Todd’s second mystery set in ancient Greece (after 2007’s Blind Eye
) offers an ingenious premise but only routine prose and characterization. At a time of great political peril, a delegation of Scythians arrives in Sparta to negotiate a trade agreement that would bolster the city-state’s economy. Meanwhile, tensions between citizens and helots (slaves pressed into hard labor or the army) as well as the hovering threat of the Krypteia (the secret police) make daily life difficult. When three people fall victim to an unknown killer, the Krypteia commander recruits Iliona, recently appointed the high priestess of the Temple of Eurotas, to solve the murders, which the rulers of Sparta have concluded are the work of an Athenian agent bent on destabilizing the regime. Readers emotionally invested in the first book in the series will likely find the big reveal at the end shocking, but the motivation for the slaughter may strike others as weak. (Apr.)
