Ovid Book

This is the first book of the Marcus Corvinus series (I have to wonder if that name has any connection to Matthias Corvinus, the 15th-century Hungarian king?). I have mixed feelings. Marcus himself seems like a great idea for a murder mystery protagonist. He's a wealthy dilettante aristocrat who investigates in his spare time. That description could fit pretty much any Agatha Christie detective. What Christie doubtless would not have done would be make him such a scoundrel. Marcus is delightfully low character and has no respect for absolutely anyone. His narration is full of cynical asides and snide remarks. I'm reminded of the sort of person everyone thinks Decius Metellus from SPQR is. While I enjoyed the cheerful insouciance it does make Marcus rather difficult as a detective. While his blithe disregard for danger is in character, his obsession with The Truth fits more poorly. And sometimes you do just have to take these things seriously.

I've got to say: the story is pretty absurd even for a sword-and-sandal murder mystery. Apparently, the reason for Ovid's exile is a massive conspiracy that everyone important over a certain age knows the reason for but none will tell Marcus because it's forbidden. This includes family members and friends. So despite being such a well-known conspiracy, Marcus has to investigate from the beginning. Kaaaaay. And as he very publicly reopens old wounds nobody ever thinks 'Hmm, maybe I should just tell him so he doesn't bring all of this to public light.' After all, if the entire aristocracy pretty much knows already why is it so important that he never does?

The problem with all this is that I really have no time for conspiracy theory nonsense. I don't mean I can't stand stories about powerful men engaged in conspiracies (that does happen) but the unscientific mindset where everything is one huge, all-encompassing conspiracy irritates me no end. This one stops just short of accusing the legionaries lost in the Teutoburg Forest of being "crisis actors". Varus conspiring with Arminius to betray the Roman legions in Germania? Really? (No, that's not a spoiler. In another bizarre decision we know this by chapter 3, though Marcus finds out much later) As such, I couldn't care less about its solution. Any work of fiction is going to require the suspension of disbelief, but this goes well beyond what is plausible even in a fictionalized British version of Rome. And if nothing you read has believable consequences and the big mystery is going to be ridiculous anyway then why get involved?

The book is also ridiculously full of obvious modernisms. Peached, Sunshine Boys, walkies, punters, bum-on-the-bench, etc. "Putting people up against the wall" is particularly grating since it's an expression that only makes sense with firing squads. English translations of Roman terms we've already incorporated into English is also odd. Why say Augustus Square instead of the Forum of Augustus? And I have no idea why he keeps using the word "clogs". It stands out as weird but neither makes Rome feel more modern or more authentic. Bizarre. Obviously, any book (unless written in Latin) is going to face a problem of vocabulary. And while I don't have a problem with colloquialisms or casual language in historical fiction this seems just too much. It constantly pulled me out of the world he was building.

For a mystery to work it needs to be believable, or at least have believable enough rules that we can follow. This book doesn't. Not always. "Circular logic. Everybody says she was there so she was there. QED." That's not what circular logic means and it's not the dialogue of a man who believes in facts. While the conclusion isn't quite as mad as it first appears it is still utterly mad. It takes the most extreme bits from I, Claudius and runs even further with them. And why is Marcus even investigating? From near the beginning there's obviously no point, no reason to think it will get Ovid's ashes back to Rome (his only goal). I did find Marcus entertaining as a character (although as he got more serious later on I struggled a bit) and his relationship with his stick-in-the-mud father has potential for exploration. Other characters were a bit bland, but again there's room to work with.

I will give this series another go at some point. I remember the early Falco books and how they didn't quite work right (whereas SPQR hit it right out of the ballpark on the first swing) so perhaps the series just takes a while to get on its right feet. And boy are there enough books in this series to choose from! But for a debut novel I found it pretty underwhelming.


Plot: 3 (Utterly unbelievable and full of modernisms)
Characters: 5 (Marcus is fun but others could use some work)
Accuracy: 3 (Feels nothing like Rome and strains credulity)