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| The Claudia Seferius Series: |
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| 01. |
I, Claudia (1995) |
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| The ex-prostitute Claudia has inveigled her way into marriage with a wealthy wine merchant. When she runs up gambling debts, she starts offering "personal services" to high-ranking Romans. One by one, however, her clients become the victims of a serial killer, who Claudia must track down. |
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| 02. |
Virgin Territory (1996) |
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Claudia jumps at the chance to leave Rome and chaperone, Sabina, back to Sicily, after 30 years as a Vestal Virgin. Unfortunately, Sabina is an imposter. And back in Rome, investigator Marcus Orbilio fears Claudia is in danger. He must go to Sicily to save her. |
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| 03. |
Man Eater (1997) |
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For once Claudia decides to put business before pleasure. And look what happens: she loses her cat, she gets beaten up - and, she gets framed for murder. |
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| 04. |
Wolf Whistle (1998) |
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Five slave women have been murdered on Market Day, so it wasn't a safe time for Claudia to be chased by dogs into the darkest streets of Rome, where she finds an abandoned little boy, Jovi, and takes him home with her. |
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| 05. |
Jail Bait (1999) |
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Claudia "borrows" 3000 sesterces from Sabbio Tullus, and leaves town for the spa resort of Atlantis. There she meets Cal, but after a little flirting she finds Cal is dead, and realizes from the gossip that Atlantis is far more dangerous than the disease-ridden streets she has left behind. |
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| 06. |
Black Salamander (2000) |
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In ancient Rome, the beautiful young widow, Claudia Seferius, agrees to deliver a pouch sealed with the black salamander. But a rockfall in the dangerous Helvetii territory leaves them stranded in an Alpine valley with five of their number dead. And one death is not an accident. |
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| 07. |
Dream Boat (2002) |
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Because Claudia Seferius is completely bankrupt she is unable to pay the ransom for her stepdaughter Flavia. The Games of Apollo are due to start in two days and she is saddled with the job of playing tag with the kidnappers. |
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| 08. |
Dark Horse (2002) |
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When Claudia is caught by the Security Police in the act of doping racehorses, it's the least of her problems. The owner of the racehorses, a certain Hylas the Greek, isn't very happy about it, either. Seeking refuge with the tall, dark, aristocratic Leo at the Villa Arcadia in the Adriatic seems the perfect solution. Shaded by figs and pomegranates on an island of steep, wooded cliffs, sandy coves and hillsides redolent with a thousand aromatic herbs, is there a better place to ride out the storm? Here, Claudia has only Leo's dysfunctional family to contend with. But then, a pirate warship anchors in the bay, and suddenly Arcadia is no longer an idyll. The past and the present have become dangerously and inextricably linked. And, too late, Claudia discovers that 300 miles isn't far enough from Rome to escape either the Security Police, Hylas the Greek - or pure evil. |
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| 09. |
Second Act (2003) |
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The latest adventure for the Roman sleuth and glamorous heroine of I, Claudia Busy, busy, busy...A house full of actors, Saturnalia coming up, the Guilds to outmanoeuvre, creditors on her back and, ahem, a slight cash-flow problem to deal with; a mother-in-law straining her nerves to breaking point and a certain security policeman, well, disturbing her senses...and Claudia doesn't even know about the murderer lurking in her house. Nevertheless, self-interest and a certain weakness for her aristocratic policeman lure her into lending some unasked-for help to his investigation into the Saturnalia Rapist, a mysterious and brutal figure terrorising Rome at this most festive season. Will she manage to unmask him, or will she just get herself into a whole lot of trouble? |
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| 10. |
Widow's Pique (2004) |
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When the King of Histri invites Claudia to visit, she assumes it's connected to her role as a merchant of fine wines. How wrong can she be? And, before long, all manner of assumptions are proved false. Histria is a paradise of rolling vineyards, olive groves and golden beaches lapped by the velvety-warm Adriatic - but the more Claudia learns about Histrian society, the more deeply involved she becomes in the tragedy unfolding within it. Did genuine accidents befall the King's family? Or were their deaths caused, as she suspects, by something more sinister? Worse, why does no one believe her when she tells them she witnessed a murder? |
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| 11. |
Stone Cold (2005) |
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Claudia was just ten years old when her father marched off to war and never came home. Now, it's time to uncover the truth about his disappearance. The search takes her to the dense, dark forests of Gaul, where Druid Law rules and human sacrifice is still practised. And, staying at the villa of the cold, egotistical Marcia, who has even commissioned a spectacular tomb to ensure her immortality, Claudia can't help noticing that several young women have disappeared from the local area. Suspicion quickly falls on a mysterious woodsman known as the Scarecrow, but she isn't convinced. Nor has it escaped her notice that each victim is unblemished and in the fullness of bloom. Just as she is herself... |
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| 12. |
Sour Grapes (2005) |
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Visiting her stepmother at the family estate in Tuscany, Claudia is concerned at the gaggle of hangers-on surrounding the old lady. There's the sorceress Candace and the handsome horse trader Darius, both of whom seem to hold Larentia equally in their thrall. And, what of the series of recent local murders, and the mishaps - including soured wine - that have befallen a number of people? Amidst the mysteries of the local religion, could the god Fufluns be working some plan; or even Veive, the god of revenge? Or are there even more sinister forces at work? |
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| 13. |
Scorpion Rising (2006) |
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Blackmailed into investigating the murder of a child in south-west Gaul, Claudia is plunged into a bizarre world of nature priestesses, known as the Hundred Handed, who talk with their hands, believe dwarves possess healing powers, and keep men as sex slaves. But as sinister as this is, an even darker force is at work. A master of disguise, the Scorpion is as cunning as he is ruthless. No one betrays this man and lives. Too late, Claudia discovers it was the Scorpion who lured her to Gaul in the first place... |
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| The Iliona Series: |
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| 01. |
Blind Eye (2007) |
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| A new series set in Ancient Greece - 466 BC. Blackmailed into spying for Spartas hated secret police, High Priestess Iliona's investigations keep turning up the same stories of a one-eyed giant that lives in the hills above Sicily: the legendary Cyclops. But soon Iliona comes to realize that the threat to her country doesnt come from the so-called Cyclops, or even their arch-enemy, Athens; it comes from deep within Sparta itself... |
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| 02. |
Blood Moon (2008) |
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On the night when rites are held to avert witchcraft, three bodies are found in bizarre circumstances, and for the rulers of Sparta, the timing is terrible. Hosting a trade delegation that has traveled all the way from the Black Sea, the last thing they want is for their delicate negotiations to be undermined by allegations of black magic. Convinced the deaths are an elaborate plot by their arch-enemy, Athens, to drive a wedge between the blossoming allies, they call in Lysander, head of Sparta's hated Secret Police, to settle the matter quickly and cleanly.Except Lysander does not believe the Athenians are to blame. The whole thing seems too contrived for his liking, and knowing that High Priestess Iliona can read people and interpret their behaviour, he enlists her help - using bribery and blackmail.Iliona soon uncovers conspiracy, murder, kidnap and adultery - but she doesn't realize there is a killer on the loose with a pathological hatred of women in general, and the aristocracy in particular. And, of course, Iliona's blood is spectacularly blue... |
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