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Nobleman by birth, loutish party boy by temperament, Marcus Corvinus is a citizen of ancient Rome, but he would be as much at home in a champagne-stained tux as he is in a toga. He'd like to shed that toga for the beautiful Lady Perilla, but in return for her favor she demands that Corvinus help retrieve her stepfather's ashes for burial in Rome. The task proves more difficult than expected: Perilla's stepfather was the famous poet Ovid, exiled years earlier and still loathsome in the Emperor's eyes. But Corvinus' arrogance - and letch for Perilla - keep him on course, even when the Emperor's thugs try a little up-close-and-personal persuasion.

This is #1 in A Marcus Corvinus Mystery.