- Hardcover: 292 pages
- Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press; 1 edition (Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1590580311
- ISBN-13: 978-1590580318
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.5 x 3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,502,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Four for a Boy (John, the Lord Chamberlain Series)
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Product Description
Product Description
Gang-plagued streets, politicians plotting each other's downfall, poverty and homelessness existing side-by-side with manifest wealth-no, this isn't modern day Washington D.C., but rather 6th-Century Constantinople. After a philanthropist is murdered in the city's Great Church, where he's gone too visit a controversial statue of Christ, John the Eunuch, Lord Chamberlin to Byzantine Emperor Justinian the First, is assigned to ferret out the killer and maybe also to act the role of a spy in a web of rivalries involving the current and future emperors.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
In this prequel to the series, John the Eunuch takes his first dangerous steps along the path that will lead towards freedom from slavery and holding high office as Lord Chamberlain. Before he can track down the murderer, John must first win the respect of Felix, the excubitor reluctantly assisting him, discourage the advances of the romantic but nave Lady Anna, and make peace with his own fate. The husband and wife team of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer had published several short John the Eunuch detections in mystery anthologies and in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine prior to 1999's highly acclaimed first full length novel, One for Sorrow.
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The swaggering and elegant young thugs who styled themselves the Blues had terrorized Constantinople for months. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
The swaggering and elegant young thugs who styled themselves the Blues had terrorized Constantinople for months. Read the first page
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4.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another wonderful mystery of Byzantine Constantinople, 16 Aug 2003
By booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Four for a Boy (Poisoned Pen Press Mysteries) (Hardcover)
The aging emperor, Justin, is increasingly infirm and his nephew and heir, Justinian, is sick. As a result, the city of Constantinople is convulsed by doubt and riots. The Blues (one of the racing factions that battled in the streets of the greatest city in the world) rule the streets, suppressed only by the police authorities who have become increasingly violent. When a rich man is murdered, the senators are quick to point the finger at Justinian. Justinian may be sick (he believes he's being poisoned), but he isn't stupid. He asks a slave, John the Eunuch, to help investigate. What John finds seems to point the finger more directly at Justinian. Because there is a conspiracy at work, and the victim seems to have been involved with the conspirators. Yet John, accompanied by the royal bodyguard, Felix, suspects that they are missing something. That suspicion becomes more deeply seated when John and Felix are nearly killed by professional assassins. Somehow, John has to get to the bottom of the mystery, ensure that the results don't reflect badly on his patron, and prevent riots from destroying the city. It's a lot to ask a slave.
Authors Mary Reed and Eric Mayer write convincingly of Constantinople in one of its most famous and dangerous periods. Christianity is the legal religion, but pagan and Mithraism remain strong (if illegal) forces. Christianity itself is violently divided by clashing beliefs about the nature of Jesus's divinity--a clash that the Emperor must often play a role in healing. In a few years, Justinian will undertake his epic and doomed quest to restore the Roman Empire--but only if he can survive.
Set fifteen years before the earlier novels in this series, FOUR FOR A BOY is both enjoyable and fascinating. Anyone interested in this critical timeframe, or interested in a good historical mystery, will want to read this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Byzantine Conspiracies, 28 Oct 2004
By R. BULL "a reader" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Four for a Boy (John the Eunuch Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
Reed and Mayer present a well-researched and fascinating peek at 6th century Constantinople. If you think soccer hooligans are dangerous, imagine them with swords and knives. Supporters of the "Blues" who support one team of chariot racers, terrorize the city and assasinate a well known philanthropist. Rumor start to fly that Justinian, already named succesor to Emporer Justin, is stirring up unrest to hurry the aging Caesar from the throne. John the eunuch and an imperial bodyguard are assigned to investigate by Justinian. Nothing is quite what it seems. Do the police authorities supress or cause the riots? Is Justinian ill or is he being poisoned? Is the father of the woman John tutors a patriot or a traitor? Is Justin demented or is he just pretending to be? Raging against his status of a slave and tormented by the memory of his forced , John is forced to unravel the lies and survive assination attempts. A compelling book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Prequel to the John the Eunuch Mysteries, 7 Mar 2009
By W. S. McKenzie - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Four for a Boy (Poisoned Pen Press Mysteries) (Hardcover)
This volume jumps back to 525 and relates the beginning of John's career from slave to Lord Chamberlain. I enjoy this series for the unusual historical setting in sixth century Constantinople with rich descriptions of life in the city on the Bosporus. John is teamed with Felix of the Palace guard who slowly begins to appreciate the slave's talents: "At least I know you can handle yourself in a fight." We meet the dying Justin, his successor Justinian, and Theodora who "does not enjoy the notion of Justinian being grateful to anyone except her."
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