Mystery fans and history buffs: Do yourself a favor and start following these two series...

[BreweryYardRat]

John Maddox Roberts writes the Senate Populus que Romanus series (SPQR for short), which is set during the last few decades of Republican Rome and the rise of Julius Caesar. The series revolves around Decius Caecilius Metellus, a member of a powerful plebeian political family, who finds that he has a knack for investigation, and as a result, winds up solving various crimes over the course of his life. There's a ton of political infighting, and almost all of the books deal with politically-motivated murders. Roberts' writing style is vivid, and he's done a lot of research on the events and culture of the period -- enough to make it feel as though you're actually present, at some points. Roberts also has a great sense of humor, and there's a lot of dialogue which is laugh-out-loud funny. The settings are also enjoyably varied: most of the books are set within Rome itself, but others have featured Alexandria, a legionary camp in Gaul, the island of Cyprus, and the most recent two have been set in Southern Italy, primarily Campania. I've read all 12 books in the series, and they're all worth getting, although #9 is probably the weakest of the lot.

Michael Jecks writes the Knights Templar series -- the name is a bit of a misnomer, since it's set after the violent dissolution of the order by the King of France and the Catholic Church. The heading comes from the fact that one of the two main characters is a former Templar who managed to escape the executions which claimed so many of his brothers. The series itself is set in England of the early 1300s -- the Devon area, to be precise, and revolves around Simon Puttock, a minor official, and his friend Baldwin de Furnshill, a minor lord. I haven't had the chance to read the whole series, since I just discovered it a few weeks ago, and it's got roughly 20 books, but what I've seen of it is remarkably accurate on the historical details, and the writing is well-done, well-plotted, and engaging.

Note: It's difficult to track down the older books for both series, since most stores don't carry them -- you'll need to hit your local used bookstores, and you'll probably have to go online as well.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. Thanks. Both of these series sound interesting to me.

Will be on the look out for them.

[WCGreen]

2. Collen McCoullough takes Rome from Gaius Marius through

Tony and Cleo in her series The Master of Rome...

Very detailed and told in a way that let's the reader decide who are the good guys and who are the bad...

[vixengrl]

6. I absolutely adore this series. Her hero-worship of

Gaius Iuilius aside (I think the one part where she doesn't let the reader decide so much--he's just over the top "awesomeness", and I think Cicero takes a little bit of a whipping from her because of it), her fleshing out of so many period characters (even women, who aren't always well-represented in histories, except for, you know, Flavia--the story of Cato's mum would make you cry, and Caesar's only daughter as well--strong female characters), the research that went into the novels, and the way Roman politics and the families of Rome just seem to spring to life make even these big old books into "can't-put-down" page turners. And it was such an interesting age--Spartacus. Crassus. Gaul.

I will say her Sulla would be a very challenging role if someone ever wanted to adapt this into a screenplay. I've read all but the Antony and Cleopatra one, and I think I've kept off it because she never was very charitable to Antony. And I think she was grudging of Cleopatra as well. I'm so on the Taylor/Burton depiction, I really hate to have my bubble all burst and have her make Augustus a hero. Which I think she would. And I....just have it against the Caesars, from Augustus on, is all. Long story. I think Suetonius might've told some of it.

[WCGreen]

7. I always looked at Sulla as one of the most interesting characters

in the whole series.

When I read the story some 20 years ago, I always pictured Al Pacino as Sulla...

Yes she focused on JC, but she let all the venal aspects of his life surface. Plus the way his mother pushed him toward greatness and then the megalomania that clouded JC at the end...

[Aristus]

3. I've been a fan of the Metellus S.P.Q.R. mysteries for years.

Not quite as good as the Falco mysteries by Lindsay Davis. And the Gordianus The Finder mysteries by Stephen Saylor are masterful.

I love the Ancient Roman setting...

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. I agree about Steven Saylor's "Roma sub Rosa" series

featuring Gordianus The Finder. This series consists of several novels and two compilations of short stories. I enjoyed all the books in this series.

[Lionel Mandrake]

5. SPQR sounds like fun.

I'll check it out. I am studying Latin, and these books will nicely complement the conjugations and declensions I am struggling with.