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Aristotle Detective

An Aristotle Detective Novel

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.

In Aristotle Detective, we first meet Stephanos—naive Watson to Aristotle’s learned Holmes—a young landed Athenian and student of Aristotle. With the aid of his cunning, olive-loving teacher, Stephanos must clear his exiled cousin of murder and save his family’s honor in a tense public trial. Will Stephanos survive to cinch the case?

280 pages | 1 map | 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 | © 2014

Fiction

Reviews

"Margaret Doody has given us a remarkable page-turner of a mystery with a couple of fascinating characters in Aristotle and Stephanos. It’s worth adding to your to-be-read pile.”

Les Blatt | ClassicMysteries.net

“A welcome edition to the historical ‘whodunit’ genre.”

POA Journal, Official Publication of the San Francisco Police Officers Association

“Wit in a first novel is rare enough, and when allied to the skilful unraveling of a murder story set in ancient Athens it makes us doubly grateful for Aristotle Detective.”

Daily Telegraph

“Doody brings the Athens of 322 BC to life with skill and verve and her story of the bloody murder, the shards of evidence, the drama of the trials, the odd twists and turns of motives and events is wonderfully plotted as she keeps everyone guessing, except the wily old philosopher who never tips his hand.”

Publishers Weekly

“Witty, elegant whodunits.”

Roderick Beaton | Times Literary Supplement

“Eminently enjoyable.”

Colin Dexter | author of the Inspector Morse mysteries

“Why did no one think of this before?”

Times (UK)

Table of Contents

I           I, Stephanos
II         Murder in Athens
III        Threnodies and Accusations
IV        Aristotle at Home
V         Hearing and Overhearing
VI        Prytaneion to Peiraeus
VII      Taverns and Broken Vessels  
VIII     Blood and Insults
IX        Family Matters
X         Puzzles in Writing
XI        Fire and Darkness
XII      Swords and Stones
XIII     The Last Prodikasia
XIV     A Day at the Farm
XV      Journey to Euboia
XVI     Return to Athens
XVII   Aristotle Plans a Journey
XVIII  Peril and Approach of Death
XIX     Thoughts of Death
XX      At Hecate’s Crossroads
XXI     Aristotle Teaches Rhetoric
XXII   The Trial Begins
XXIII  The Areopagos in an Uproar
XXIV  After the Trial

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