I'm re-reading this old series which I've owned for 25 years. I've also re-read it many times which means I like it. But I feel differently after reading it this time with fresh eyes.

Spoilers/Summary: Our protagonist Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger is an amateur sleuth in ancient Republican Rome. He solves mysteries, murders and political conspiracies. He's a nobleman which means we see ancient Rome from an aristocratic point of view. In a sense, he's a time travel guide giving us a contemporary lowdown to Republican Rome's politics, culture and historical figures from his point of view. I mean that's basically why I like the series, because he's guiding us through Rome as if I time traveled back a few thousand years with a chatty guide.

In this book he infiltrates the Catiline conspiracy which is the historical attempt of Catilina to overthrow the government. I've always enjoyed this book but in the latest reading I find the plot a bit simplistic. Decius infiltrates the conspiracy and acts as an undercover conspirator but the way that he does it is a bit simplistic and overly easy. But this book is only 288 pages and I expect a more realistic rendition would run 3-4 times as long. As it is, it's a light hearted and at times irreverent piece of historical fiction dealing with an actual event.

To use another reviewer's words, I learned a lot about ancient Rome and its culture, events and festivals and enjoyed it!