A Murder in Thebes: A Mystery of Alexander the Great - Hardcover

Anna Apostolou; P. C. Doherty (writing As Apostolou)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312195850 ISBN 13: 9780312195854

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1998

Synopsis

Thebes has fallen under Alexander the Great's power, but the days following are filled with murderous treason. Lysander and Memnon, Alexander's two favored officers, have been killed by a dangerous spy, and Alexander's rule is precarious until he solves the riddle of Oedipus's crown.
Protected by the shrine dedicated to the legendary Oedipus, the crown can only be handed over to one pure in heart and innocent of any crime against his own parents. Alexander is determined to seize this crown, not only as a vindication of his divine status, but also as an answer to the malicious rumors that he had a hand in his own father's murder. But the crown is not easily had, watched over by a priestess and surrounded by poisonous snakes and a glowing bed of charcoal.
Alexander relies for help on his two Israelite friends, Miriam and Simeon Bartimaeus. Now for Alexander to assume power they must learn who betrayed Lysander to the Thebans - and how did Memnon, guarded and protected in his own locked chamber, fall to his death? Who is killing Macedonian Sentries in the dead of night? Is it true that the specter of Oedipus has returned to Thebes to exact vengeance on Macedon?

About this title

Reviews

The pseudonymous Apostolou weighs in with the second book (after A Murder in Macedon, 1997) in her series featuring the brother-and-sister sleuthing team of Miriam and Simeon Bartimaeus, two Israelite friends of Alexander the Great. It seems that while Alexander's army may have decimated Thebes, the Thebans might have the last word. While awaiting Alexander's arrival, his victorious troops are told that their sovereign's party has perished in an ambush?false information that must have been planted by one of Alexander's own officers. When Alexander arrives in Thebes and learns that two of his favorite officers have been killed, the hunt for the spy/murderer is just the beginning of the troubles for him and the Bartimaeus siblings (whom Alexander has known since his days of learning at the feet of Aristotle). Miriam and Simeon also have to figure out how to get the crown of Oedipus into their chief's hands, guarded as it is by priestesses, fire and snakes. As Macedonian soldiers continue to die, especially those guarding Oedipus's temple, their task becomes more urgent. Some wonder if the ghost of the Theban king is avenging his people, but the ever logical Miriam believes in a less fanciful explanation for all the hauntings, riddles and conundrums. Apostolou's plot is complex to a fault, and she offers so much information about the times that very little of it comes to life or lodges in the reader's imagination. Alexander's greatness never materializes on the page, and Miriam, while she may have been one of Aristotle's star pupils, seems capable only of deductions that strain credibility.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Has Alexander of Macedon been killed with his army in Thessaly even before he can become Alexander the Great? No, he's alive and in fighting trim. But the rumors of his defeat and death are so threatening to his dreams of unifying Greece against the growing Persian enemy that it's doubly important his siege of Thebes be successful. Even when the city of the fabled King Oedipus obligingly falls to the conqueror, Alexanders scorched-earth victory is poisoned by his failure to secure the Iron Crown of Oedipus, a relic jealously guarded by the keepers of a local shrine, and by the death of his trusted officer Memnon, who unaccountably plunged to his death from a tower window dressed in full battle gear. It's murder, of course, and only the first of several acts in a bloody chapter that will feature the limping ghost of Thebes' most famous citizen, provide endless grist for Alexander's twin Israelite clerks Miriam and Simeon Bartimaeus (A Murder in Macedon, 1997), and have even the most tenderhearted readers forgetting about the burning of Thebes. The only downside for non-Theban partisans is that the homicidal toll grows so great (to an even dozen, by our count) that there's not much room for incidents that don't involve the discovery of more corpses. Pseudonymous Apostolou provides painless historical sidelights while her heroine continues to make up in detective acumen what she lacks in personality. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Miriam once again stared at the ruins of Thebes and repressed a shiver. This was truly a necropolis, a city of the dead. She heard a sound; a group of soldiers were leaving, there torches mere pinpricks of light. Behind her the door to the tower clattered and banged. Miriam went back and, carefully closing the door behind her, went down the steps. She reentered Memnon's chamber, and her stomach pitched. Someone had been here. The oil lamps had been moved.

Someone was coming up the stairs. Her blood chilled, yes she was sure, one foot dragging after the other; something smacked against the stone wall time and again as if a drum where being beaten. She recalled Memnon's words about Oedipus, the swollen foot, ancient king of Thebes. And what had Alexander said? That Oedipus's ghost had been seen in Thebes. The sounds grew nearer.

"Who is it?" Miriam screamed. She hurried towards the shutters, pulled off the bar, and threw them open. The cold night air rushed in. Miriam was only aware of that terrible crashing against the door. She turned, dagger in hand, and then the knocking ceased.

--From A Murder in Thebes

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0312195850
• ISBN 13: 9780312195854
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 226