John Maddox Roberts Books In Order

The King’s Gambit

Blackmail, corruption, treachery, murder the glory that was Rome. In this Edgar Award nominated mystery, John Maddox Roberts takes readers back to a Rome filled with violence and evil. Vicious gangs ruled the streets of Crassus and Pompey, routinely preying on plebeian and patrician alike, so the garroting of a lowly ex slaved and the disembowelment of a foreign merchant in the dangerous Subura district seemed of little consequence to the Roman hierarchy. But Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger highborn commander of the local vigiles was determined to investigate. Despite official apathy, brazen bribes, and sinister threates, Decius uncovers a world of corruption at the highest levels of his government that threatens to destroy him and the government he serves.

The Catiline Conspiracy

It was a summer of glorious triumph for the mighty Roman Republic. Her invincible legions had brought all foreign enemies to their knees. But in Rome there was no peace. The streets were flooded with the blood of murdered citizens, and there were rumors of more atrocities to come. Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger was convinced a conspiracy existed to overthrow the government a sinister cabal that could only be destroyed from within. But admission into the traitorous society of evil carried a grim price: the life of Decius’s closest friend…
and maybe his own.

The Sacrilege

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.

The Temple of the Muses

When Roman junior senator Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger has a chance to join a diplomatic mission to Alexandria, he welcomes the opportunity to temporarily elude his enemies in the Eternal City even though it means leaving his beloved Rome. Decius is just beginning to enjoy the outpost’s many exotic pleasures when the suspicious death of an irascible philosopher occurs, coinciding with the puzzling and apocalyptic ravings of a charismatic cult leader. Intrigued, Decius requests and is given permission by the Egyptian Pharaoh to investigate the heinous crime. What he discovers is beyond shocking. And when the corpse of a famous courtesan mysteriously turns up in his bed, Decius suddenly finds himself entangled in a web of conspiracy far more widespread and dangerous than he ever imagined one that threatens to bring about the downfall of the entire Empire.

Saturnalia

This eagerly awaited fifth book in John Maddox Roberts’s Edgar nominated historical mystery series once again takes the reader back to the Rome of Julius Caesar and the Roman Senator Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger. Decius has won himself a reputation as both an investigator and, most unfortunately, a bit of a playboy. Having been banished by his family for sometimes embarrassing activities to a rather leisurely lifestyle on Rhodes, he is puzzled to be suddenly and unexpectedly summoned home to assist in an investigation. Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, a relative of Decius and his family and the head of a powerful political clan, has been poisoned, and his infamous wife Clodia is immediately suspected of disposing of her rather inconvenient husband. Not entirely convinced of Clodia’s guilt, Decius delves into the intricacies of Rome’s ruling class and discovers that a clandestine, forbidden witches’ cult is inextricably intertwined with some very highborn people. A trial for Clodia would be most unwelcome, as it could bring to light some well kept secrets. To get to the bottom of the corruption that accompanies the intoxicating allure of this ancient city, Decius must form an uneasy alliance with Clodius, Clodia’s brother and his sworn enemy, and be extremely careful not to step on any toes.

Nobody Loves a Centurion

Julius Caesar, as we know, arrived in Gaul now France and announced ‘I Came, I Saw, I Conquered,’ but when Decius Metellus arrives from Rome, not seeking military glory but rather avoiding an enemy currently in power, he finds that although the general came and saw, so far, at least, he has far from conquered. The campaign seems at a standstill. Decius’s arrival disappoints the great Caesar as well. He has been waiting for promised reinforcements from Rome, an influx of soldiers to restart his invasion. Instead he is presented with one young man ridiculously decked out in military parade finery and short on military skills, accompanied not by eager troops but by one callow and reluctant slave, the feckless Hermes. It soon develops, however, that Decius’s arrival was fortuitous. When Vinius, the army’s cruelest centurion so called because he commands a hundred soldiers, is found murdered, Caesar remembers that his new recruit has successfully come up with the culprit in a number of recent crimes. Murder is bad for morale, particularly since it seems quite clear that the murderer was one of Caesar’s men. Caesar orders Decius to find the killer and quickly. Although evidence points to the son of one of Decius’s clients a youth who was the particular target of the centurion’s brutality, Decius racks his brain to find a way to save him from the sentence of death. The investigation leads Decius to two German slaves of the dead man a dwarfish old man and a beautiful woman. They are puzzling; the man is arrogant, the woman haughty very unlike slaves. There are unanswered questions. It soon becomes clear to Decius that only by finding and punishing the real murderer will it be possible to quiet the rising dissatisfaction with Caesar’s unorthodox method of warfare and forestall a mutiny against the mighty Caesar’s authority and aims. AUTHORBIO: John Maddox Roberts is the author of numerous works of science fiction and fantasy, in addition to his successful historical SPQR mystery series. The first two books in the series have recently been re released in trade paperback. He lives in New Mexico with his wife.

The Tribune’s Curse

I was happier than any mere mortal has a right to be and I should have known better. The entire body of received mythology and every last Greek tragedy ever written have made one inescapable truth utterly clear: If you are supremely happy, the gods have it in for you. They don’t like for mortals to be happy, and they will make you pay. In his extensive series featuring the detecting feats of Decius Caecilius Metellus the younger, set in the Rome of 70 BC, Roberts achieves a very believable modern feeling with his well researched description of the stories’ background. This seventh episode, however, combines a familiar view of the demands office seeking makes on a candidate with a situation that is impossibly bizarre to us today. An entire city, versed in literature, music, and the other arts, ruled democratically, for its time, is thrown into panic by an enraged man’s curse. The Consul Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, frustrated by the Senate’s vote against his leading Rome in a war against Parthia, plans to march his private army to invade the country himself. Almost all of Rome turns out to watch him carry out his threat and lead his troops out of the city. But before he can, a t powerful tribune called Ateius leaps to the top of the city’s gate and invokes all the gods to put a curse on Crassus and his army. Rome is terrified. Ateius has called down a forbidden curse the worst and most frightening blasphemy ever perpetrated. It seriously threatens the entire populace, and drastic steps to propitiate the gods must be taken immediately. Worse even, someone kills Ateius perhaps in the vain hope that this will lighten the curse? It will not. After joining the other men of the city in a daylong cleansing ritual that left every able bodied male citizen, Decius included, in a state of half collapse, Decius learns that he has been chosen to uncover the person responsible for the murder. The culprit must be found in order to complete the cleansing, and there is no one better equipped to do that than Decius. Roberts skillfully blends the playboy and the serious sleuth in Decius just as he combines what we see as contradictions in the Rome of 80 BC. He spices his story with humor and suspense, with characters charming and wise and foolish and very much like we are today. And he presents readers with a look into another world that has them eagerly awaiting more. visits.

The River God’s Vengeance

He would rise up as savior of the State, but Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger already has a lot on his mind. In the year of his aedileship, Decius is expected to stage elaborate and expensive games out of his own pocket. Along with his duties of pleasing the crowds with the feats of gladiators and wild beasts, are the more practical, and commonly neglected, ones of maintaining the city and its laws. It is these more mundane duties that call him to the scene of a recently built and more recently collapsed tenement building. Determined to punish the greedy parties who used cheap materials and caused the deaths of hundreds, Decius sets out to exact justice. It is easier said than done, especially when bodies and evidence go missing, and his family pressures him to cease the investigation. As he seeks out the politicians, philosophers, and tradesmen of the day, it becomes clear that the collapse of the building was deliberate, and Decius could be going after some of the most powerful men in Rome. In this eighth installment of the series, Roberts once again provides authentic detail in the everyday Roman customs, as well as a fascinating picture of the growing unsteadiness of this famed Republic.

The Princess and the Pirates

His two years of aedileship over, Decius is ready for his next adventure. He would rather do anything than join the war with Caesar, so he and Hermes find themselves on a mission to rid the Mediterranean of pirates. They set off with shoddy ships and sailors to the island of Cyprus, where a young Cleopatra is staying. Between her impressive crew and the ex pirate Ariston providing insider knowledge of that cutthroat occupation, Decius thinks he stands a good chance of bringing himself some glory. That would be too simple though. The ruler of the island is murdered and Decius has a sacred duty to find and punish the guilty party. As he investigates world trade, the island history, and the new kind of piracy plaguing the waters, he is finding connections more menacing than he had ever imagined possible. Roberts crafts another skillful mystery, this one fervently pulsing with the collision of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian interests.

A Point of Law

Being under suspicion of murder did not hamper my freedom. This is because Romans are civilized people and don t clap suspects into prison like barbarians do. It would take an order of a lawfully convened court even to place me under house arrest. That’s Decius Caecilius Metellus speaking Senator Decius Caecilius Metellus, please. He is at an outdoor rally in Rome where he is campaigning for election to the praetorship. It looks like a shoo in, until a man named Fulvius, of whom Decius has never heard, arrives at the preelection proceedings with a small army of hoodlums and begins to shout to the assembled voters that Decius is a thief and worse. While this is not an unknown effort used to ruin a candidate s chances, it is enough to have Decius s father call a meeting of family and friends a meeting that ends with the participants going home determined to find some answers to stop Fulvius s efforts to ruin Decius s chances. Early the next morning, however, as Decius and his friends are on their way to the trial, Fulvius s body is found slashed to death on the steps of the basilica, where the court will be sitting. And that doesn t look good for our hero. For those readers who have met Decius before, the next step is clear: the man is a brilliant detective, and he is certainly now in a position where that skill is needed. So it s doubly important for Decius, with the help of his wife, Julia, and the ex slave Hermes, to find the solution to the most personal and possibly most difficult puzzle that has come his way.

Under Vesuvius

Things are going well for Decius Caecilius Metellus. He is Praetor Peregrinus, which means he has to judge a case or two, but those cases are outside of the City. His cases will be those dealing with foreigners, and all of Italy is his province. His first stop is Campania, Italy’s most popular resort district. Decius and his wife, Julia, are happy for a change of scenery. But the good times end when, in a town near Vesuvius, a priest s daughter is murdered. Decius must find her killer and keep the mob off a young boy who everyone blames but he believes to be innocent. Decius may have acquired more prestige, but he s also acquired more trouble. With his SPQR novels, John Maddox Roberts has written a satisfying and entertaining historical mystery series. The stakes just keep getting higher in this latest atmospheric puzzle.

Oracle of the Dead

Decius Caecilius Metellus, this year’s magistrate for cases involving foreigners, is living the good life in southern Italy, happy to be away from Rome, a city suffering war jitters over Caesar’s impending actions. He thinks he is merely visiting one of the local sights when he takes a party to visit the Oracle of the Dead, a pre Roman cult site located at the end of a tunnel dug beneath a temple of Apollo. He quickly learns that there is a bitter rivalry between the priests of Apollo and those of Hecate, who guard the oracle. When the priests of Apollo are all killed, the countryside looks to explode in violence as Greeks, Romans and native Italians of several conquered nations bring out old enmities. Decius is caught squarely in the middle, desperate to find a way out that will pacify the district and, incidentally, save his own skin. This riveting series began with the Edgar Award nominated SPQR and has gone on to international success in 13 languages.

The Year of Confusion

Caius Julius Caesar, now dictator of Rome, has decided to revise the Roman calendar, which has become out of sync with the seasons. As if this weren t already an unpopular move, Caesar has brought in astronomers and astrologers from abroad, including Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, and Persians. Decius is appointed to oversee this project, which he knows rankles the Roman public: To be told by a pack of Chaldeans and Egyptians how to conduct their duties towards the gods was intolerable. Not long after the new calendar project begins, two of the foreigners are murdered. Decius begins his investigations, and, as the body count increases, it seems that an Indian fortune teller popular with patrician Roman ladies is also involved. Decius figures out the fortune teller’s scam and also exposes the foreign astrologer who carried out these murders almost losing his life in the process. This latest in the acclaimed series is sure to please historical mystery fans.

Conan The Marauder

In the fabled lands far beyond the Vilayet Sea, Conan of Cimmeria faces his most deadly challenge. The warlord Bartatua plans to unite the Hyrkanian tribes and sweep across the world in conquest, while the Turanian wizard Khondemir plots to use Bartatua’s ambition to further his sorcerous schemes. Ishkala, haughty Princess of Sogaria, and Lakhme, seductress and spy, weave their own intrigues as the power of gods is drawn to the City of Mounds, ancient necropolis of the Hyrkanians. Every hand is turned against Conan, and he can only be Conan The Marauder

Conan the Valiant (By:Roland J. Green)

In the Ibar Mountains the necromancer Eremius is raising a demon spawned army, using in of the fabled Jewels of Kurag. Snared in the court intrigues of Aghrapur, trapped by Lord Misrak, the King’s deadly master of spies, Conan of Cimmeria must ride to comfort Ermius, accompanies against his will by the sorceress Illyanan. But Illyana herself carries the second Jewel, and whoever possesses both will gain power to challenge the gods. Plots and treachery loom at Conan’s back, but those who seek to catch him in their web do not know that they face Conan of Cimmeria, Conan the Valiant.

Conan The Hero (By:Leonard Carpenter)

In the steaming jungles of Venji, Conan of Cimmeria fights in a war seemingly without end, a war against drug crazed raiders who strike without warning and vanish like smoke, a war against the implacable wizard, Mojourna. Yet his enemies are not only those he can see. The intrigues of the powerful court eunuchs reach south from Imperial Aghrapur, and the plottings of generals who would sit on the throne, and even the conjurings of his own mind, will be turned against him. Only one man could survive. Only one man could triumph. Only Conan the Hero

Conan the Indomitable (By:Steve Perry)

All Conan wants to do is make his way in peace, but the evil necromancer Katamy Rey has named him as his next victim.

Conan the Formidable (By:Steve Perry)

A chance meeting with giants. A brush with the murderous Varg. A run in with a treacherous hedge wizard, complete with socery twisted henchmen. Conan thought he was just passing through on his way to the wicked delights of fabled Shadizar, but others have different plans, some of which might leave the young Cimmerian dead. He really did not need to attract the attentions of two women at once, and neither of them entirely human. This time he may not survive.

Conan The Savage (By:Leonard Carpenter)

After a gambling dispute erupts into violence and death, Conan of Cimmeria is condemned to the hellish mine pits of Brythunia where no man has ever escaped or survived. But Conan breaks free and disappears into the wilderness, far from civilization, and into the eager arms of Songa, a forest maiden. Still the demon goddess Ninga has seized control of Brythunia and her insatiable appetite for human sacrifice threatens to devour the world. Only one man can strike at the very heart of Ninga’s religion of blood. A man who carries death in his eyes.

Conan and the Gods of the Mountain (By:Roland J. Green)

Fleeing the sorcerous destruction of a long lost city, Conan fights side by side with Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, that notorious and voluptuous she pirate. Pursued by deadly spies and assassins, the Cimmerian and Valeria find themselves caught squarely in the front ranks of a bloody and savage war. But greater peril lurks in the shadow of a vast and forbidding mountain, where the Spirit Speaker wage occult battle with God Men, who can read the future and summon a Living Wind that consumes the soul even as it destroys the flesh.

Even a sword powered by barbarian might is of little use against spirits, much less against great beings of the elder dark, but the final struggle for survival will come down ton…
Conan and the Gods of the Mountain

Conan and the Manhunters

Treasure beyond imagining waited in the temple of Ahriman, a god so evil and terrifying that even the despicable priests of Set aided in his banishment. None dared to steal the treasure until Conan the Cimmerian came to Shapur. Now he must smuggle tons of gold and jewels past the city guards and escape to a place of safety, while pursued by the most efficient and dangerous band of manhunters ever assembled, led by a warrior whose skills and ferocity rival Conan himself. But great dangers lurk when Conan returns to the temple and the priests of Ahriman conspire to bring their fearsome deity back into the world…

Conan at the Demon’s Gate (By:Roland J. Green)

No son of Cimmeria ever spent much time mourning what was gone forever…
but Conan has never before lost a woman such as Belit, the fierce pirate queen. So great is his grief that the mighty barbarian disappears into the wild green depths of the Black Coast. But Conan cannot hide himself from an adventure for long!Along with a fearsome band of Bamula tribesman, Conan is transported by the Demon’s Gate to the distant Pictish Wilderness, where he must lead the Bamula warriors against warring clans of savage Picts, a deadly living statue, and a powerful sorcerer bent on revenge!

Conan The Gladiator (By:Leonard Carpenter)

When Conan puts Roganthus the Strongman out of commission in a street brawl he soon finds himself drawn in by the slender Sathilda and her pet panther as part of a travelling troupe. What starts as an innocent pastime turns into a deadly game when the circus is called to the Arena of the Stygian capital of Luxor. There they are forced to fight for their lives against exotic warriors and all manner of wild beasts. no one has yet survived the whims of the tyrannical Emperor Commodorus.

And then there are the foul sorceries of the black robed priests of the snake god Set…

Conan and the Emerald Lotus (By:)

One wizard is bad. Two are a disaster…
And a deadly disaster, too. For Conan, after refusing to help the evil wizard Ethram Fal, has been cursed with a spell that is slowly, inexorably squeezing the life from his mighty frame. The only person who can banish the spell besides Ethram Fal, of course is the sorceress Zelandra: a raven haired beauty who practices only white magic…
or so she says. Zelandra has offered to lift the spell from the Cimmerian, if only he will do her one small service: steal the deadly Emerald Lotus from the clutches of Ethram Fal in his impregnable desert fortress. No good can come of this, Conan thinks to himself. Once sorcery gets mixed up in it, the whole job goes to hell!Unfortunately, he’s right.

Conan and the Death Lord of Thanza (By:Roland J. Green)

Few places are as desolate as the Thanza Mountains on the border of Nemedia and Aqilonia. few area are so remote, so dangerous, or so inaccessible…
which is why Conan chose these mountains as the perfect spot in the world for Conan to be. Unfortunately, it is the single worst spot in the world for Conan to be. Bandits and sorcerers and worse inhabit this lonely realm. Worst of all, it is the home of the Soul of Thanza. He who possesses the Soul will become the Death Lord a post unfilled for many thousands of years. If the Death Lord should come into his full power, mountains will move, seas will be pushed back, the earth itself will shiver, and dead men will rise to fight again. No army of puny humans will be able to stand against the Death lord. Only one man would even dare to try Conan the Cimmerian!

Conan and the Grim Grey God (By:)

Tales there are of ancient Nithia, a city buried in the sand for countless generations. And there is a statues, it is whispered, in a building in these forbidden ruins, carved from an impossibly huge pearl: the treasure of a lifetime. This is Conan’s quest the treasure with which he can achieve anything. But others have heard the whispers that tell of the statue, this Grim Grey God: Jade, the mysterious empress of the thieves’ guild; Toj, the most deadly assassin of Hyborea; and two of the most dangerous necromancers alive. These last seek the statue not for it fortune, but for its power the power to end the reign of light and begin the rule of darkness. Only Conan dares to stand against them…
. But he is too late?

Hannibal’s Children

What would have happened if Hannibal had received the reinforcements necessary to topple the Roman Empire? That fascinating ‘what if’ is the central premise of Roberts’s latest historical novel.

Murder in Tarsis

Who killed Ambassador Bloodarrow?When the Lord of Tarsis finds himself with a politically volatile murder on his hands, he turns to the three most expendable inhabitants of the city of a solution. A mercenary, a poet assassin, and a thief might not be everyone’s first choice for detectives. But they find they’re quite good at bringing murderers to justice. Perhaps a little too good…

Murder in Cormyr (By:Chet Williamson)

Tired of the political machinations of his egotistical fellow wizards, Benelaius retires from the College of War Wizards to take up residency in Cormyr, where he lives peacefully until he and his legman, Jasper, are forced to investigate the murder of a messenger from King Azoun.

Dalamar the Dark (By:Nancy Varian Berberick)

A talent for magic runs like fire through the blood of Dalamar Argent. Yet he is only a servant in the house of an elvish lord, not worthy of the High Art of Sorcery and denied all but the most grudging teaching. As war simmers on the borders of Silvanesti, Dalamar will find a way to learn his art. His quest will take him along dark paths toward an awesome destiny.

The Citadel (By:Richard A. Knaak)

Weapon of the Dark QueenAgainst a darkened cloud it comes, framed by thunder and lightning, soaring over the ravaged land: the flying citadel, mightiest power in the arsenal of the dragon highlords. In an age of war, an evil wizard learned the secret of creating these castles in the air and sought to use them to gain power over all Krynn. Against him were ranged a red robed magic user, a cleric, an ancient warrior, and naturally a kender. Their battle shook the skies of Krynn.

Legacy of Prometheus

Eric Kotani is a pen name used by a world class astrophysicist. He was the head of the astrophysics laboratory at the Johnson Space Center during the Apollo and Skylab missions and has since served as director of a NASA satellite observatory for fifteen years. Kotani and John Maddox Roberts, an accomplished SF and mystery writer, join forces on Legacy of Prometheus, a thriller that tackles the biggest question the world will face in the coming century: an energy crisis. Conventional methods for harnessing power are failing, but technology is racing to tackle the problem, seeking to generate energy with solar power. When the government announces it will guarantee a market for the first company to beam a gigawatt of energy to the planet, Cash Carlson and his Lone Star Space Systems get a jump on their rivals by constructing Prometheus, the solar powered satellite. Cash eventually teams up with the beautiful young journalist, Sachi Sasano, to play a dangerous game with desperate men. And it’s not just control of the world’s energy market at stake. It’s also their lives.