I am an author and translator specializing in historical topics. And now, cozy murder mysteries.
Looking for Lafitte
Marine archaeologist Marlie Keeler has come to Galveston Island, Texas, with just three months to locate the wreckage of a schooner scuttled by the dashing pirate Jean Lafitte. She soon discovers that a sinister developer has designs on the same wreck and means to make any discoveries the centerpiece of a tawdry theme park. Things get more complicated when she's thrown together with stubborn local artist Jack Gamble, whose good looks, talent, and surprising connection to the pirate Lafitte attract her even as his bohemian lifestyle sorts ill with her take-charge orderliness. There's suspense as Marlie and her team try to beat the developer to the wreck, and fireworks and mutual attraction as Jack and Marlie clash. Will she find the ship? Will she thwart the developers? Will she and Jack overcome their differences?
The latest from Catchall Books.
FORTUNA AT THE RUDDER
THE CURIOUS ADVENTURES OF GAIUS OBSEQUENS DOLO, TRIBUNE ON THE RHINE
How about a comic novel about the late Roman Empire? Instead of the usual chest-thumping, sword-slashing Roman legionary novel, here’s the wryly humorous story of Gaius Obsequens Dolo, once a mediocre a law student in Rome, now— because of his late father’s tax problems— a military tribune on the Rhine trying to prosper by means of institutionalized graft, administrative ineptitude and mutiny while the Empire totters around him. Used as the unwitting secret agent of a high government official, he blunders through a peasant insurrection, two civil wars, and three stints in jail, all the while pursuing an acrimonious lawsuit against his brother. He’s ably assisted by his faithful, if cynical, friend (and former slave) and his strong-willed wife, who, fortunately for him, is a human calculator. The book is larded with amusing footnotes, sly jabs at government inefficiency, episodes of military ineptitude, an ancient version of “where’s the missing dollar?”and amusing Latin sayings that, strangely, echo modern expressions. Here’s a completely different historical novel.
From Catchall Books and available on Amazon in paperback, hardback and as a Kindle e-book.
Plan 9 for Murder
by Erik and Elizabeth Hildinger
Professor Annie Sinclair is up for tenure in the English department of the Ohio college where she and her husband, music professor Charles Renaud, work. Too bad the department chair is more interested in pop culture than in literature and scholarship. Annie’s solution? Checkmate him by giving a talk about document authentication at a UFO convention. When she and Charles discover that a veteran Ufologist has been murdered after showing them a mysterious memo, Annie finds that it’s not only her tenure that’s in danger— she and Charles are, too! UFOs, burglary, the steady-state theory of the universe, and the fake Venice plunked down in the middle of Las Vegas. Sinister figures who want to silence ‘people who know too much.’ It’s all here. Will Annie prevail? And what about her tenure?
Available from Cozy Cat Press!
Quirinius, Britannia’s Last Roman
“Deeply researched and well-written, this adventure into a time both little known and very seminal to our own is a pleasure to read. Hildinger is at home in this world. I hope to see more of his fiction.
— Cecelia Holland, Author of The Death of Attila, Two Ravens, The Firedrake, and others.
"A subtle and compelling evocation of post-Roman Britain, and the historical origins of the Arthurian myths. The sense of landscape and nature, and the lives of people living at the perilous edge of history, fighting for a future amid the ruins of their vanishing Roman past, is impressively dramatic and vividly conveyed."
— Ian Ross, Author of War at the Edge of the World, Swords Around the Throne, and Triumph in the Dust.
Fifth-Century Britain: this is the story of a late Roman nobleman facing barbarian incursions and internal division in the twilight of Roman Britain. Close readers will see precursors of the King Arthur legends. This novel, with its late Roman setting, suggests how they might have arisen. Culturally realistic, it does not feature dragons. Instead, the Romano-British, Britons, and Saxons contend for the remnants of Roman Britain.
From Moonshine Cove Publishing.
Warriors of the Steppe
A Mlitary History of Central Asia
Scytians, Huns, Avars and Other Steppe Nomads: this book describes the military practices of the major steppe peoples throughout history, from the Scythians of classical times to the Manchus of the seventeenth century. Tactics, strategy and the weapons of mounted archery are discussed in detail.
Published by Hachette.
Swords Against the Senate
The Rise of the Roman Army and the Fall of the Republic
The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic: powerful aristocrats, such as Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, remade the Roman army into a professional force and a political tool. This book treats the society, politics, military practices, and campaigns of the times. There is a detailed discussion of the tactics and equipment of Roman army: the use of maniples, cohorts, the gladius, pilum and shield.
Published by Hachette.
The History of the Mongols Whom We Call the Tartars
The First Account of a European Traveller to the Court of the Mongol Khan: a translation from the Latin of Giovanni di Plano Carpini’s Historia Mongalorum Quos Nos Tartaros Appellamus, a thirteenth-century description of a journey to Mongolia and back and a report on the culture and military practices of a people who had recently ravaged central Europe.
Published by Branden Books.