In 100 AD, good government under Trajan Caesar promises well for the Roman settlers in the frontier province of Britannia. Aurelia Marcella's inn on the road to York is busy. But one day two unusual events occur: a soldier is murdered in his bed at the inn, and a letter arrives from Isurium, a small fort north of the city. Her cousin, Jovina, invites Aurelia to a midsummer birthday party. But the missive ends with plea for help, referring to "danger in the wind." The murdered soldier also bore a message indicating violence would erupt at the very same fort on the day of the party.

Arriving at Isurium, Aurelia finds Jovina and her family caught in a tangled web of greed, love, intrigue, and death. When violence engulfs the district, Aurelia is thrust into peril from enemies engaged in an anti-Roman plot and from family members bent on agendas of their own....

Jane Finnis grew up in Yorkshire, northern England. For twenty years she lived and worked in London as a radio producer and reporter, and as a computer programmer, but then she moved back to Yorkshire, with her husband Richard. Now they live near the East Yorkshire coast. www.janefinnis.com

A fine summer in 100 AD and good government under Trajan Caesar promise well for the Roman settlers in the frontier province of Britannia. Aurelia Marcella runs a mansio on a busy road to York. June is always busy, but one day two unusual events occur: a soldier is murdered in his bed at the inn, and a letter arrives from Isurium, a small fort north of the city. It is from a cousin, Jovina, inviting Aurelia to a midsummer birthday party. But the missive also reads as a plea for help, referring to "danger in the wind." The murdered soldier also bore a message, locked in Aurelia's strongbox, indicating violence would erupt at the very same fort on the day of the party. At Isurium, Aurelia finds Jovina and her drunken husband and unruly children caught in a tangled web of greed, love, intrigue, and death. When violence engulfs the district, Aurelia suddenly finds herself in peril from enemies engaged in an anti- Roman plot and from family members bent on misguided or evil agendas of their own. This is the 4th in a series.