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Summary
Summary
It is A.D. 79, and Flavia Gemina, daughter of a successful Roman sea captain, is about to celebrate her birthday. Then the dogs in her neighborhood start dying mysteriously, and there are rumors of burglary in the houses on Flavia's street. Set in the graveyards, houses, and alleyways of an ancient Roman city, here's the first in a series of fast-paced, informative, and satisfying mysteries.
Author Notes
Caroline Lawrence is the author of seven books in the popular "Roman Mysteries" series. She lives in London, England.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-This audio version of Caroline Lawrence's first book in the series (Roaring Brook, 2002) convincingly transports listeners to a port of Rome in 79 A.D. The plot, immersed in Roman culture, remains true to the period throughout. Even the chapter titles reflect the times ("Scroll One" the audio begins, instead of "Chapter One"). English actress Kim Hicks performs the script flawlessly. The heroine, Flavia Gemina, leads listenerd through a series of adventures in an attempt to solve the mysterious and brutal death of a guard dog. Accompanied by her four friends-Jonathan and Miriam, Christian children, Nubia, a slave girl, and Lupus, a tongueless beggar boy-the mystery is solved. Believable clues along the way draw listeners into the mystery. Not for the faint of heart, many of Lawrence's descriptions will make listeners feel a bit queasy. This title has enough fast-paced adventure and intrigue to engage even those uninterested in historical fiction, and enough historical detail to fascinate history buffs. Make room on the audio shelf for this one!-Kirsten Martindale, formerly Menomonie Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this atmospheric debut novel, the first installment of a planned series, readers are whisked to the first century A.D. to help girl detective Flavia Gemina solve a brutal crime in the Roman port city of Ostia. When the guard dog belonging to Flavia's secretly Christian neighbors is slaughtered, Flavia sets out to find clues. She is accompanied by four trusty companions: Jonathan and Miriam, the Christian children; Nubia, a slave girl whom Flavia has recently acquired with her birthday money (with the purpose of emancipating her); and Lupus, a mute beggar boy. Many adventures later a pack of wild dogs chases them, they narrowly escape malicious slave traders and discover that their chief suspect has committed suicide by jumping from a lighthouse the children catch the culprit. Those looking for thrill-a-minute entertainment will find their fill of near-catastrophic events here, but the violence may be hard for some readers to stomach. Red herrings emerge too conspicuously and dialogue is sometimes stilted. Nonetheless, this historical mystery offers an intriguing glimpse into the customs, attitudes and class systems of the Roman empire. Ages 9-14. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Set in 79 C.E., this mystery features a sharp-witted Roman girl, Flavia, her Jewish neighbor Jonathan, a rescued slave, Nubia, and a tongueless beggar boy named Lupus. When JonathanÆs watchdog is slain, the team sets out to find the killer. Details of the setting are intriguing, and although the characters seem anachronistic, the mystery progresses swiftly to its satisfying conclusion. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A fast-paced, crackling good mystery is set in "the tenth year of the Emperor Vespasian" and aimed at middle-grade readers. Flavia lives in Ostia, the seaport of Rome, where her father is often away at sea. They have new neighbors: a boy named Jonathan, his sister Miriam, and their father. All of the children are motherless. Flavia shows herself both smart and resourceful right off, tracking the magpie that has made off with her father's signet ring, but needing rescue from feral dogs in the process. That's when she makes the acquaintance of Jonathan. She uses her birthday money to purchase a slave, Nubia, when she sees the girl in chains in the marketplace, and the trio soon adopts Lupus, a wild child who has had his tongue cut out. This lively group takes it upon themselves to find out who has been beheading household dogs, and they fasten upon a man unhinged by the death of his daughter from a rabid dog bite. There are lots of interesting historical bits: Jonathan and Flavia wear the bulla, a charm on a chain that indicates they are freeborn children; Flavia's favorite reading materials are in scrolls; Jonathan's asthma is treated by oil of marjoram. Jonathan's Jewish family are converts to Christianity, and their worship, as well as Flavia's of the Roman gods, are noted in passing. The children use logic, deduction, reasoning, and imagination to solve the crime, and the multicultural cast stretches, but does not shatter, credulity. Sequels are promised, and young mystery-lovers will be eager for the next. (Fiction. 8-12)
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-7. First in a series of historical whodunits from Great Britain, this pits intrepid young sleuth Flavia Gemina and three newly met companions against the perpetrator of a series of ghastly animal killings. Lawrence expertly puts her young characters into their first-century C.E. context without making them seem too alien, and she convincingly develops their friendship, although Flavia's friends come from very different backgrounds--one is the son of a Jewish convert to Christianity; one is an African slave; and one is a tongueless beggar. One dog after another is found without its head, and the most obvious suspect commits suicide partway through the fast-paced story. Lawrence has worked in several gory incidents, along with pulse-pounding chase scenes, risky behavior, vivid descriptions (a menacing slave dealer «had one blind eye; a horrible milky orb that sat in its socket like a peeled egg»), hidden treasure, and, best of all, plausible clues that ultimately lead Flavia to the real culprit. A street map of ancient Ostia prefaces this rousing companion to Mary Ray's Ides of April (1975) and Henry Winterfield's classic Detectives in Togas (reissued in 1990). John Peters.