Rick R. Leetch

Balbinus Pius, the most notorious gangster in Emperor Vespasian's Rome, has been convicted of a capital crime at last. A quirk of Roman law, however, allows citizens condemned to death "time to depart" and find exile outside the empire. Now, as every hoodlum in Rome scrambles to take over Balbinus' operations, private eye Marcus Didius Falco has to deal with an unprecedented wave of crime - and the sneaking suspicion that Balbinus' exile may not really be so permanent after all.

When the hunt for the 39 clues leads 14-year-old Amy Cahill and her younger brother, Dan, to Japan, their only chance to find the third Clue seems to lie with their unreliable uncle, Alistair Oh. Will they be foolish enough to make an alliance? With a Clue on the line, Amy and Dan might not have a choice. But in the Cahill family, trusting your relatives can get you killed.