In this murder mystery we meet Nico. Nico is the son of a sculptor but aspires to become an investigator. When Nico is summoned by Pericles, the leader of the new democracy in Athens, he finally has a chance to prove his father wrong and earn his living doing the job he loves. Finding the murderer, however, will not prove an easy job for Nico. Thorion, the proxenos for Ephesus is found hanging from a rope indicating suicide. The note near his body states that he is a traitor to Athens. But the position of the body and Thorion's servants contradict the convenient suicide scene. After examining the room the body was found in and interviewing the servants, Pericles and Nico come to the conclusion that Thorion was murdered.

The servants claim Thorion had two servants prior to his death. One of the servants states that Thorion was holding a scroll when the second visitor was announced. But the mysterious scroll is nowhere to be found. Pericles and Nico know the second visitor must be Thorion's murderer. Nico is instructed to bring the man and the scroll to Pericles if he wishes to continue his job as an investigator. Nico is able to chase down the culprit, but he escapes by ship. Nico discovers that the man is named Araxes and that he traveled with a slave girl. When Nico encounters the slave girl in a slave market, he risks Pericles' wrath by paying a small fortune for her. But Asia's story will complicate Nico's job even more.

Nico discovers that Araxes is headed to Ephesus. In order to win Pericles' trust and prove his father wrong, he must travel to Ephesus to find Araxes and take Asia home to a man who considers all Athenians his enemies. To make matters worse, Nico fears meeting his old flame, Diotima, in Ephesus. Nico and Diotima were once engaged, but Nico was forced to terminate their engagement after his father discovered that Diotima's mother was a prostitute. Of course, the first person Nico encounters in Ephesus is Diotima! Nico must not only deal with a jilted ex- girlfriend, but also with a criminal who is always one step ahead of him. When Pericles begins to lose faith in him and demands that Nico find Araxes or never come home, Nico must bend the rules to win Pericles' trust and prove his father wrong.

THE IONIA SANCTION presents Classical Greece in its full glory. Gary Corby's storytelling is engaging and contains plenty of comedy to lighten up the murder of Thorion. Readers won't be able to help feeling sorry for Nico as everything that could possibly go wrong for him actually does. THE IONIA SANCTION is one of the most fun murder mysteries I have read this year. Props to Gary Corby for throwing an unexpected twist in the death of the man who held the power to destroy Athens!

Book Summary

"Corby has not only made Greek history accessible—he’s made it first-rate entertainment.” --Kelli Stanley, award-winning author of Nox Dormienda and City of DragonsAthens, 460 B.C.  Life's tough for Nicolaos, the only investigating agent in ancient Athens.  His girlfriend's left him and his boss wants to fire him.  But when an Athenian official is murdered, the brilliant statesman Pericles has no choice but to put Nico on the job.The case takes Nico, in the company of a beautiful slave girl, to the land of Ionia within the Persian Empire.  The Persians will execute him on the spot if they think he's a spy.  Beyond that, there are only a few minor problems:He's being chased by brigands who are only waiting for the right price before they kill him.Somehow he has to placate his girlfriend, who is very angry about that slave girl.He must meet Themistocles, the military genius who saved Greece during the Persian Wars, and then  defected to the hated enemy.And to solve the crime, Nico must uncover a secret that could not only destroy Athens, but will force him to choose between love, and ambition, and his own life.

Read an Excerpt