The Water Thief — Ben Pastor

Summer, 304 AD. Aelius Spartianus, historian and envoy, is researching the nearly two hundred year-old unsolved drowning of Emperor Hadrians male favorite, Antinous. Soon he finds himself embroiled in murder and mystery involving a lost letter by Hadrian, mentioning a grave threat to the State, whose details are supposedly hidden in Antinous grave. Aelius begins to investigate, puzzled that someone might want to keep secret an ancient conspiracy. In a province racked by civil unrest, Aelius embarks in a double search: for Antinous final resting place, and those who have killed for the mysterious document hidden in it. Internationally renowned and critically acclaimed author Ben Pastor brings her thematic skill to bear in this new historical mystery.