When Rome's blue-eyed boy Germanicus, adopted son and possible heir of the Emperor Tiberius, dies abroad in highly suspicious circumstances, the finger points squarely at the Dowager Empress Livia; and Corvinus, fresh and still smarting from his recent brush with the lady, has no reason to believe otherwise. Quite the reverse, in fact. Only when she summons him to the Palace for a private interview events take an unexpected and surprising turn... 'I swear, ' Livia said slowly, 'by all the gods above and below, by my hope of escaping torment in the next world for the murders I have committed in this and by my hope for my own eventual deification, that I was neither directly nor indirectly responsible for the death of my grandson Germanicus Caesar.' I was staring at her. She took her hand away from the altar. 'There. Close your mouth, now, you look ridiculous. Does that satisfy you, or would you like to dictate the words yourself?' 'No, that about covers it.' My head was spinning. 'You mind explaining why, now?' She lowered herself painfully back into her chair. It must've been built up because we were on the level again. 'Why the oath?' she said. 'Or why I brought you here in the first place?' 'Both, Excellency. They're the same thing anyway, aren't they?' 'Naturally. But if you've realised that then the answer to your question should be obvious.' 'Let's pretend it isn't. Tell me anyway.' 'Oh, Corvinus! You disappoint me!' Her thin lips turned down. 'Of course, now you know that I wasn't responsible for Germanicus's death I want you to find out who was.' The second book in the Marcus Corvinus series.
