While on holiday in the Etrurian countryside, Corvinus's stepfather, is discovered standing over a man's body holding the murder weapon in his hand. The victim was deservedly very unpopular with his neighbours and had also threatened suicide.

I love Corvinus's narrative voice, and his mother and stepfather are always fun. I was shaking with laughter through a lot of this. Very interesting and unexpected solution. ( )

Corvinus' amiable if slightly dotty stepfather is suspected of murder, and our hero sets out to clear his name. Like the rest of the series, this novel does a brilliant job of recreating Roman life in the tumultuous years that followed Augustus' death (life among the upper crust, at any rate). And Corvinus remains a most appealing hero -- lacking in any sense of civic duty, but with a keen interest in investigation, and a great line with a wisecrack. I prefer the ones where Corvinus gets involved with actual historical figures, but this is a good read. ( )