Interesting novel with this "detective", a judge in the Roman court system, aided by his support staff and two officers of the court, a centurion and a tesserarius. The wife of a senator disappears and a man's dead body is discovered on the steps of the temple to Mars the Avenger. The judge, Marcus Flavius Severus, is tasked with solving the mystery by the Urban Prefect. As the novel progresses it grows more and more complicated, stretching from the senator's villa to the slums of the Subura. An amulet with a strange etching of a queen and a fisherman and a wax tablet with the same drawing tie the senator's wife and the dead man together. Judge Severus sends his staff on legwork, and we learn a lot about Roman law of that period--that of Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century A.D.. Severus does face a moral dilemma when it comes to naming the culprit or culprits and is torn between two possible solutions. In several places in the novel he sets down his reflections: "To Himself", anticipating Marcus Aurelius' MEDITATIONS by a few years. :) We also see his domestic life and family.

This was a promising beginning to a new series [to me, at least]. I learned a lot about the law and court system; the author is a former Assistant District Attorney in NY County and criminal lawyer with a keen interest in ancient Rome. So I imagine that is pretty accurate. In the last few pages though, Severus mentions he got an award from the emperor: "The Privileges of the Father of Three Children"; there was no mention of a third child or even a pregnancy and childbirth; in this book he and his wife only had a son and a daughter. ( )