A Gladiator's Tale

Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries, Book 2

By: Ashley Gardner, Jennifer Ashley

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

AD 63.

Leonidas’s former trainer, Aemil, asks him to look into the disappearances of gladiators from his ludus. Leonidas and Cassia investigate, and soon uncover gruesome murders involving some of the wealthiest citizens of Rome.

Leonidas pits his skills against an unknown killer who hunts gladiators from the back lanes of the Subura to prestigious villas atop Rome’s hills. He and Cassia must succeed in uncovering the murderer’s identity before Nero grows impatient and makes Leonidas pay for the chaos the killer has rained down upon his city.

©2021 Ashley Gardner / Jennifer Ashley (P)2021 Ashley Gardner / Jennifer Ashley

Loved every word!Hope for more books in the series

I loved every word in this clever story. The first in the series was equally good. I hope there will soon be more books in the series from this prolific author.

only one thing wrong. . . .

Superb plotting; interesting mystery, with diverse distractions and clues; wonderful characters. Only one thing wrong: this is the second (and last) book in a series.

Another excellent series by Ashley Gardner

I first discovered Ashley Gardner in my search for more of her books after enjoying her shifter series (written as Jennifer Ashley). The now has three historical series going. All three are excellent. Her depiction of the time, culture, people and places is engaging. The ensemble of characters she creates is fascinating and her development of the leading characters is excellent. I enjoy learning more about them with each novel as both their history and transformation are revealed. The Gladiator series is her latest addition and I am enjoying learning about the Roman culture through the mystery component while at the same time I love the development of the relationships. There’s no “instant love” here. No fake angst, no contrived suffering - but then this is Rome under Nero so who needs fake or contrived right?! Still all her characters behave as reasoning adults with character even if it is twisted.