Posts by Vicki J Kondelik

In this stunning historical novel, Margaret George tells the story of the infamous Roman emperor Nero in a completely new way. This Nero is not the mad tyrant who fiddled while Rome burned, as seen in so many Hollywood films. Instead, he is a young man, an artist and athlete, trying to survive in the treacherous world of dynastic politics in imperial Rome.

Ancient Roman private eye Marcus Didius Falco tries to prevent a murder from happening. A "professional bride", Severina Zotica, has been married three times, and each of her husbands has died in suspicious circumstances. Now she's about to marry a fourth husband, a former slave who has made a fortune in real estate, and the members of his household are certain that she killed her first three husbands, and she will try to kill him. Can Falco save the man's life?

Arms of Nemesis is a mystery set in ancient Rome at the time of Spartacus' slave rebellion. Detective Gordianus the Finder investigates the murder of a cousin of Marcus Licinius Crassus, the richest man in Rome, who wants to lead the army against Spartacus. Two runaway slaves are blamed for the murder, and Crassus wants to slaughter the whole household of slaves in revenge. Gordianus is sure they're innocent, but he has to prove it to Crassus' satisfaction in three days' time.

This delightful little book, which can be read in one sitting, is a diary kept by novelist and literary editor Diana Athill during a visit to Florence in 1947. She writes about the sights of Florence, the delicious food she ate, and the people she met there.

April Blood tells the story of a plot to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici, unofficial ruler of Renaissance Florence. Although nonfiction, it reads like a political thriller. The book is not just the story of the murder plot. It includes many details of life in Renaissance Florence, including the political system, banking, and the arranging of marriages.

Ancient Roman private eye Marcus Didius Falco travels to the cities of southern Italy, including Pompeii eight years before the eruption of Vesuvius, to track down conspirators against the emperor Vespasian and to win the heart of the aristocratic woman he loves, Helena Justina. This is another thrilling entry in the popular mystery series.

Art historian and University of Michigan graduate Molly M. Lindner discusses the Vestal Virgins, priestesses who were among the most honored women of ancient Rome. At the heart of the book is a catalog of the surviving sculpture portraits of the Vestals. Lindner discusses how the sculptures can tell us more about the Vestals than written evidence can, and she writes about the Vestals' influence on other Roman women.

This is the latest in a series of British village mysteries, set in Cornwall, England in the early 1970s. The two protagonists, widow Eleanor Trewynn and her niece, Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow, hunt for spies at a peace conference and track down two criminals who have kidnapped Megan's almost-boyfriend Nick and a lawyer who's an acquaintance of Eleanor's. This series is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.

Historian Catherine Fletcher tells the fascinating story of Alessandro de' Medici, the first Duke of Florence and arguably the first person of African descent to rule a European state.

This historical novel tells the story of the brilliant Renaissance artist Fra Filippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti, the woman who inspired him.