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Newest Website AdditionsFrom the April issue of The Orphan Scrivenerby Mary (Gardening in the city) by Eric (Baseball and Byzantium)
Mithraism Page Seven For A Secret was Pierce's Pick of the Week for April 21 at January Magazine. Mary and I were recently interviewed by fellow Poisoned Pen Press mystery author Betty Webb and you can read the result now on WebbsBlog. We talk about writing and Seven For A Secret but of particular interest are Mary's tips about online book promotion. Seven For A Secret is available in a Blackstone Audio edition. Mary has written about her path to publication for Heidi Ruby Miller who has made the essay available at myspace, blogspot, and livejournal. Mary has an essay, Tom, Dick and Harassment: Naming Your Characters, in Gayle Trent's Writing Up A Storm Newsletter. Although it has been more than eight years since the publication of our first Byzantine mystery novel, One For Sorrow is still available in trade paperback and Kindle editions and has also been released in a UK edition. Thanks to Karm Holladay, who recently reviewed One For Sorrow for BellaOnline and Martin Edwards who reviewed it for Tangled Web UK. We're happy to announce that One For Sorrow, Two For Joy, and Four For A Boy have been released in Kindle editions. Courtney Mroch, writer and Petscribe blogger on families.com, recently grilled us like kippers about animals in our mysteries and pets past and present. We suspect few of her interviewees have laid claim to plots featuring such unusual but vital characters as a herd of fortune-telling goats and a mechanical whale and his real life counterpart!
The anthology presents a mix of specially commissioned new stories and lesser known reprints, by writers such as Hilary Bonner, Anne Perry, Charles Todd, Kate Ellis, Alanna Knight, Martin Edwards and Gillian Linscott.
"...an interesting and eclectic mix of styles and ideas, sure to appeal to Dickens fans and anybody else who enjoys historical crime fiction set during the 19th century....Among the more impressive offerings are Mary and Eric Mayer's very authentic and witty Pickwickian tale..." -- Rachel A. Hyde Mary reviews a Golden Age collection, Ronald Standish, by Sapper at S.T. Karnik's The American Culture. Mary reviews a Golden Age collection, A Master of Mysteries, by Robert Eustace and L.T. Meade, at Alan J. Bishop's Criminal History. Mary's article “Oops...how authors of historical fiction avoid pitfalls.” appears in the November-December 2007 issue of Cozy Times Many thanks to Diana Vickery, owner of the Cozy Library site and editor of Cozy Times, for the opportunity to pass along a few helpful (we hope!) thoughts. Mary has an article about RAFFLES at Steve Lewis' online Mystery*File (The Crime Fiction Research Journal).
In Byzantium Ablaze. John gets to speak in his native tongue!
Seven For A Secret
*STARRED REVIEW* "...from brothels to copper markets to public baths and poetry readings, each rife with all the gossip, rumor, deceit and lewdness you'd expect from one of the Lord Chamberlain's cases." -- Kirkus Reviews (4/1/2008)
"Once again convincing historical detail and strong characterization help drive a riveting plot."--Publishers Weekly, 1/7/2008.
"This isn’t one of those superficial mysteries that use historical trappings to cover up a weak
story; it’s a compelling crime novel that happens to be set in another time and place." — David Pitt, Booklist, January 2008
"...makes history come alive with its complex characterization, fast-paced action, and vivid sensory details." -- Karm Holladay
"..as many twists and turns as the mean streets of Byzantium." -- Rachel A Hyde
"John's investigation is clever and fun to follow, but like the previous six numbered tales, it is the insightful look at ancient history that makes SEVEN FOR A SECRET (and its predecessors) a great reading experience.....Ancient historical mystery readers know the John the Eunuch tales are one of the best series on the market..." --Harriet Klausner.
"Reed-Mayer have done their homework well, bringing sixth-century Constantinople to multi-hued life..."--Barry Baldwin
One For Sorrow
"...streamlined and concise with a plot that races along through the viewpoints of the various colorful characters...anchors you in vivid sensory detail on every page...." --Karm Holladay
"The twists and turns of the plot are skilfully constructed, and the writing is highly readable. Fans of Lindsay Davis and Stephen Saylor in particular are in for a treat when they discover the work of this talented husband and wife team." -- Martin Edwards (Author of the Harry Devlin Mysteries)
FIVE FOR SILVER was nominated for the 2005 Bruce Alexander History Mystery Award
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Seven For A Secret
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Other Appearances | New Reviews |
We're pleased to have a story in Mike Ashley's Mammoth Book of Dickensian Whodunnits (Carroll & Graf in the US and Robinson in the UK). In The Three-Legged Cat of Great Clatterden that jolly fellow with the scientific bent, Samuel Pickwick, investigates an ancient Kentish hill figure and a puzzling disappearance.
Our Mongolian detective, Inspector Dorj, is faced with
solving a locked circus caravan murder. The new short story "Locked in Death" is included in
The Mammoth Book of Perfect Crimes and Impossible Mysteries,
an anthology edited by Mike Ashley.
Two For Joy has appeared in a Greek edition from
Five For Silver has won a 
Who killed the mosaic girl? As Lord Chamberlain, John spends his days counseling Emperor Justinian while passing the small hours of night in conversation with the solemn-eyed little girl depicted in a mosaic on his study wall. He never expected to meet her in a public square or afterwards find her red-dyed corpse in a subterranean cistern. Had the mysterious woman truly been the model for the mosaic years before as she claimed? Who was she? Why had she sought John out? Who wanted her dead -- and why?The answers seem to lie among the denizens of the smoky streets of that quarter of Constantinople known as the Copper Market, where artisans, beggars, prostitutes, pillar saints, and exiled aristocrats struggle to survive within sight of the Great Palace and yet worlds distant. John encounters a faded actress, a patriotic sausage maker, a sundial maker who fears the sun, a religious visionary, a man who lives in a treasure trove, and a beggar who owes his life to a cartload of melons. Before long he suspects he is attempting to unravel not just a murder but a plot against the empire. Or is John really on a personal quest, to find the reality behind the confidante he thought existed only in his own imagination? Is there such a thing as truth in a place where people live on memories, dreams, and illusions? Even if there is, can John push aside the shadows and find the truth in time?