Fun and fascinating.
I've read any number of novels set in Roman times, but never any set in this location or of this genre - and I loved it. I don't care how unlikely any of it is, it's very entertaining and has many nuggets of history in it I'd otherwise be unaware of.
When's the next one out?!

I thank NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an advance reader copy of “Shadows on Colonia.” All opinions and comments are my own.

In the Roman Empire city of Colonia (today’s Cologne), “barbarians,” as the native Germanic tribes are known, have begun raiding the town, stealing and causing terror. When the slave (and best friend) of a young woman (Lucretia Veturius) is killed during one of the attacks, she vows to seek justice. Enlisting the aid of ambitious lawyer Quintus Tibur, with ties to the Germanic tribes himself by birth, they investigate to find out the truth.

I would have liked this book a lot better if it hadn’t read like a modern-day conspiracy caper. I did appreciate the history lesson in the pages, and the description of Colonia and its surrounding environs. But there was too much “pulled from today’s headlines,” not enough Roman Empire for me. The “young woman against the male patriarchy” trope is also overused in this one. I can’t imagine young girls of the time running around like Lucretia is allowed to do in this book, and the modern idioms used throughout took me right out of the story. While Quintus Tibur and Lucretia Veturius make an interesting investigative pair, I’ll have to pass on more of their adventures.