Gary Corby

Traveling to Athens to marry, investigator Nicolaos helps his bride look into the murder and disappearance of two students from the famous Sanctuary of Artemis in as case that is bizarrely tied to findings about a tyrannical ruler who supposedly died 30 years earlier. By the author of The Pericles Commission.

The Marathon Conspiracy

A latest entry in the critically acclaimed series that includes Pericles Commission finds Nico working to clear his Olympics competitor best friend of a false murder accusation when a rival is found dead, a situation that is complicated by escalating violence between Athens and Sparta.

Sacred Games

Nicolaos walks the mean streets of Classical Athens as an agent for the promising young politician Pericles. His mission is to find the assassin of the statesman Ephialtes, the man who brought democracy to Athens and whose murder has thrown the city into uproar. It’s a job not made any easier by the depressingly increasing number of dead witnesses. But murder and mayhem don’t bother Nico; what’s really on his mind is how to get closer (much closer) to Diotima, the intelligent and annoyingly virgin priestess of Artemis, and how to shake off his irritating twelve year-old brother Socrates. The Pericles Commission is the first in an exciting new series by first-time novelist Gary Corby, who takes us to Ancient Greece at one of the most exciting times in history. In this wonderfully approachable, historically rich novel, Athens is brought vividly to life in a mystery engaging from the first page to last.

The Pericles Commission

When rumors of ghost sightings in Athens's grand theater threaten the annual Great Dionysia arts festival, Nicolaos and the priestess Diotima organize a public exorcism while investigating private suspicions that a human saboteur is the actual culprit.

Death Ex Machina

"Greece, 545 BC: It is illegal to die on the sacred isle of Delos. It's also illegal to give birth there. Yet when murder is committed, the only available detective to solve the crime is the priestess Diotima, and she is heavily pregnant. Delos is the holy birthplace of the divine twins Apollo and Artemis, and it is an island in crisis. Not only has murder tainted the holy sanctuary, but there are about a thousand Athenian troops on the island. The army is led by the statesman Pericles and has come to take away the treasury of the Delian League, the defense fund of the Greeks against the Persian Empire. The holy people are in uproar. The Athenians are exasperated. The High Priest of the Delian Apollo is not amused. To cap it off, Diotima's husband and fellow detective, Nicolaos, is implicated in dodgy dealings that link him to the murder. Somehow Diotima must find the killer, calm the island, and. oh, yes. have a baby"--

Death on Delos

"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 Dragons Athens, 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.

The Ionia Sanction

This “witty” mystery set in ancient Greece is “sure to amuse Lindsey Davis and Elizabeth Peters fans” (Booklist, starred review). In this historical murder mystery that “blends humor with fascinating details about the ancient world,” Nicolaos, the only private investigator in Athens, discovers that helping a writer with his book research can be very dangerous (Library Journal). Would-be author Herodotus has hired Nico and his priestess wife, Diotima, to accompany him to Egypt to research that ancient country’s history. Unfortunately, Egypt happens to be in the throes of a rebellion against its overlords, the Persian Empire. Pirates infest the sea route. Three different armies roam the Egyptian countryside. The river is full of crocodiles. Everywhere Nico turns, there’s a secret agent ready to kill him, and possibly worse, he can’t find a decent cup of wine anywhere. A simple investigation is about to turn into a dangerous adventure of international espionage, in a novel that is “recommended for lovers of historical mystery and all things ancient Greek (and Egyptian and Persian and Libyan)” (Historical Novel Society).

The Singer from Memphis

A murder during the Olympics may spark a war between Athens and Sparta in this historical mystery in the “consistently excellent series” (Booklist). It is the Olympics of 460 BC. Nicolaos’s best friend, Timodemus, is a competitor in the pankration, the deadly martial art of ancient Greece. Timo is hot favorite to win—his only serious rival is Parmonos from Sparta. When Parmonos is found beaten to death, it seems obvious Timodemus would be the killer. Who else could have killed the second-best fighter in all Hellas but the very best? The judges of the competition sentence Timodemus to be executed in four days’ time, as soon as the Sacred Games have finished. Complicating everything is the fact that Athens and Sparta are already at each other’s throats, in the opening stages of a power struggle for control of Hellas. If an Athenian is found to have cheated at the Games by murdering a Spartan, it will be everything the hawks in Sparta need to declare open war the moment the Sacred Truce is over. And that’s a war Athens cannot hope to win. Now Nico and his partner in sleuthing, the annoyingly clever priestess Diotima, have four days to save their friend and avert a war that would tear their world apart.

Nicolaos, the only private investigator in ancient Athens, discovers that helping an author with his book research can be very dangerous. The would-be author Herodotus has hired Nico and his priestess wife, Diotima, to accompany him to Egypt. Unfortunately, Egypt happens to be in the throes of a rebellion against the Persian Empire. Pirates infest the sea route. Three different armies roam the Egyptian countryside. A simple historical investigation turns into a dangerous adventure of international espionage.

Nico works to clear his Olympics competitor best friend of a false murder accusation when a rival is found dead, a situation that is complicated by escalating violence between Athens and Sparta.

Gary Corby

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