Review: "White Murder," by David Wishart
About.com Rating
The Bottom Line
The horse races were big business in Imperial Rome. When a driver or horse is killed, it's a capital offense, but this time, there's a cover up. Corvinus wants to know why and who did it.
Pros
Cons
Description
Guide Review - Review: 'White Murder,' by David Wishart
With imperial Romans fanatically devoted to their racing factions, conflict between horse race teams is inevitable, but why did the team members of one faction turn on their own? Were they responsible for his stabbing death? Corvinus tries to find out, funding the investigation on his own and using it as an excuse to visit most of the pubs in Rome.
White Murder, by David Wishart, gives a look at Roman daily life and presents a likeable enough, if alcoholic sleuth, but with over 600 pages in length, the reader is left wondering why.
Why so long? Why did Corvinus drift from one clue to the next without a real plan? Why did the witch know that Corvinus would be attacked? And why does Corvinus abide his holier than thou wife (or she him)?
The Bottom Line
The horse races were big business in Imperial Rome. When a driver or horse is killed, it's a capital offense, but this time, there's a cover up. Corvinus wants to know why and who did it.
Pros
- Nice Sicilian Travelogue
- Good picture of corrupt factions
- Entertaining sleuth
Cons
- Long
- Too many similar suspects
- Drags
Description
- While at his pub, Corvinus finds a murdered driver for the White Faction.
- The District Watch comes and secretly takes the victim's purse to make the murder look routine.
- The four factions, the Underworld, a witch, and possibly shippers all have motives for murder.
- Corvinus takes his supercilious wife to the land where horses are bred, for a working vacation.
- When Corvinus starts closing in, someone tries to kill him -- as the witch had predicted.
- Confronted with his guilt, the murderer kills himself in an honorable Roman way.
Guide Review - Review: 'White Murder,' by David Wishart
With imperial Romans fanatically devoted to their racing factions, conflict between horse race teams is inevitable, but why did the team members of one faction turn on their own? Were they responsible for his stabbing death? Corvinus tries to find out, funding the investigation on his own and using it as an excuse to visit most of the pubs in Rome.
White Murder, by David Wishart, gives a look at Roman daily life and presents a likeable enough, if alcoholic sleuth, but with over 600 pages in length, the reader is left wondering why.
Why so long? Why did Corvinus drift from one clue to the next without a real plan? Why did the witch know that Corvinus would be attacked? And why does Corvinus abide his holier than thou wife (or she him)?
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