Threptus the former beggar boy has teamed up with Floridius, a soothsayer and seller of sacred chickens. Together they earn a living helping people solve problems and mysteries. In this third book of the series, it is the time of Saturnalia - when all the rules are turned upside down and chaos ensues. Threptus is enjoying the mayhem but the thunder omens are disturbing. Can Threptus help his friend matchmake and avoid the disaster threatened by the thunder omen?

Floridius, freelance soothsayer, is afraid that he has lost his talent for seeing the future. Threptus wants to find some titbits of information that his mentor can use to convince people he still has the gift, but will a poisoned honey cake lead to disaster along the way? (Back cover).

From Morocco to Libya, from Ostia to Surrentum - Caroline Lawrence has travelled widely to give the Roman Mysteries unrivalled authenticity among historical novels. Her research trips have yielded a dazzling array of insights that allow Caroline to vividly re-imagine the ancient world and to bring her characters and stories to life. This book gathers together anecdotes, factual information and advice for children and their families looking to explore exotic locations, as well as offering compelling background to the real world behind the bestselling Roman Mysteries novels.

Between writing her bestselling novels, Caroline Lawrence has penned several short stories, covering incidents alluded to in the novels, but not dramatised at length. This book brings together all the mini-mysteries to date to provide even more coverage of events in the lives of our four detectives during the dangerous, exciting reign of Emperor Titus.