Gang-plagued streets, politicians plotting each other's downfall, poverty and homelessness existing side-by-side with manifest wealth-no, this isn't modern day Washington D.C., but rather 6th-Century Constantinople. After a philanthropist is murdered in the city's Great Church, where he's gone too visit a controversial statue of Christ, John the Eunuch, Lord Chamberlin to Byzantine Emperor Justinian the First, is assigned to ferret out the killer and maybe also to act the role of a spy in a web of rivalries involving the current and future emperors.

Four for a Boy (John the Eunuch Mysteries)

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Reed, Mary

Mayer, Eric

Mystery

UNKNO

When John discovers the corpse of a girl who looks just like one pictured in a mosaic on his study wall, he finds himself unraveling not just a murder but also a plot against the empire.

Seven for a Secret: Library Edition

Blackstone Pub

In Byzantium, the capital of the 6th century Roman Empire, annual games are held to celebrate the founding of the city. Several courtiers, obliged by office to attend, idly watch the chariot races and the bear baiting from the imperial box. Suddenly they - and the crowd - are electrified as a magnificent bull surges into the arena. Those who worship Mithra make quiet reverance to the sacred animal while a trio of bull leapers enters in his wake. John, Lord Chamberlain to the Christian Emperor, is among those surprised into breathing tribute. He soon receives a further shock: surely the lovely young girl vaulting the beast had once been his lover. Later, making his way home through the thronged streets, John stumbles over the body of his friend Leukos, Keeper of the Plate. There are plenty of witnesses: an Egyptian brothel keeper, a young mason working on the Church of the Holy Wisdom, a mad stylite, a henpecked innkeeper, and the bull leapers from Crete. Now duty and guilt demand that John discover the murderer....

One for Sorrow (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries, 1)

Literature & Fiction

United States

Poisoned Pen Press

548 CE, Constantinople. Emperor Justinian, distraught from the death of his wife, Empress Theodora, has exiled his longtime aide, John, the Lord Chamberlain. At the Church of the Holy Apostles, an Egyptian magician tries to raise the empress from the dead. As the unholy ceremony explodes into chaos, supposed demons vanish into the darkness with one of the city's holiest relics. Felix, Captain of the Palace Guard, is selected as John's successor and charged with finding the missing relic. But before Felix's investigation even begins, someone deposits a corpse at his house. A botched attempt to dispose of the body leaves Felix looking suspect. To make matters worse, it seems as if half the city wants to possess the relic, see Felix dead - or both. If only Felix's friend, the shrewd John, were still in the city, but the former Lord Chamberlain has already sailed for Greece. Now Felix enters a fight for his very survival, a crucible in which he cannot cannot tell friend from foe - or worldly dangers from the supernatural.

Ten for Dying (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries, 10)

Murder in Megara (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries)

John, former Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian, has been exiled from Constantinople to a rustic estate John has long owned in Greece, not far from where he grew up. But exile proves no escape from mystery and mayhem. The residents of nearby Megara make it plain John and his family are unwelcome intruders. His overseer proves corrupt. What of the other staff - and his neighbors? Before long, John finds himself accused of blasphemy and murder. Now a powerless outsider, he's on his own, investigating and annoyingly hampered by the ruthless and antagonistic City Defender who serves Megara as both law enforcer and judge. Plus there's that corrupt estate overseer, a shady pig farmer, a servant's unwelcome suitor, a wealthy merchant who spends part of his time as a cave-dwelling hermit, and the criminals and cutthroats populating such a seedy port as Megara. Complicating matters further are two childhood friends whose lives have taken very different paths, plus the stepfather John hated. John realizes that in Megara, the solution to murder does not lie in the dark alleys where previous investigations have taken him, but in a far more dangerous place - his own past. Can he find his way out of the labyrinth of lies and danger into which he has been thrust before disaster strikes and exile turns into execution?

Murder in Megara (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries, 11)

John, former Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian, has been exiled from Constantinople to a rustic estate John has long owned in Greece, not far from where he grew up. But exile proves no escape from mystery and mayhem. The residents of nearby Megara make it plain John and his family are unwelcome intruders. His overseer proves corrupt. What of the other staff - and his neighbors? Before long, John finds himself accused of blasphemy and murder. Now a powerless outsider, he's on his own, investigating and annoyingly hampered by the ruthless and antagonistic City Defender who serves Megara as both law enforcer and judge. Plus there's that corrupt estate overseer, a shady pig farmer, a servant's unwelcome suitor, a wealthy merchant who spends part of his time as a cave-dwelling hermit, and the criminals and cutthroats populating such a seedy port as Megara. Complicating matters further are two childhood friends whose lives have taken very different paths, plus the stepfather John hated. John realizes that in Megara, the solution to murder does not lie in the dark alleys where previous investigations have taken him, but in a far more dangerous place - his own past. Can he find his way out of the labyrinth of lies and danger into which he has been thrust before disaster strikes and exile turns into execution?

Nominee, Bruce Alexander History Mystery Award Best Little Known Series, Booklist
 It's unnaturally cold in Constantinople this winter of 525. The Emperor Justin is dying, and Theodora, the ambitious former actress his gravely ill successor Justinian intends to marry, is making demands in the imperial court.
 When a wealthy philanthropist is killed in broad daylight in the Great Church, it isn't entirely surprising that Justinian engages an anonymous young slave called John to investigate what many believe could be a conspiracy aimed at swaying the succession. Suspects are many among those whose lives might be touched by an emperor: senators, churchmen, wealthy businessmen, even laborers, beggars, and prostitutes.
 In this prequel to the series, John takes his first dangerous steps along the path toward freedom from slavery and his eventual appointment as Lord Chamberlain.

Four for a Boy: A John the Eunuch Mystery

Winner, Glyph Award for Best Book Series Nominee, Bruce Alexander History Mystery Award
 In 542, Peter, John the Lord Chamberlain's elderly servant, claims a heavenly visitor revealed a murder to him. It transpires that Peter's old army friend has indeed been stabbed, but then John discovers that Gregory was not what he appeared to be.
 John's quest for the truth leads him to churchmen and whores, lawyers and bear trainers. Suspects include a dealer in dubious antiquities, a resourceful bookseller, a court poet fixated on bereavement, and a holy fool who outrages the city by dancing with the dead and invading the empress' private bath....

Five for Silver: A John the Eunuch Mystery

Contemporary

Why are sheep in a remote Egyptian village cutting their own throats?...That's the mystery Emperor Justinian in-explicably sends his Lord Chamberlain John the Eunuch to solve, at the very time John desperately needs to clear himself of accusations he murdered a senator in the Hippodrome. Mehenopolis, a pilgrim destination thanks to its ancient shrine to a snake deity as well as the home of the late sheep, is nearly as byzantine in its ways and undercurrents as Constantinople. Among suspicious characters John encounters are a pretentious local landowner battling a self-styled magician for control of the lucrative shrine, an exiled heretical cleric, an itinerant bee-keeper, and a disgraced charioteer. Meanwhile, in Constantinople, John's good friend Anatolius does his best to trace the senator's murderer. At stake are not only John's honor and his head, but also the family with whom he recently reunited, now in danger of being broken apart or worse.

Six for Gold (John the Eunuch Mysteries)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mayer, Eric. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mayer, Eric

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mayer, Eric. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Four for a Boy (John the Eunuch Mysteries)

Seven for a Secret: Library Edition

One for Sorrow (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries, 1)

Ten for Dying (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries, 10)

Ten for Dying (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries, 10)

Murder in Megara (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries, 11)

Murder in Megara (John, the Lord Chamberlain Mysteries, 11)

Four for a Boy: A John the Eunuch Mystery

Five for Silver: A John the Eunuch Mystery

Six for Gold (John the Eunuch Mysteries)