The Fatal Scroll: A Herculaneum Mystery
A literary murder mystery about the shady side of the antiquities trade, ancient philosophy, and tech’s utopian promises.
Marcus Sinclair is a history teacher whose life is stuck in neutral when he inherits a papyrus scroll from his antiquarian uncle. The mysterious scroll might contain a lost masterpiece from ancient Rome or perhaps an ancient recipe for personal tranquility, but it’s unreadable unless Marcus can figure out a way to unroll the scroll without destroying it. His quest takes him to Naples, where he befriends a Google software engineer days before the man is found dead. Marcus is interviewed by an investigative journalist, Kristi Grainger, and they find themselves on parallel paths leading to a Neapolitan trafficker in antiquities, a tech mogul obsessed with the distant past, and a clutch of academics searching for the lost library of Herculaneum. In a seaside city that is by turns lush and lethal, Marcus must confront the unraveling of more than a scroll.
This novel is inspired by a real place — the Villa dei Papri, the only library from antiquity to have survived — and coincides with the Vesuvius Challenge, a real-life international competition to decipher Herculaneum scrolls.
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Marcus Sinclair is a history teacher whose life is stuck in neutral when he inherits a papyrus scroll from his antiquarian uncle. The mysterious scroll might contain a lost masterpiece from ancient Rome or perhaps an ancient recipe for personal tranquility, but it’s unreadable unless Marcus can figure out a way to unroll the scroll without destroying it. His quest takes him to Naples, where he befriends a Google software engineer days before the man is found dead. Marcus is interviewed by an investigative journalist, Kristi Grainger, and they find themselves on parallel paths leading to a Neapolitan trafficker in antiquities, a tech mogul obsessed with the distant past, and a clutch of academics searching for the lost library of Herculaneum. In a seaside city that is by turns lush and lethal, Marcus must confront the unraveling of more than a scroll.
This novel is inspired by a real place — the Villa dei Papri, the only library from antiquity to have survived — and coincides with the Vesuvius Challenge, a real-life international competition to decipher Herculaneum scrolls.
The Fatal Scroll: A Herculaneum Mystery
A literary murder mystery about the shady side of the antiquities trade, ancient philosophy, and tech’s utopian promises.
Marcus Sinclair is a history teacher whose life is stuck in neutral when he inherits a papyrus scroll from his antiquarian uncle. The mysterious scroll might contain a lost masterpiece from ancient Rome or perhaps an ancient recipe for personal tranquility, but it’s unreadable unless Marcus can figure out a way to unroll the scroll without destroying it. His quest takes him to Naples, where he befriends a Google software engineer days before the man is found dead. Marcus is interviewed by an investigative journalist, Kristi Grainger, and they find themselves on parallel paths leading to a Neapolitan trafficker in antiquities, a tech mogul obsessed with the distant past, and a clutch of academics searching for the lost library of Herculaneum. In a seaside city that is by turns lush and lethal, Marcus must confront the unraveling of more than a scroll.
This novel is inspired by a real place — the Villa dei Papri, the only library from antiquity to have survived — and coincides with the Vesuvius Challenge, a real-life international competition to decipher Herculaneum scrolls.
Marcus Sinclair is a history teacher whose life is stuck in neutral when he inherits a papyrus scroll from his antiquarian uncle. The mysterious scroll might contain a lost masterpiece from ancient Rome or perhaps an ancient recipe for personal tranquility, but it’s unreadable unless Marcus can figure out a way to unroll the scroll without destroying it. His quest takes him to Naples, where he befriends a Google software engineer days before the man is found dead. Marcus is interviewed by an investigative journalist, Kristi Grainger, and they find themselves on parallel paths leading to a Neapolitan trafficker in antiquities, a tech mogul obsessed with the distant past, and a clutch of academics searching for the lost library of Herculaneum. In a seaside city that is by turns lush and lethal, Marcus must confront the unraveling of more than a scroll.
This novel is inspired by a real place — the Villa dei Papri, the only library from antiquity to have survived — and coincides with the Vesuvius Challenge, a real-life international competition to decipher Herculaneum scrolls.
19.95
In Stock
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1

The Fatal Scroll: A Herculaneum Mystery
240
The Fatal Scroll: A Herculaneum Mystery
240Paperback(No Edition)
$19.95
19.95
In Stock
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781770418400 |
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Publisher: | ECW Press |
Publication date: | 05/06/2025 |
Series: | A Herculaneum Mystery , #1 |
Edition description: | No Edition |
Pages: | 240 |
Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d) |
About the Author
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