FIVE FOR SILVER

FIVE FOR SILVER
Mary Reed and Eric Mayer
258 pages
ISBN: 1-9058-112-1
Poisoned Pen Press
March 2004
$ 24.95

“Decayed flesh slid off the bone.”

This is from the newest installment of the John the Eunuch Mystery series, FIVE FOR SILVER. This time Constantinople is fighting the plague. The book begins with a man waking up to find himself buried in a pit with the dead. Due to the multitude of deaths, Emperor Justinian had ordered towers to be filled with the dead and massive pits to attempt to quickly destroy the stench and the problems of the dead being everywhere in the city. This poor man forces himself to climb through the bodies to the top of the heap only to have lye thrown into his face as he emerges.

John, the Lord Chamberlain, is not overwhelmed with the business of the Emperor since the city is fighting the plague. His loyal and elderly Christian servant, Peter, has an unusual dream where he is visited by an angel who informs him of a death of a friend. While John investigates he does discover that the friend, who the dream was about, was inflicted with the plague but he was murdered by being stabbed. This friend was also witness to a deathbed oral will where the son of the dying wealthy man is to be excluded from the expected inherited wealth. Logically then, John begins to investigate the other witnesses to determine if this was the reason for anyone to murder the dying man.

This series of books is a wonderful glimpse into the past of Constantinople in the year 542. With the religious differences of Christianity, Mithran, superstitions, and a smattering of Norse beliefs this allows us to better understand the temperament of the times and of living under the rule of the Christian emperor, Justinian and his wife, Theodora.

While thoroughly transporting myself into the time and place of these books without the dangers, a concern I do have is whether this book would be enjoyed as a stand alone without having the prior knowledge of the previous books. Perhaps the authors should write a brief summary of the previous books to refresh the readers or to better inform as to the development of the characters such as how John became a eunuch and the relationship of his family and the significance of the Mithan religion.

This is a delightful continuation of masterful storytellers, Mary Reed and Eric Mayer. I thoroughly withdrew from this life and spent my time in Constantinople while reading this fifth book in the series. I do strongly feel that the reader does need to read all these books in order to fully understand and for more enjoyment with revisiting previous characters from the past books. FIVE FOR SILVER is an enriching adventure into a time or place none of us would have actually wanted to visit. This is truly a wonderful escape to the past book.