A review by escan
Desaparecido em Massília by Steven Saylor

4.0

I started Last Seen in Massilia... tentatively. I'd felt that the previous book in the series, [b:Rubicon|102711|Rubicon (Roma Sub Rosa, #7)|Steven Saylor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1171486247l/102711._SY75_.jpg|2804176], had set the scene for a darker and edgier second half to the series, and goodness me, I was right! I've never come across a series so capable of leaving me achingly nostalgic for the good old days, when Gordianus was a young man solving individual mysteries for anyone who'd pay and slowly building a family of his own. It's probably something to do with the sheer number of books and the length of the timeskips!

Family lies at the heart of Last Seen in Massilia - Gordianus comes to the city to find news of his younger son, Meto, revealed in Rubicon to be

Spoiler

a spy for Caesar.

An anonymous note sent to his house in Rome has informed Gordianus that Meto is dead, but he's not going to give up on his son that easily, and so he travels to Massilia with his son-in-law to do what he does best and find the truth about Meto's fate. Gordianus' anxiety, grief, and - eventually - anger permeate the entire novel, and for me this made it absolutely impossible to put down: I read the last 85% of it in one sitting between 11:30 pm and 2:30 am.

The

Spoiler

break between Gordianus and Meto

at the end of the novel was extremely painful, and I really hope that it's resolved within a couple of books!