The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence is a Mystery Series Written for Children:

Do you enjoy mysteries?  Are you fascinated by the history of ancient Rome?

Do you enjoy it when history is made interesting instead of just being tested on how well you can recall dates, events, and names of people and places?

Think you might like reading a historical mystery series?
(Written for young readers but nobody has to know you’re an adult. One of my guilty pleasures is reading children's books.)

Here is a recommendation. This series has won awards. It’s called The Roman Mysteries and was written by Caroline Lawrence. Her goal for undertaking this task was to entertain children while reading and educate them about this ancient civilization. She succeeded. In fact, her books received praise from teachers and parents, as well as awards and recognition. This is not the only mystery series she has written but since it deals with life in ancient Rome which is one of my favorite topics, it is being recommended for mystery lovers who also have an interest in the Roman Empire.

Set in 1^st century A.D., Book 1 of the series is titled “The Thieves of Ostia”. The last of the series, Book 17 is “Man from Pomegranate Street”. The reading material targets ages 10 through 14 and the novels are available in various formats: hard copy, audio, digital, etc.
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Here is the complete Roman Mysteries series:

The Thieves of Ostia (1)

The Secrets Of Vesuvius (2)

The Pirates Of Pompeii (3)

The Assassins Of Rome (4)

The Dolphins Of Laurentum (5)

The Twelve Tasks Of Flavia Gemina (6)

The Enemies Of Jupiter (7)

The Gladiators From Capua (8)

The Colossus Of Rhodes (9)

The Fugitive From Corinth (10)

The Sirens Of Surrentum (11)

The Charioteer Of Delphi (12)

The Slave-Girl From Jerusalem (13)

The Beggar Of Volubilis (14)

The Scribes From Alexandria (15)

The Prophet From Ephesus (16)

The Man From Pomegranate Street (17)

The Slave-Girl From Jerusalem

This exciting adventure recreates the siege at Masada.

Caroline Lawrence has also written other historical mysteries. View Her Author's Page.

Source:  Webnuggetz.com

NOTE: Content previously published elsewhere on the web, however, the site shut down. 

Murder Mysteries Inspired by Charles Dickens

Are you an admirer of Charles Dickens and also enjoy reading ghost stories and/or murder mysteries? The books mentioned below come highly recommended by many readers, book club members, and book review bloggers who love murder and suspense thrillers and fictional crime series. These particular books are categorized under a genre known as “cozy mystery” or “cozies”.  They are part of the Dickens Junction Mystery Series by Christopher Lord.

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BOOK 1: The Christmas Carol Murders
(less than 300 pages)

BOOK 2: The Edwin Drood Murders
(less than 200 pages)

Both are quick reads and you probably won’t want to put the book down once you get started.

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The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a TV miniseries adapted from the work by Charles Dickens. The good thing about the Dickens Junction Mystery Series is that you don’t even have to know anything about Charles Dickens. 

The writer, Christopher Lord, puts a contemporary twist or spin on Dickens-style tales and his fun writing style and character creations seem to be the reason the books are gaining in popularity.

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* Trivia:  Original source Charles Dickens' last novel, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, is an unfinished work.  More details found at charlesdickensinfo.com.

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Interesting Tidbits About Roanoke Colony, aka The Lost Colony

It seems some of history's mysteries will remain a mystery.  Like the disappearance of England's first colony in North America; the Roanoke Colony, known to may as "The Lost Colony".  Different people have their "speculations".  In an episode of the popular TV series, "Sleepy Hollow" they threw out a "probability" of what might have happened. It as totally unbelievable but the show was entertaining. 

This is a well-known unsolved mystery in American history. Evidently, a group of people traveled from England to the New World (America) to settle in a new home. One of the colonists, John White, went back to England to get supplies, etc.

“When White finally arrived back in the colony on 16 August 1590 CE, there was no trace of the colonists in the abandoned stockade except one word carved onto a tree trunk: 'Croatoan'. This was the name of an island some 80 kilometres (50 miles) distant and suggests that the colonists had decided to move there, perhaps for greater safety. White was unable to investigate that island because of storms and was obliged to return to England. One can only imagine his frustration at having to abandon his family. The Roanoke colony then became widely known as the 'Lost Colony'. Nobody has ever discovered the final fate of the Roanoke colonists but the most likely explanation is that they were killed, sooner or later, by Native Americans in revenge for Lane's aggression in 1585 CE.”

“Finally, research by archaeologists in the region, conducted since 2010 CE over a ten year period, has uncovered artefacts which suggest the colonists integrated with the local indigenous tribes.”

What could have possibly happened? Isn't it obvious? They were probably attacked by the natives. Likely, the colonists who tried to resist and defend themselves from an attack were killed AND whoever was left, likely women and children, were taken and assimilated. But since nothing is documented, we can only GUESS!!

In other words, NOBODY KNOWS!!  When I saw this information I was really hoping to know "the rest of the story".  

REF:  Roanoke Colony - World History Encyclopedia  
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Ancient Origins: Scotland's Underground Labyrinth

“Ancient Origins” is a cool website dedicated to publishing information about the discovery of traces of mankind that date back as far as they go back, in the hopes that these findings might shed more light on the evolution of humanity and the truth about myths and legends.  They search all around the world.

Here is an interesting article about an underground labyrinth, an extensive network of underground tunnels, found in Scotland.

Mysterious Underground Labyrinth in Scotland May Have Originally Been a Druid Temple

Image of the labyrinth from the article.

Scotland is loaded with lots of cool stuff that can keep archaeologists and historians busy for centuries to come.  According to this write-up, the tunnels were likely "linked to " ...  Oh my!   :)

Review of Turkish Drama TV Series: Filinta Mustafa (2014-2016)

“Filinta Mustafa” is a Turkish mystery and historical period drama series, set in 19th century Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire. There are 66 episodes and they aired from 2014 to 2016. Netflix was instrumental in bringing this TV show to an American audience.

A Clear Line Drawn Between Good and Evil

This series draws a clear line between good and evil and makes it plain for you to see.

• The good guys are really good. Noble and kindhearted. Fiercely dedicated to the pursuit of justice.

• The bad guys and ladies (there is no discrimination or gender inequality) are extremely bad.

Imagine that this fictional series paints a “true picture” of Sultan Abdülhamid’s era (the Ottoman Empire). If so, then to be a law enforcement officer in 19th century Istanbul, you never get any rest! Not only do you have to deal with the local thugs and scumbags, but you have to wrestle with the foreign criminals from around the world that bring their crime to your city. The English, the French, the Russians, the Americans, the Germans, the Catholics! Oh my!

These people scheme and connive to do everything from murder and robbery to starting wars! Also, we have to throw in corruption among the government officials within the Ottoman Empire. Did I mention the part about young children being kidnapped by a secret organization and trained to become ruthless killers? It’s a good thing Filinta Mustafa has a loyal partner, Blade Ali, who works with him to help fight crime and corruption.

The Shakespearean Lens

The best way to describe this TV series is to compare it to a Shakespeare tragedy. A tragedy written by William Shakespeare can’t be tragic if there aren’t dead bodies lying all over the place! Well! There was one episode where there are so many dead bodies and the crimes which occurred in such a short period of time, the police detective said: “Oy! It’s raining corpses today in Istanbul!”

Yeah. It was that many dead people! More than in a Shakespeare tragedy. You just have to ask: Do evil people ever stop thinking and take a break? Do they ever stop being cruel and ruthless, and just smell the roses? 

Filinta Mustafa is Eye Candy for the Ladies

“Filinta” or “Filinta Mustafa”, is the “first Ottoman crime show of television history”. The main character, Mustafa has been styled as “the Turkish Sherlock”. If you are a loyal fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s master detective Sherlock Holmes, you will probably become a fan of his Turkish look-alike.

If I’m being honest, the ladies would love watching this show, whether or not it was interesting. Why? Because they won’t be able to take their eyes off the main character. Filinta Mustafa (played by Onur Tuna) is strikingly handsome. Pure eye candy! Brings a new meaning to “Turkish delight”. Your eyes get glued to him. You follow him everywhere. You see no reason for them to take the camera off of him. If he’s not in the scene, the ladies are thinking: “Hurry up! Get the camera back on Mustafa!”

Summary Review

This is a made for TV crime-solving series that is genuinely delightful entertainment. In each episode, you look forward to the bad guy getting his comeuppance!! There are many bad guys but the main one who is a constant thorn in Mustafa’s side is “Boris Zaharyas”. This guy put the letter “C” in the words criminal, conniving, callous, and cruel! He has got to be brought down! Serhat Tutumluer plays this part and he plays it to the “T”!!

Take your time watching this series. You will want to savor the moment and patiently wait for when Mustafa finally brings down the curtain on Boris!!

My summary review of this series? Never a dull moment.

Source:  Publish0x