John the Lord Chamberlain spends his days counseling Emperor Justinian and passes the small hours of night in conversation with the solemn-eyed little girl depicted in a mosaic on his study wall. He never expected to meet her in a public square or afterwards to find her red-dyed corpse in a subterranean cistern. Had the mysterious woman truly been the model for the mosaic years before as she claimed? Why had she sought John out? Who wanted her dead? The answers seem to lie among the denizens of the smoky streets of Constantinople. Before long John suspects he is attempting to unravel not just a murder but a plot against the empire. Is there such a thing as truth in a place where people live on memories, dreams, and illusions? If so, can John push aside the shadows? The husband and wife team of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer has now published seven mysteries in their John the Lord Chamberlain mystery series. The couple lives and writes in Pennsylvania. http: //home.epix.net/ maywrite