Our story opens in 6th century Constantinople, which remains under the rule of the Christian Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, a former actress. A lot has happened in the seven years since the events of One for Sorrow, including the ancient city's devastating encounter with the plague. However, John the Eunuch still survives – and even thrives – as the Emperor's Lord Chamberlain. In the very best tradition of mystery series, so does the colorful supporting cast of characters who have been populating John's world since One for Sorrow. Readers may find themselves smiling in delight to re-encounter old friends such as Peter, the aging but devoted Christian servant of John; the irrepressible Anatolius, now pursuing a career in law; gruff Felix the captain of the imperial guard; and faithful and shrewd Cornelia who has managed to rejoin John in spite of the time and distance that once separated them.
In addition, there are still stylites (Christian ascetics) who sit atop tall pillars in detached observation of the everyday strangeness in the city. The cranky blind caretaker whom we met in One for Sorrow is still keeping tabs on the cemetery. Isis the brothel keeper remains a font of valuable information.
John will need all his friends, acquaintances, and informers because his seventh mystery opens upon a disquietingly personal note. You may remember the little girl whose portrait graces the mosaics in his study. Over the years John, who has named the girl Zoe, has come to think of her as his confessor to whom he can describe his problems when he sits in his study far from the dangerous intrigue that surrounds Justinian.
Imagine his surprise when a young woman approaches him in the street and claims to be grown-up Zoe. She looks a little like Zoe. But it's hard to tell because she's frightened and trying to hurry away, wringing a promise out of him to meet her later. She claims she has important information. Before their next meeting can take place, John finds the poor girl's dead body abandoned in a subterranean cistern. Her face is battered and she has been covered in red dye in an attempt to disguise a distinctive tattoo upon her wrist.
Now John feels driven to solve her murder though he never knew the real Zoe. He also must find out the important information she needed to impart.
His investigation leads him to question several among the demimonde of the disenfranchised: former notables now eking out a precarious existence far from Justinian's favor. These unfortunates include a man of faded elegance who lives in a squalid apartment bursting with artistic treasures, a former noblewoman who now cleans the church and waits for religious visions, and a troupe of actresses who are one rung up on the social hierarchy from being prostitutes.
Other vivid characters include a troublesome sausage-maker, a nervous sundial craftsman, and a devout artist who reluctantly fashions pornographic mosaics for the wealthy so that he can support his family and his own personal art which illuminates holy scenes from the Bible. The descriptions of his mosaic-making are beautiful, dazzling the reader's imagination.
Meanwhile the long shadow of the Empress Theodora hangs over the action. A psychopath with almost unlimited power, she still hates John. She is a dangerous enemy to have.
We see this most strikingly in a scene where John attempts to interview Kyrillos who is Theodora's head chamberlain. Kyrillos is a more "traditional" eunuch than the austere John: sly and effeminate. As Kyrillos simpers and whines, the reader becomes aware of an undercurrent of barely restrained terror beneath his posturing. Within Justinian's court, poor Kyrillos walks the knife's edge of danger even more so than John. By the end of the book, one gets a chilling sense of how terrible it is to provoke the personal attention of the Empress Theodora.
Seven for a Secret is the seventh mystery in the acclaimed John the Eunuch series by the wife-and-husband writing team of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer. It can be read as a stand-alone novel. As with One for Sorrow, it makes history come alive with its complex characterization, fast-paced action, and vivid sensory details. Seven for a Secret is available at Amazon through this link: Seven for a Secret: A John the Eunuch Mystery (John the Eunuch)
It is also available in audio-book through Blackstoneaudio.com through this link.
