Today’s book beginning is from “Ovid” by David Wishart. It is the first instalment in a historical detective novel series, set in ancient Rome at the time of Tiberius’ rule. The very contemporary speech of the hero is one of the trademarks of those books, by the way.

I’d been at a party on the Caelian the night before. My tongue tasted like a gladiator’s jockstrap, my head was pounding like Vulcan’s smithy, and if you’d held up a hand, and asked me how many fingers you’d got i’d’ve been hard put to give a definite answer without using an abacus. My usual morning condition, in other words, and hardly the best state for a first meeting with a tough cookie like the Lady Rufia Perilla.