I skipped a few books from this series since it seemed to be dragging just a bit, and that may have done the trick. This seems like the old Gordanius stories I remember...but with a undercurrent of melancholy. I'll definitely be going to the library to read #10 to see if Bathsheba gets well. ( )

El Imperio se tambalea bajo la presión de la guerra civil entre Julio César y Pompeyo, mientras el detective Gordiano investiga el asesinato de la joven y hermosa adivina Casandra. Gordiano descubrirá una conspiración en la que están implicadas algunas de las damas más poderosas de la ciudad. Personajes como el propio César, Cicerón o Marco Antonio y escenarios como Roma, Alejandría o Egipto nos acompañan en una apasionante historia que podría haber cambiado el destino de Roma.

Un bon opus de la série, bien construit, accessible avec ce qu'il faut de psychologie. ( )

A beggar woman reputed to have a gift of prophecy collapses and dies in the forum at Gordianus's feet. Her last words were "She's poisoned me." Gordianus gives her a funeral and to his surprise some of the wealthiest, most powerful, and most notorious women in Rome come to witness the cremation. Was one of them the poisoner?

Interesting premise but disappointing execution. Lots of repeated material about the suspects and their backgrounds. ( )

A Mist of Prophecies, by Steven Saylor, tells the story of "Cassandra," a beggar woman called by that name because she is given to odd fits in which she foretells the future. All the best women in Rome want to consult her, especially since their various husbands and lovers are either fighting in the Civil War between Pompey and Julius Caesar or are stirring up trouble in the city itself; nobody knows what the outcome might be of so much chaos. When Cassandra appears suddenly in the marketplace, foaming and crying and ultimately dying of poisoning in the arms of Gordianus the Finder, he is compelled to find out what happened, which means he must start to investigate some of the most powerful women Rome has ever seen.... This is the ninth book in Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series, all of which feature Gordianus as the main character, a sort-of detective living in ancient Rome and making his way by using his curiosity and intelligence to uncover the truths that others might want to remain buried. What is especially intriguing about this entry in the always-interesting series is how much it focuses on the women of the upper classes, a group about which historians really know next to nothing as the ancient Romans themselves didn't consider women to be important enough to be written about. This gives Saylor much leeway in his depictions of these women, but as he's a scholarly soul as well as a novelist, I think his ideas about their lives are probably quite sound. Indeed, one of my pleasures in reading this series is his end-notes, in which Saylor lays out his research for all the world as if it's a history text, not a novel, that we're reading - and yet, each book works well as a novel too, with compelling and fascinating individuals and real-life complications and problems. Highly recommended! ( )