4.5 stars

This was an interesting read. I'd read the first in the series and I suppose this might be the last? The first book is about Libertus, a freed man and pavement maker. This book is about his adopted son Junio. Junio is also under the protection of Marcus Severus. Junio is scratching out a living. His wife is about to birth their third child and Junio is off laying pavements. A courier brings a note from Marcus. Marcus's wife had a cloak clip mended and it appears that the Jeweller has replaced it with a cheaper copy. Marcus wants the clip returned and the Jeweller punished. It's a good mystery. The author explains the mores of the time and the restrictions on not just slaves but freedmen hoping to avoid danger in not giving offence to people in power. We learn more about Libertus. I might now have to fill in the gap bu reading the middle 18 books!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Postscript.

A final conclusion or coda to the Libertus series of Roman mysteries, or an unexpected but very welcome bonus, or perhaps a new beginning.

It is some years since Libertus disappeared and his son Junio now runs the family business. It is an unsettled time in Glevum with a new emperor and the loyalty of his subjects being tested. In addition there continues to be native Celtic unrest. Junio finds himself unwillingly thrust into his father's role when a valuable item goes missing and Marcus Septimus, his patron, requires him to investigate. In addition, one of Junio's children disappears, after an oddly familiar Celtic wanderer arrives on the scene. Treason, revolution and native unrest are suspected everywhere, and Junio does not have Libertus' investigative skills. But he does have persistence, as well as some unexpected allies.

Read to the end. There the reader will discover more about Libertus' life both before slavery and after his disappearance, when he finally is able to solve the mystery of his own capture and loss of freedom.

A pleasure, as always, to read one of Rosemary Rowe's novels. I have enjoyed this series immensely.

The Rewards of Treachery is the 20th historical Libertus mystery set in ancient Roman Britain by Rosemary Rowe. Released 4th April 2023 by Severn House, it's 240 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. Paperback format will be available from the same publisher in late 4th quarter 2023. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a beautifully well researched and lyrically written mystery with depth and verisimilitude. The main protagonist is unequivocally intelligent and analytical. Although series protagonist Libertus fled at the end of the previous book, his adopted son Junio steps into the main role of somewhat reluctant investigator in this installment. There are ties to a much larger plot than a missing brooch and vanished local jeweler, including political unrest and murder.

Although it's not derivative in the slightest, the protagonist and the style remind me a lot of the wonderful Father Cadfael mysteries with glimpses of Barbara Tuchmann. Fans of Ellis' inimitable books will find a lot to enjoy here. As a long (long!) series, the characters live and breathe. The scenery and story are interwoven so skillfully around a framework of actual historical records that it's not at all easy to differentiate where fiction becomes real events. There are small historical details about the daily life and realities of the time period and a great deal of culture in the mix as well.

With so many books extant in the series, it would make a good choice for binge or buddy read. The story is self contained here, so it's not necessary to have read the previous books. The epilogue in this book resolves series MC Libertus' disappearance in previous books. If read out of order, expect spoilers for earlier books in the series.

Four and a half stars. Quite extraordinarily well written, immersive, and high quality mystery.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Junio takes the starring role after Libertus fled at the end of the previous book. The story felt completely interchangeable with Junio dealing with Marcus and the slaves using his father’s methods. One thing I love about a long series is the continuity and development of the characters. They become integral to the story. We also get to see more of Junio’s family. Another enjoyable romp! Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Glevum, 198 CE. Since his adoptive father, pavement-maker and amateur investigator Libertus, fled Glevum several years ago, Junio is now called upon to serve Libertus’s patron, Magistrate Marcus Septimus. Arriving home after a frustrating day, Junio is greeted by two unexpected visitors. Letigines, Marcus’s courier-slave, requests that Junio attend on his master immediately. A valuable silver cloak-clasp, sent to a silversmith for repair, is missing. The repaired item, picked up by Letigines, turned out to be a base metal copy, and he is in for a flogging at best for not having noticed the fake. Junio’s second visitor is the slave Anlyan, carrying a long scroll Junio doesn’t have time to peruse, but he vaguely recognizes this newcomer. Harried by his wife’s imminent childbirth, Junio entrusts Anlyan with fetching the local midwife as he rushes off to answer Marcus Septimus’ command. He is informed that the silversmith has disappeared along with his stock, including the precious cloak-clasp, and is tasked to find him. Does the silversmith have ties to the Celts and the illegal silver trade? Are the two random visits connected?

Roman Britain is familiar territory for the author, and she packs in fascinating background detail without overwhelming her story. I slipped easily into those ancient times, the superstitions, the ritual cleansings, mandatory trade closures on ill-starred days, the occasional need for a sacrifice, unwieldy parchment scrolls, and the normality of owning slaves. Although Junio is a favoured citizen, he must guard his tongue around those above him, as his investigation leads him into dangerous territory. Soon the seemingly innocuous mystery of a missing piece of jewellery becomes a complex, multi-layered plot. This is the latest installment in a long-running series. The detailed author’s note explains the political background.

As always the books in this series by Rosemary Rowe provide an great mystery to be solved. They range in their seriousness and this book is no exception. The background of Roman Britain provides a great backdrop and the author's inclusion of a snippet of the history to orientate the reader is great, not too much and not too little. The novel is a fine addition to this series, in which it is not difficult to get bound up in the lives of the characters and be rooting for their success.

CE 198. It all starts with a broken clasp on a piece of jewellery belonging to Lady Julia, which when repaired and returned is the wrong piece. Her husband instructs Junio to investigate. Soon the bodies of murdered men are discovered. Can Junio unravel the motive behind the killings.
A well-written and entertaining Roman Britain historical mystery with its cast of interesting characters.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As always the books in this series by Rosemary Rowe provide an great mystery to be solved. They range in their seriousness and this book is no exception. The background of Roman Britain provides a great backdrop and the author's inclusion of a snippet of the history to orientate the reader is great, not too much and not too little. The novel is a fine addition to this series.in which it is not difficult to get bound up in the lives of the characters and be rooting for their success
This book is worth 4.5/5!.

Junio Ably Takes Over For Libertus

The story starts several years after Libertus, the previous protagonist, fled from Glevum, modern Gloucester. Junio, his son, is having trouble with customer over an original mosaic flooring that did not turn out well. He heads home where is wife is near to giving birth to their next child. Marcus Aurelius, his patron, has sent for him. Junio interrupts Marcus and his house guest, the disgruntled mosaic customer. Marcus tells Junio that an expensive wedding gift to his wife is missing. There was a problem with the clasp, and his courier slave takes it to the Glevum silversmith, who created it, to repair it. A fake was returned. From this simple start complex and difficult investigation begins that turns dangerous to Junio and his family.

The author provided a Forward to her novel that provides some background to set the environment in which the novel is set. Reading this Forward is very important for this novel to understand the political and cultural tensions that existed at that time in the Roman Empire, Roman Brittan, and in Glevum, and the territory immediately surrounding it.

The main storyline thread is the investigation of missing piece of jewelry. It morphs quickly when a robbery and murder are discovered. The silversmith was killed in a manner associated to the Celts. Since a Roman citizen was killed in Glevum apparently by a Celt or Celts, Marcus and Junio start to fear for their own safety as they both live a little way outside Glevum. Junio who is part Celt is being visited by a Celt who doesn’t want Romans to known that he is there. The main storyline has many twists, turns, and misdirections. Every step forward seems to result in a roadblock that must be solved, all the while the threat of Celt violence against Junio turns into a kidnapping of Junio’s eldest son. Lastly, Junio’s wife, Cilla, is giving birth to their latest child. While there was an old woman there who was skilled in these matters, Junio still needed to finish a new roundhouse in which the children could sleep. My attention was captured quickly and maintained all the way to the novel’s end.

Even though Junio and his family have been in most of the previous novels in this series, he is the protagonist now and his mettle is put to the test. He no longer is in a support role but is the one responsible to act. Through his thoughts, the reader will see a person who isn’t completely comfortable and in Roman society but also see a person trying to navigate the challenges as his renowned father did. Reading this B-storyline enhanced my reading enjoyment.

There is not any vulgar or rude word in this novel. There was what could be considered as some impious language as there was some swearing using some Roman gods’ names. Violence generally is described after the fact, but they can be considered gruesome but are not described in much detail. Unless you are fluent is some archaic words, I recommend reading this novel on an e-reader that has a good dictionary and Internet access. I availed myself to these capabilities quite often while reading this novel. While this is labeled as a Libertus Mystery, this really the first novel with his son, Junio, as the protagonist. The references to events in the previous novel are described adequately, so this can be the first Libertus novel to read.

I could not find any issues with this novel. For me, it was a successful transition to a new protagonist while maintaining the set of so many enjoyable novels. As most mystery/thrillers the protagonist has a partner. It appears that Junio has found a partner in this novel. While I liked the twist at the end, what came next was what I like the most about this novel. I learned what happened to Libertus after he fled Glevum and some of his life that led to his capture and slavery.

As you may be surmised that Rosemary Rowe is one of my favorite authors. I have read all 19 of her previous Libertus novels. Like all the others, I could not stop reading this novel and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. If you like ancient Roman gumshoe novels, I strongly recommend this one. I rate it with five stars.

I received a free prepublication e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from Severn House. My review is based only on my own reading experience of this book. I wish to thank Severn House for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this Advanced Reader Copy and the opportunity to review “The Rewards of Treachery.” All opinions and comments are my own.

A prologue setting out a brief history of Britannia at the time (198 AD) that “The Rewards of Treachery” takes place helps to frame the political and social backdrop of this new “Libertus” historical mystery. After that, as author Rosemary Rowe states, it’s up to her imagination. Luckily for readers, she has a terrific one.

This is not the place to start reading this series, that should be mentioned. Libertus has been in exile for several years, and Junio, his adopted son is our “investigating agent” now. But Marcus Septimus Aurelius, the rich Roman who features in the books is still much in evidence as patron, and he tasks Junio to look into the circumstances of a missing piece of jewelry. Never mind that Junio’s wife is about to give birth, or that a mysterious Celt has shown up at Junio’s homestead; when Marcus calls, Junio has to drop everything and go. And from this simple summons a tale of thievery, murder and revenge, and threats to the State unfolds.

Junio sorts it all out, of course. Marcus is satisfied, which is the important part. And faithful readers will learn more about Libertus and his fate. In “The Rewards of Treachery,” Rosemary Rowe creates a fictional ancient world for us to savor while also presenting a “detective” story easily recognizable to readers of modern detective fiction.

The books in this series are always gripping and well plotted. i'm fascinated by the characters and the setting, the solid mysteries keeps me hooked and guessing.
This one is not exception and it was very entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I was glad to have read this book as I have missed this family! Libertus seems to be somewhere close and watching after his extended family as the "Celtic ' who live somewhat far away.

Now starring Libertus’ son, Junio…

Rosemary Rowe’s The Rewards of Treachery is another excellent entry in her Libertus series – although in Treachery, the focus shifts from Libertus, who fled Glevum at the end of the previous book, to Libertus’ adopted son, Junio, who has taken up his father’s mosaic business, and also more-or-less inherited his father’s patron, Marcus Septimus. And with Marcus as a patron, Junio has also inherited – unwillingly - the assumption that he, like Libertus, will conduct investigations on Marcus’ behalf.

This case starts rather simply. Marcus would like Junio to investigate the disappearance of his wife’s jeweled cloak-clasp, which went missing while being repaired. And apparently, the jeweler who was repairing it has also gone missing. No matter that Junio’s wife, Cilla, is quite literally about to have a baby – Junio can’t afford to ignore Marcus, and he heads into town to hear the entire tale. However, things quickly get more complicated. Did the mysterious slave at the jeweler’s shop early that morning have anything to do with it? Or perhaps the local Silurians, who resent the Roman writ over all gold and silver mines, are involved? What about the oddly-familiar looking Celt who showed up at Junio’s house bearing a message? Of course, there’s tension drifting in from Rome as well, with the recent accession of Severus Septimius turning things upside down yet again, and with political changes making their way even to Roman Britain, at the far edges of the Empire.

Eventually, though, Junio manages to sort out the multiple tangled threads, and even more importantly, figure out which parts of the story can be safely shared with Marcus and which should be glossed over – or outright omitted - in the telling. As always, Rowe weaves a tight plot, while also putting readers in the middle of the lives of her characters, showing both the grit (the often casually abusive treatment of slaves, the dangers of childbirth) and the moments of happiness (Cilla and Junio have a healthy new baby boy). And there’s some bitter-sweet news in the epilogue too.

On a personal level, having enjoyed the Libertus books for decades, I have my fingers crossed that there will be more books to come with Junio and his family/friends as the leads – setting the hints in the epilogue aside. Although if Rowe does decide to end the series here, The Rewards of Treachery makes a fine final book. But I very much hope that’s not the case! And last but not least, I want to express my thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

Rosemary Rowe continues the Libertus mysteries in Glevum at the end of the second century AD in The Rewards of Treachery. Junio, the adopted son of Libertus who is in exile, has taken up the mosaic floor business and is happily adding to his family with a new son. A jeweler and his slave have been viciously murdered and Junio's patron Marcus calls on him to find the perpetrator. A stranger appears claiming knowledge of Libertus and mysteriously Junio's son disappears. Intrigues pop up connected to denunciations of Glevum's families from the accession of Septimius Severus. Whodunit? Was it a robbery? Was it revenge? Read to find out the twisted history of Gevum.

Rosemary Rowe has been writing mysteries set in Roman Britain for many moons now and I never tire of reading them. It is a period often ignored by historical novelists but is none less fascinating than later eras.
The author has a vast knowledge of a way of life that was both brutal in its cruelties and highly refined in its social niceties. I loved the intricacies of the plot and the clever tying-together of all the loose ends. Many of the characters feel like old friends now but one can never guess what they are going to do next or what secrets are going to be unearthed from their pasts. A perfect read for anyone wanting to spend a nice relaxing few hours in AD198.

This is the latest book in the Author's long running Libertus series and as always can be read as a standalone . although reading the more recent books would aid in understanding the characters and their place in the world .

When a piece of jewellery belonging to Lady Julia disappears after being repaired , Libertus tasks Juno with solving the problem . Juno would much prefer to fade into the background , the rebel Celts are creating tensions with Caesar -. problems he is determined to crush , but he cannot deny his adopted father's patron , Marcus Septimus and soon sets out to try to solve the case .
Juno soon finds himself faced with murders and betrayal - his own family is at risk . What does the arrival of a Celtic visitor have to do with the case , can he uncover the secrets held by those who will do anything for them to remain just that - secret ?

This is another fast paced , murder mystery full of twists and turns by the Author - who manages to reflect the mores and lives in the time of Caesar to such good effect

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I've been enjoying the Libertus Mystery of Roman Britain series a lot and getting to go on this journey with them. The characters felt like the same characters and it worked well as real people. I enjoyed the mystery going on and thought the plot worked well. It does a great job in telling the story and I hope the series continues. I enjoyed how Rosemary Rowe wrote this.

"‘It rather looks it,’ I replied. ‘This is the kind of thing they can inflict. Though Jove alone knows how Vitellius could have offended them.’ I turned to Draco, who had gone across to stand beside the bed. ‘Unless, of course, he did have trade with them – and defaulted on payment, or something of the kind.’"