On first publication back in 1994, Catilina's Riddle was a finalist for the Hammett Award. As a former history major and student of Latin who loves detective novels, I found Catilinas Riddle compelling. This novel appears to be another investigation of Gordianus the Finder but it is so much more. Catilinas Riddle is an excellent and very different historical novel. As a former history major and student of Latin who loves detective novels, I found Catilina's Riddle compelling. Shrewdly depicting deadly political maneuverings, this addictive mystery also displays the author's firm grasp of history and human character. Catilina's Riddle is an excellent and very different historical novel. Although he distrusts both men, Gordianus is forced into the center of the power struggle when his six-year-old daughter Diana finds a headless corpse in their stable. Claiming that Catilina plans an uprising if he loses the race, Cicero asks Gordianus to keep a watchful eye on the radical. But this bucolic life is disrupted by the machinations and murderous plots of two politicians: Roman consul Cicero, Gordianus's longtime patron, and populist senator Catilina, Cicero's political rival and a candidate to replace him in the annual elections for consul. Gordianus, disillusioned by the corruption of Rome circa 63 B.C., has fled the city with his family to live on a farm in the Etruscan countryside. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The third in Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa novels featuring Gordianus the Finder.
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