The Marathon Conspiracy
*Starred Review* It all begins with a skull. It’s been 30 years since Hippias, the last tyrant of Athens, was defeated at the Battle of Marathon (Athenians rebelled against Hippias, who then fled to Persia and led the Persian army in a last-ditch effort to regain power by having Persia rule Greece). So what’s the skull of Hippias, presumed dead in Persia, doing on the desk of Athenian statesman Pericles in this latest in Corby’s series of historical mysteries set in classical Greece? Pericles wants his investigative agent, Nicolaos, to find out why a skeleton minus a skull, again presumed to belong to Hippias, has been found on the grounds of an exclusive school for girls, the Sanctuary of Artemis. As Nico and the ex-priestess Diotima interrupt their wedding plans to do Pericles’ bidding, the mystery keeps getting more tangled, and events get more dangerous. The girls who discovered the skeleton have met with evil fates: one has been mauled to death, seemingly by a huge bear, and the other has gone missing. The most pressing business is to find the missing girl, whose whereabouts may be connected to one or more of these: a rampaging bear, a madman, or a still-festering group of Athenian traitors who supported the return of Hippias. Corby serves up a bubbly cocktail of clear history, contemporary wit, and heart-stopping action. Fans of Steven Saylor’s Gordianus the Finder series should love Corby’s works. --Connie Fletcher