In the Shadow of the Bull

Crete, around 1450 BC. Martis is fifteen, a poet, and training as a bull leaper. Her sister Arge collapses in convulsions at her own wedding feast and dies there, in front of the whole household.

Martis is sure Arge was murdered and swears an oath before the Goddess to find out who did it. Suspicion falls on the groom, Saurus, a man from the mainland whom few in the household trust.

Then Arge's shade appears to Martis and insists that Saurus is innocent. That leaves the rest of the household to examine, among them an Egyptian courtesan and Nuia, Martis's enslaved sister, who once loved Saurus herself.

The mystery unfolds among sacred bulls, serpent priestesses and goddess ritual. It is a historical whodunit in which the clues carry as much weight as the character work. This is the first of the Ancient Crete Mysteries.

Martis has to weigh each piece of evidence against her grief, and every motive she turns up lies close to home.