About this item
Roman Britain in 91 AD is a raw frontier province, a troublesome part of the mighty Empire ruled by Domitian Caesar. Though it is almost fifty years since the legions invaded, many native tribes still hate their conquerors and seize any chance to harass the Roman settlers who are flocking in to colonise the new province. Tension is especially high in the north, where Aurelia Marcella, a young innkeeper from Italy, runs the Oak Tree Mansio on the road to York. A string of savage murders disrupts her peaceful life, and she and her Roman friends find themselves under attack from a secret native war-band, the Shadow-men, whose aim is to drive all Romans out. A traveller, Quintus, is nearly killed close to the inn, and he and Aurelia must track down the rebel warriors and identify their mysterious masked leader, the Shadow of Death. Their investigations bring them into personal danger from ruthless killers and devious deceivers. Can they find and destroy the Shadow of Death before his campaign of terror turns into open rebellion, so that all Romans must get out or die?
About the Author
I write mysteries with a historical setting. My Aurelia Marcella series is about an innkeeper in Roman Britain, who lives on the road to York, and runs (she assures everyone) "the best inn north of Londinium." She also gets involved in solving mysteries, often putting herself in danger, and there are plenty of crimes and injustices that need her attention in the Roman province of Britain, where the recent Imperial conquest is still bitterly resented by many of the native tribesmen. Then of course there are the kind of crimes that crop up in every era: family feuds, quarrels between neighbours, violence rooted in greed or jealousy...I live in Yorkshire, not very far from where my books are set, with my husband Richard and our two cocker spaniels. It's beautiful countryside close to the sea. There are all sorts of Roman remains around, and archaeologists are continually digging up more of the everyday things that the Romans left behind, from writing-tablets to cooking pots, and from soldiers' swords to women's jewellery. This is a fascinating time to be reading and writing about life (and death) here two thousand years ago.
