Tangled Web UK Review April 2008
Death Comes by Amphora by
Roger Hudson
pbk out April 08
(Twenty First Century Pub)
at £7.99
In the last couple of years, crime-writers have moved to far-flung places to site their stories, such as Mongolia, Laos, China and Turkey. Also, historical mysteries have delved further and further back in time, from Rome to the Dark Ages, from Egypt to Aztecs. Now we have one which uses Classical Greece as its location - and a very interesting book it is.
Roger Hudson, a professional writer but a new novelist, lives near Dublin and has used Athens at a crucial point in Greek history for his story. This is 461 BC, the pivotal year in which radical democratic reforms were imposed, in a political rumpus that rivals Zimbabwe or Downing Street!
The central figure, who may go on into a series, is Lysanius, a young man living in the Greek colony, who has been recalled to Athens by his uncle Kleriedes, a rich ship-yard owner. On the very day of his arrival, uncle gets killed by a huge amphora falling on his head from the rigging of one of the ships under construction in his yard. Lysanius suddenly inherits not only the estate, but is also expected to marry the widow, a luscious fifteen-year old. An inexperienced youth of eighteen, albeit with a wise tutor-slave Sindron, Lysanius is pitched into conflict with jealous relatives who expect to inherit, as well as becoming deeply involved in Athenian politics, as a mass popular movement led by Ephialtes and Perikles are on the verge of ousting General Kimon, the aristocratic leader who drove out the Persians. At every turn, he becomes embroiled in intrigues, political, religious and mercantile, not knowing whom he can trust. It transpires that his uncle was favouring the reformers, while trying to retain his status with the conservatives. A wily old grandmother who tries to run everything and a mysterious Persian steward complicate the issues. Apart from the intricate plot, the book is redolent with descriptions of Athenian life, from its funeral practices to its household routines and its religious complexities.
As comments, rather than criticisms, I would say that it is a bit top-heavy with historical detail - though as the whole plot depends upon this, it would be difficult to thin it down. Also, there are a very large number of characters introduced in rapid succession - the book starts with two pages of the dramatis personae, sorted into real historical figures and those invented by Roger Hudson. Some have very difficult names, even when the pronunciation is only in the mind, rather than by the tongue. I found the same, but worse, problem in the excellent crime novels of Barbara Nadel, based in modern Turkey, though she offers several pages of language guidance!
The amphora book has several detailed maps of Athens and a historical postscript giving even more facts about this period of Athenian history.
In summary, this is an excellent book, with a very high standard of writing and a content which is both entertaining and instructive. The reader has to work at it to get the maximum value, as the machinations of Athenian politicians were easily as tortuous as our modern day villains, but this is a novel well worth reading.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
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