Nicolaos walks the mean streets of Classical Athens as an agent for the promising young politician Pericles. His mission is to find the assassin of the statesman Ephialtes, the man who brought democracy to Athens and whose murder has thrown the city into uproar. It's a job not made any easier by the depressingly increasing number of dead witnesses.
But murder and mayhem don't bother Nico; whats really on his mind is how to get closer (much closer) to Diotima, the intelligent and annoyingly virgin priestess of Artemis, and how to shake off his irritating twelve year-old brother Socrates.
The Pericles Commission is the first in an exciting new series by first-time novelist Gary Corby, who takes us to Ancient Greece at one of the most exciting times in history. In this wonderfully approachable, historically rich novel, Athens is brought vividly to life in a mystery engaging from the first page to last.
"Starred Review. Those who like their historicals with a touch of humor will welcome Australian author Corby's promising debut, set in fifth-century B.C.E. Greece. Corby displays a real gift for pacing and plotting." - Publishers Weekly
"...Moves along at a good clip, even borrowing some tropes from the noir subgenre ... Corby draws the murder and many of his characters from historical documents, lending that much more believability to the story." - Library Journal
"Nico's first-person voice is distinctly modern in language and tone, and the large cast of characters makes the otherwise satisfying story hard to follow at times..." - Booklist
"Corby's debut novel is energetic, if a bit unfocused..." - Kirkus
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Gary Corby was born in 1963, and is an Australian author of historical mysteries set in the world of Classical Greece.
Long been fascinated by ancient history, finding it more exciting and bizarre than any modern thriller, Corby combines the ancient world with his love of whodunits to create an historical mystery series set in classical Greece. His novels feature historical men and women from the time as recurring characters, notably Socrates, Pericles, and the priestess Diotima of Mantinea.
Gary lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife and two daughters. He blogs at A Dead Man Fell from the Sky, on all things ancient, Athenian, and mysterious.
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