Blood Debts: An Ancient Rome Historical Mystery

Book excerpt: Leonidas, champion gladiator of Rome, is set free from the games by a mysterious benefactor who grants him freedom, a place to live, and Cassia, a scribe, to look after him in this historical mystery series by Ashley Gardner. Leonidas, once the most popular gladiator in Nero’s Rome, vows that he is finished with death when he is presented with the rudis, the wooden sword that means his freedom. Unfortunately, death constantly follows him, this time in the form of a murdered man to whom Leonidas is sent to collect a debt. Since Leonidas is the last person seen entering the man’s shop before the victim is found in a pool of blood, he fears he’ll be arrested for the crime and returned to the games, this time without hope of survival. A novella of the Leonidas the Gladiator mysteries.