Ancient Mystery Fiction

The Lion of Mistra is the third in this epic historical series, shaped by the quest for a powerful relic which could save the endangered Byzantine Empire. It's a different world. Bayezid, leader of the Ottomans, is dead; his heirs, Suleyman and Mehmed, are at war with each other; and the dread Tamerlane, who was on the brink of invading China, is also dead. Luke is now pushed into the role of protector of Mistra.

Scottish noblemen with ties to the Knights Templar failed to find a trove of priceless icons hidden by the Knights of Rhodes. Centuries later, Katina Papamissios Bason makes discoveries of her own. With a lighthearted excitement, she discovers riddles left by the Scotsmen and a heartbreaking diary written during the blockade by Suleiman the Magnificent. These would give anyone what they needed to succeed. Almost.

A puzzle left behind by Sifu Faiza's grandfather has everyone stumped. A circle divided into wedges shows part of the formula for an ancient medicine. But some of the wedges are blank, and no one knows how or why the original formula disappeared! Joy, Adam, Amy, and Sam will have to use clues - and fractions - to discover the truth about...the ancient formula.

An ugly civil war has just ended in Israel. One lone woman's death in the territory belonging to the tribe of Benjamin has shocked the nation. Fathers, brothers, and sons joined the army to demand justice. The guilty must pay for such a crime, and so they have. As everyone is left picking up the pieces, Benjamin has lost the most. Cities are burned to the ground, and Benjamin itself is in danger of disappearing. The once mighty tribe has been reduced to a mere 600 men.

The Dowager Duchess has decided to sell off the less important family possessions. Blotto and Twinks are dispatched to help the valuer. He spies some Egyptian artifacts and in some excitement rushes back to London, leaving Blotto and Twinks alone in the attic, where they are drawn to a sarchophagus decorated with hieroglyphs. Twinks starts to translate: "Anyone who desecrates this shrine will be visited by the Pharoah's curse..." - just as Blotto prises the lid off.

For a millennium, Jerusalem's Temple Mount has been at the center of war and death. Theres never been a time when blood wasnt spilled upon this ancient, sacred site. Flash forward to present-day Jerusalem, where 35-year-old Israeli counterterrorism agent Sam Deker has just thwarted the most recent act of violence, an attempt by radical Palestinians to blow up the Dome of the Rock mosque and pin the blame on right-wing Orthodox Jews.

3 BC. Two wild Germanic brothers, Armin and Wulf, are held hostage in Rome to keep their father from rebelling against the Empire. As the years pass, they are moulded into ideal soldiers: brave, disciplined, ruthless. Attributes that are to be tested when a conspiracy arises, threatening their emperor and the Empire’s future.... As serving Roman soldiers, the brothers are separated at opposite ends of the Empire, each proving their bloody might on the battlefield.

The fourth of Joan Grant's Far Memory novels, Lord of the Horizon, the sequel to Eyes of Horus, is set in Egypt at the close of the dark XIth dynasty and is a profound commentary on the power of fear and the unlimited ability of light to shatter it. Lord of the Horizon is the story of Ra-ab Hotep, heir to the Nomarch of the Oryx. Ra-ab is 21 as the story begins. The dawn for which Ra-ab and the Watchers of the Horizon fought in Eyes of Horus has come, but to "Send Fear into Exile", as the Watchers' password promised, proves difficult.

When you read this, I'll be dead... These are the troubling words Serena Charter's grandmother has written on a note accompanying four pages of a centuries-old illuminated manuscript delivered after the old woman's passing.

A pair of forensic archaeologists discover a strange skull buried with the original occupant inside a 15th century tomb. That same night, one archaeologist is murdered and the skull stolen, leaving the surviving archaeologist to dispatch a plea for help. Enter Phoebe McCabe and the Agency of the Ancient Lost and Found, now assigned to help a headless client become reunited with his skull.

Cass Clereaux is good at two things: finding treasure and killing demons. Lying low is a close third - but not because she wants to be good at hiding. Cass is a FireSoul, one of the unlucky few to inherit a piece of a dragon's soul. On the surface, the perks are sweet - she has the power to find and steal any type of magical treasure, including the powers of other supernaturals. But it doesn't come without a price; stealing powers requires that she kill, and others would destroy her if they discover what she is.

Neti-Kerty's reputation as Egypt's first female mummifier has apparently reached all the way to the Pharaoh. Neti-Kerty and Shabaka, Special Investigator and Prefect of Thebes, are astonished to be summoned to the palace of Ramses II to investigate the sudden death of the Vizier Khay. Thanks to her powers of deduction and knowledge of the dead, Neti soon determines that something is amiss. As more people disappear during the investigation, the situation increasingly gets out of hands and before long Neti and Shabaka find themselves peering into the deepest recesses of the human soul.

A young man, James Johnson, illegitimate son of the legendary Wyatt Earp, dreams of adventure and following in his daddy's footsteps. James and his mentally disabled friend, Carson, are about to come face to face with an evil previously unimaginable in their little town. An evil they invited in.

When insurance investigator David Braun probes a particularly violent break-in, the crime scene raises more questions than it answers. Turning to Susan Milton of the London School of Antiquities for help, they find themselves the target of a ruthless and elusive killer as they risk their lives to expose a horrifying centuries-old secret.

The Roman civil war has come to its conclusion - Pompey is dead, Egypt is firmly under the control of Cleopatra (with the help of Rome's legions), and for the first time in many years Julius Caesar has returned to Rome itself. Appointed by the Senate as dictator, the city abounds with rumors asserting that Caesar wishes to be made king - the first such that Rome has had in centuries. And that not all of his opposition has been crushed.

During the height of the 2003 Iraqi war, Captain John Russo, a Marine helicopter pilot, risks his life to save the crew of a downed helicopter. He is severely wounded and receives the Silver Star and the Purple Heart award. Subsequently, his injury causes him to be discharged from the United States Marine Corps. Upon returning home to New York City, his mother, who had been ill, dies. His heartbroken father, Luca, decides to return to the land of his birth: Sicily.

When Hani, an Egyptian diplomat under Akhenaten, is sent to investigate the murder of a useful bandit leader in Syria, he encounters corruption, tangled relationships, and yet more murder. His investigation is complicated by the new king’s religious reforms, which have struck Hani’s own family to the core.

Enga Dancing Flower knows her Neanderthal tribe is in trouble. The dark seasons are becoming longer, and the mammoth herds are fleeing south. When the tribal leader is found stabbed to death, the new leader thinks Enga did it. Expulsion and certain death loom. Enga must find the murderer to save her tribe - and herself.

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark. But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead. His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone.

In the greatest, foulest city in the world, love, mayhem and betrayal await the slave Alexandros. Given as a gift to the richest man in Rome, he soon discovers that intrigue and murder stalk the house of his master. Alexandros can solve the crime, but if he does, the worst punishment may prove to be his own. Alexandros is astute, well-educated and brimming with caustic wit, but he can't seem to remember the golden rule of slavery: Keep your head down and your mouth shut. No wonder more than one person in the house of Marcus Crassus wants to see this former Greek philosophy student dead.