Murder and mayhem may seem like unreasonable company for Aristotle, one of the founding minds of Western philosophy. But in the skilled hands of Margaret Doody, the pairing could not be more logical. With her Aristotle Detective novels, Margaret Doody brings a Holmesian hero to the bloodied streets of ancient Greece, trading the pipe and deerstalker of Sherlock for the woolen chiton and sandals of Aristotle. Replete with suspense, historical detail, and humor, and complemented by an ever-growing cast of characters and vivid descriptions of the ancient world, Doody’s mysteries are as much lively takes on the figures and forms of the classics as they are classic whodunits in their own right.

Stephanos and his teacher return in Aristotle and Poetic Justice, when a party given by wealthy Athenian silver miners leads to kidnapping, a ghost, a road trip to Delphi, and, of course, murder. More historical fiction than a detective novel, this sequel runs the gamut of Athenian social customs, myth, politics, and economics—from the trials of virgin love to the dangers of silver lust.

 

Margaret Doody is the John and Barbara Glynn Family Professor of Literature at the University of Notre Dame. In addition to her Aristotle mysteries, she has published books on eighteenth-century literature, the Renaissance, ancient and modern fiction, and the significance of Venice.

— Barbara Levick, Times Literary Supplement

— Times (UK)

— Roderick Beaton, Times Literary Supplement

— Colin Dexter, author of the Inspector Morse mysteries

— Natalie Kelley-Wilson, Metapsychology Online Reviews