBS and CNN. Her first book, The First Ladies of Rome: The Women behind the Caesars, was published to much critical acclaim and has been translated into eight languages. Rivals of the Republic is her first novel. (Photo: Author Twitter profile)

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#BookReview Under a Veiled Moon by Karen Odden

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Under A Veiled MoonAbout the Book

September 1878. One night, as the pleasure boat the Princess Alice makes her daily trip up the Thames, she collides with the Bywell Castle, a huge iron-hulled collier. The Princess Alice shears apart, throwing all 600 passengers into the river; only 130 survive. It is the worst maritime disaster London has ever seen, and early clues point to sabotage by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, who believe violence is the path to restoring Irish Home Rule.

For Scotland Yard Inspector Michael Corravan, born in Ireland and adopted by the Irish Doyle family, the case presents a challenge. Accused by the Home Office of willfully disregarding the obvious conclusion, and berated by his Irish friends for bowing to prejudice, Corravan doggedly pursues the truth, knowing that if the Princess Alice disaster is pinned on the IRB hopes for Home Rule could be dashed forever.

Corrovan’s dilemma is compounded by Colin, the youngest Doyle, who has joined James McCabe’s Irish gang. As violence in Whitechapel rises, Corravan strikes a deal with McCabe to get Colin out of harm’s way. But unbeknownst to Corravan, Colin bears longstanding resentments against his adopted brother and scorns his help.

As the newspapers link the IRB to further accidents, London threatens to devolve into terror and chaos. With the help of his young colleague, the loyal Mr. Stiles, and his friend Belinda Gale, Corravan uncovers the harrowing truth – one that will shake his faith in his countrymen, the law, and himself.

Format: ebook (336 pages)                Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication date: 11th October 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Find Under a Veiled Moon (Inspector Corravan #2) on Goodreads

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My Review

Under a Veiled Moon is the second in Karen Odden’s Inspector Michael Corravan historical mystery series, the follow-up to Down a Dark River, a book I very much enjoyed. In fact, I ended my review of that book by saying I hoped it was the first of many cases for Corravan so it was a pleasure to be reunited with him, as well as other characters from the first book such as his former partner, the resourceful and diligent Gordon Stiles, his just a little bit more than a friend, novelist Belinda Gale, and the Doyle family who took him in many years before. Belinda is one of my favourite characters. She’s an independent woman who has made her own way in the world and who now has connections with influential figures in London society. Perhaps her greatest gift though is her understanding of Corravan’s needs – and not just his physical ones either. As he remarks at one point, ‘It certainly wasn’t the first time she had presented me with an insight that steered an entire investigation into a channel I hadn’t explored’.  (Notice the river-related metaphors by the way?)

Once again, the reader gets a clear sense of Corravan the policeman – determined, resilient and with a strong sense of justice. As he says himself, ‘My persistance usually yielded results.’  But we also get an insight into the man he has been, which includes pickpocket, prize-fighter and dockhand. His past life has not been without tragedy and he has regrets about things he has done, or failed to do. All this makes him a satisfyingly well-rounded character. Corravan’s Irish heritage also forms an important part of the story given that the political situation relating to Ireland is a key element of the book’s plot.

The real life collision of the Princess Alice pleasure boat with the collier Bywell Castle, which resulted in many fatalities, forms one strand of a story into which the author weaves political intrigue, racial prejudice, gang warfare and acts of breathtaking wickedness carried out as a result of a perverted philosophy.

As before, the River Thames plays a key role in the book, its filthy, murky waters providing an apt metaphor for the seedy goings on in the sprawling city through which it flows. It plays an instrumental role as well, with knowledge of its tidal ebbs and flows proving crucial to events. One memorable and rather moving scene sees Corravan take to the river to perform a particularly tragic homecoming. The vivid descriptions of the thoroughfares and alleyways of London – in particular Whitechapel – and of the sights, sounds and smells (ugh) of the city all help to create a great sense of place.  You wouldn’t necessarily want to have lived there yourself but you can definitely imagine what it would have been like for those who did.

If you love historical mysteries with an intricate plot and authentic period atmosphere, then I have no hesitation in recommending Under a Veiled Moon. Actually, I do; read Down a Dark River first.  To my delight, the book’s last line suggests more cases – and challenges- lie ahead for Corravan, and possibly an answer to a question that has haunted him.

My thanks to the author for my digital review copy.

In three words: Atmospheric, intriguing, assured

Try something similar: Death Makes No Distinction by Lucienne Boyce

Karen OddenAbout the Author

Karen Odden earned her PhD in English from New York University and subsequently taught literature at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has contributed essays to numerous books and journals, written introductions for Victorian novels in the Barnes & Noble classics series, and edited for the journal Victorian Literature and Culture (Cambridge UP). Her previous novels, also set in 1870s London, have won awards for historical fiction and mystery. A member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and the recipient of a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Karen lives in Arizona with her family and her rescue beagle Rosy. (Photo: Author website)

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