Furies by D.L. Johnstone

On Kindle

Set in Alexandria in AD38 this is a Roman adventure with a difference and most entertaining too.

Aculeo is a merchant living in the small but privileged Roman community in conquered Egypt.   However, as the story opens he is being made bankrupt and his possessions removed by the bailifs of the moneylender Gurculio.   As his wife leaves for her familly in Rome taking his son with her he is left pondering his future and bemoaning the fact that Corvinus, an old familly friend, persuaded him to invest in two grain convoys both of which sank.   Or did they?   Teaming up with some other investors in the grain scheme he begins to discover the truth behind the disaster that ruined them.   Despite walking down many mean streets Aculeo is no Phillip Marlowe and his chances of discovering more than an early grave are only improved when he meets Sekhet an elderly healer.   It is she who points him towards the villains who are not only behind the fraud that ruined him but also a succession of grisly ritual murders.  

D.L. Johnstone is a new writer to me and I am very glad that I took a chance on The Furies.