Death Ex Machina

A THEATRICAL MURDER SENDS CLASSICAL ATHENS INTO UPROAR

Death Ex Machina



“Gary Corby has managed an unlikely feat with his series . . . he’s written mysteries that combine funny characters and intriguing crimes with accurate history. The escapades of the detective will keep readers laughing, while the history lesson will leave them feeling a little bit smarter.”

—Shelf Awareness

“Corby serves up a bubbly cocktail of clear history, contemporary wit, and
heart-stopping action.”

—Booklist, Starred Review



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From the jacket

It’s the time of the Great Dionysia, the largest arts festival of the ancient world, held
each year in honor of Dionysos, the god of wine. But there’s a problem: A ghost is
haunting Athens’s grand theater.

Nicolaos, the only professional investigator in Athens, and Diotima, his clever partner in
sleuthing (and in matrimony), are hired to rid the theater of the ghost so that the festival can begin.

With the help of Theokritos, the High Priest of Dionysos, they exorcise the ghost publicly, while secretly suspecting that a human saboteur is the actual culprit.

Their efforts to protect the theater fall short when one of the actors is found
hanged from a piece of stage equipment. It’s quite a theatrical murder.

As Nico and Diotima dig into the actor’s past, they root out several possible motives for his demise,
ranging from blackmail to heresy.  As the festival approaches and pressure mounts on all sides, can they hunt down the killer in time? Or will they simply have to hope for a deus ex machina?


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