SPQR III: The Sacrilege cover art

SPQR III: The Sacrilege

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SPQR III: The Sacrilege

By: John Maddox Roberts
Narrated by: John Lee
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About this listen

When a sacret woman's rite in the ancient city of Rome is infiltrated by a corrupt patrician dressed in female garb, it falls to Senator Decuis Caecilius Metellus the Younger, whose investigative skills have proven indispensable in the past, to unmask the perpetrators. When four brutal slayings follow, Decius enlists the help a notorious and dangerous criminal. Together, they establish a connection between the sacrilege and the murders, and track the offenders from the lowest dregs of society to the prominent elite of the upper class, finding corruption and violence where Decius least expects it.

©1992 John Maddox Roberts. (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Historical Mystery

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All stars
Most relevant  
Good story, believable dilemmas, flawed and relatable hero, hateable villain -whole series the stories can be a bit convoluted but you can listen several times.

Narrator brilliant

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I enjoyed this story and the narration despite the odd pronunciation of “Gaius” as “Kaius”There is a good balance of action, character building and historical facts. Great to listen to or fall asleep to -the choice is yours.

A compelling Roman romp

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The plots are still good but I prefer the narrator from the two previous SPQR books

Narrator

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What did you like most about SPQR III: The Sacrilege?

Third in the series, new story and, for the audio, new and even better narrator in John Lee.The recently created senator, Decuis Caecilius Metellus the Younger, is "at the centre of the world again," - Rome. And this time he and most of his fellow senators are both outraged and amused by the invasion of an exclusive female religious rite invaded by a man dressed as a woman.Our intrepid hero soon finds himself caught up in a murder mystery which seems to be directly related to this sacrilege and his own life is also under serious threat. I loved the ensuing street fights, and attempts by Lucius to ensure .that this will not be his last days in his beloved city.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the humour of this whole series and in this one it excels. The stories are based around known happenings of the time but sometimes with a different twist - like Julius Caesar declaiming that he will divorce his wife as she must always be "above suspicion", but the outcome is not the one about which we have read in the histories.

Any additional comments?

A wonderful, informative but light-hearted read made a joy to hear by the narrator. Fighting, fun, mystery and great characters - what could be better?

Caesar's wife must be above suspicion

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The background of the story is familiar to Roman history buffs interested in the last years of the Republic and the rise of the triumvirate, enlivened by the hero's mordant comments on the main personalities. However the reader's declamatory style, which he uses everywhere independently of the suitability of the text, rather undermines the effectiveness. He also employs the American pronunciation of certain words like 'herb', despite having a clearly English accent, which rather bemused me. Despite this, the book was enjoyable.

Good story rather let down by narration

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John Lee is a brilliant narrator and by and large does a great job with this book, and this series, but I believe he pronounces many of the Roman/Latin names incorrectly (e.g. Kayus Julius Ceaser).

The narrator is great, but needs to learn how to pronounce Latin names

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