The Wrath of the Furies by Steven Saylor

The Wrath of the Furies is the latest in the Roma Sub Rosa stories, still in the young-Gordianus timeline after Raiders of the Nile. It it, Gordianus receives a page written by his old tutor Antipater, from whom he parted ways at the end of The Seven Wonders. The contents of the page don't seem addressed to him, and it's not clear that it was sent by Antipater, but it does suggest that he's in some danger in Ephesus from which Gordianus might be able to rescue him. When he gets there, the ruse of disguising himself as a mute seeking to be cured at the temple of Artemis (meant to avoid attracting attention with his Roman accent) catches the interest of King Mithridates, who is seeking a mute for a ritual.

This is more of an adventure story than a mystery, as there is very little mystery apart from who sent the page of Antipater's diary, but it is a gripping adventure, jam-packed with history, just like all of the Roma Sub Rosa books. Don't come expecting a whodunnit, but if you're in this series for the history, you're in for a treat. And in my experience, this is the best of the ancient Roman mystery series to be in for the history. I'm looking forward to catching up with old Gordianus soon; I understand that the series will be getting to the assassination of Julius Caesar at some point. But this was a wonderful stop on the detour through his youth.

Overall: A