Hiding from the Past: An Eighth Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger

In Bell’s disappointing eighth Ancient Roman historical (after 2018’s The Gods Help Those), real-life Roman official Pliny the Younger and his lover, Aurora, who’s also his slave, get stranded in Collis Niveosus, an Alpine village. The pair last visited the place in the company of Pliny’s uncle, Pliny the Elder, a decade earlier, in 77 CE, when they were both 15. Back then, they learned of the mysterious death of mill owner Junius, who was believed to have fallen and hit his head. Pliny the Elder suggested they investigate Junius’s death, but their efforts came to nothing. Now, with Aurora’s help, the younger Pliny uncovers evidence that someone slammed Junius’s head into a wall. The concept of the lead doing better with his inquiries 10 years later is a tough one to swallow, and Bell isn’t exactly adept at enhancing the plot with the time’s political developments. This won’t go down as one of Bell’s finer works. (Apr.)