John Maddox Roberts: The Temple of the Muses (USA 1999)

From the Publisher:
When Roman junior senator Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger has a chance to join a diplomatic mission to Alexandria, he welcomes the opportunity to temporarily elude his enemies in the Eternal City-even though it means leaving his beloved Rome. Decius is just beginning to enjoy the outpost's many exotic pleasures when the suspicious death of an irascible philosopher occurs, coinciding with the puzzling and apocalyptic ravings of a charismatic cult leader. Intrigued, Decius requests and is given permission by the Egyptian Pharaoh to investigate the heinous crime. What he discovers is beyond shocking. And when the corpse of a famous courtesan mysteriously turns up in his bed, Decius suddenly finds himself entangled in a web of conspiracy far more widespread and dangerous than he ever imagined-one that threatens to bring about the downfall of the entire Empire.

John Maddox Roberts: The Temple of the Muses. SPQR IV. Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Minotaur, ISBN: 0312246986 (October, 1999), 231 p., $13.95.

John Maddox Roberts: The Temple of the Muses (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
MURDER AT THE FAR EDGE OF EMPIRE
Junior senator Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger welcomes the opportunity to join a Roman diplomatic mission to Alexandria and thus escape his enemies in the Eternal City. But the suspicious death of an irascible philosopher distracts the seasoned sleuth from his enjoyment of the exotic outpost's many pleasures. Perversely intrigued by the heinous crime and the apocalyptic ravings of a charismatic cult leader-Decius is given free reign by the Egyptian Pharaoh to investigate. But when the corpse of a famous courtesan mysteriously turns up in his own bed, Decius suddenly finds himself ensnared in a conspiracy far more deadly than he ever imagined-one that threatens to devastate the Empire-and bring about the downfall of his beloved Rome.

"Wonderful... All the wild imaginative stimulation of the best detective fiction" - Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of »The Mists of Avalon«

John Maddox Roberts: The Temple of the Muses. The blood of those who honor Caesar will stain the desert red. An SPQR Mystery. Avon Books, ISBN: 0380766299 (September, 1992), 215 p., $4.50.