Published by Poisoned Pen
Press.
6 December 2011.
6 December 2011.
ISBN 978-1-59058-892-5
It is 100 AD and Britannia seems to
be settling down under Roman rule.
Aurelia Marcella, innkeeper of the Oak Tree Mansion, situated not far
from York, is more concerned with domestic matters than political. Her twin brother, Lucius has returned from
the south, bringing with him the girl he intends to marry. Vitellia is beautiful, rich and sweet-natured
but Aurelia thinks she lacks the intelligence and force of character to make
her brother a good wife. To add to
Aurelia's troubles her cousin Jovina invites her to visit her for her birthday
party, a pleasant social invitation, except the last paragraph begs Aurelia to
come and help her because 'there is danger in the wind.' Jovina and her soldier husband are stationed
in Isurium, an undistinguished fort further north and Aurelia has not seen her
for some years. On the same day a
traveller is brutally murdered while staying at Aurelia's mansio and he proves
to be a soldier, also stationed at Isurium.
Lucius is
an investigator for the Emperor and he discovers that Eurytus, the Emperor's
tax collector and the most hated man in Britannia, is also due to visit Isurium
and there are threats of native uprising in the area. Lucius, as Head of the Family, forbids
Aurelia to go to Isurium. He should have
known better. Aurelia is not a woman who
would allow anyone to dictate to her in such matters and she heads straight up
north to Jovina's aid.
Events in
Isurium escalate alarmingly and Aurelia finds herself in a web of passion,
greed, jealousy and political intrigue, which swiftly leads to violence and
family tragedy. As Aurelia struggles to
prove the innocence of a kinsman accused of murder and to prevent native unrest
erupting into a full-scale rebellion, she is grateful for the help of her
brother Lucius and Vitellia, who proves not to be as lacking in spirit as
Aurelia feared. Above all, Aurelia is
glad of the presence of her lover, Quintus Antonius Delfinus, a senior Imperial
investigator, with whom Aurelia has shared many adventures.
Danger In
The Wind is the fourth book featuring Aurelia Marcella and, as a series it gets
better all the time. The honest, witty
and direct voice of Aurelia recounting the story; the warm (and at times
mischievous) characterisation; the historical detail, which transports the
reader to that time and places without ever becoming intrusive and the
fast-paced who-dunnit style of the Aurelia books make them all page-turners. I read Danger
In The Wind in less than two days.
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
Earlier
books in the series are Get Out or Die, A
Bitter Chill and Buried Too Deep.
Jane Finnis read history at
the University of London before working as a radio producer for the BBC. Her four Roman mysteries are about life (and death) in
first-century Roman Britain. They feature Aurelia Marcella, who runs an inn on
the road to York, and keeps getting drawn into solving mysteries in what is
still a new frontier province of the mighty Roman Empire. Jane now lives in east Yorkshire and spends her time
researching and writing about the Roman Empire.
Carol
Westron
is a successful short story writer and a Creative
Writing teacher. She is the moderator
for the cosy/historical crime panel, The Deadly Dames. Her crime novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times. The Terminal Velocity of Cats the first in her Scene of Crimes novels,
was published July 2013. Carol recently gave an interview to Mystery People. To
read the interview click on the link below.
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