The Marathon Conspiracy

Starred review from March 3, 2014
The future of democracy itself is on the line in Corby’s outstanding fourth historical set in ancient Greece (after 2013’s Sacred Games). On the eve of elections in Athens, the city’s wise man, Pericles, enlists his inquiry agent, Nicolaos, to deal with a matter that could undermine the elections. In a cave outside Athens, two schoolgirls have discovered a skeleton that may belong to the tyrant Hippias, who defected to the Persians after his ouster, a move that led to the Battle of Marathon. With the remains are notes, apparently written by the dictator, which may identify still-living traitors who worked with him even after his defection. One of the schoolgirls was killed shortly afterward, and the other has vanished. The multiple puzzles prove a formidable challenge for Nicolaos and his feisty fiancée, Diotima. Everything works in this installment—the detective business, the action sequences, the plot twists, and the further development of the series lead. Agent: Janet Reid, FinePrint Literary.

May 1, 2014

Nico's upcoming nuptials are waylaid when his boss, Pericles, assigns him a case at a nearby girls' school. Displaying historical humor at its best, this is Corby's fourth (after Sacred Games) in his classical Greek series.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2014
It all begins with a skull. It's been 30 years since Hippias, the last tyrant of Athens, was defeated at the Battle of Marathon (Athenians rebelled against Hippias, who then fled to Persia and led the Persian army in a last-ditch effort to regain power by having Persia rule Greece). So what's the skull of Hippias, presumed dead in Persia, doing on the desk of Athenian statesman Pericles in this latest in Corby's series of historical mysteries set in classical Greece? Pericles wants his investigative agent, Nicolaos, to find out why a skeleton minus a skull, again presumed to belong to Hippias, has been found on the grounds of an exclusive school for girls, the Sanctuary of Artemis. As Nico and the ex-priestess Diotima interrupt their wedding plans to do Pericles' bidding, the mystery keeps getting more tangled, and events get more dangerous. The girls who discovered the skeleton have met with evil fates: one has been mauled to death, seemingly by a huge bear, and the other has gone missing. The most pressing business is to find the missing girl, whose whereabouts may be connected to one or more of these: a rampaging bear, a madman, or a still-festering group of Athenian traitors who supported the return of Hippias. Corby serves up a bubbly cocktail of clear history, contemporary wit, and heart-stopping action. Fans of Steven Saylor's Gordianus the Finder series should love Corby's works.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 28, 2014
Corby’s fourth novel set in Ancient Greece finds Athens inquiry agent Nicolaos investigating two murders—the 30-year-old death of the democratic city’s final dictator, Hippias, and the recent, savage mauling of a teenage girl who discovered the skeleton of the hated tyrant in a cave. Actor Davies provides the 21-year-old Nico, the book’s narrator, with a voice that’s smart and glib, with more than a hint of youthful sarcasm. His partner in life and criminal investigation, Diotima, sounds spirited and every bit his equal in intelligence and confidence. The other characters, which are also given on-the-mark interpretations by Davies, include fast-talking politicians eager to profit in the upcoming elections, and an assortment of priestesses at the murdered girl’s school. There’s also a bloviating used-donkey-cart salesman whose voice is as much a testament to Corby’s playful view of ancient Athens as it is to Davies’s talent for narration. A Soho Crime hardcover.