Reddit mentions of Goatsong: A Novel of Ancient Athens (Walled Orchard Series, Vol 1)

Demon of the Air by Simon Levack is a mystery/crime novel set in the early years of the Aztec Empire. It won the Crime Writers' Association New Writing Competition and (I think) a Gold Dagger (?) award?

It's the first in a series of four "Aztec Mysteries" (so far).

I picked up the first title (Demon of the Air) but haven't read it yet. They come highly recommended though.


I'm also a big fan of Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series of historical mysteries set in Ancient Rome.

Dissolution by CJ Sansom is the first of several historical mysteries set in Tudor England. I liked it a lot. I've bought the second title for my Kindle, but haven't read it yet.

Zoo Station is another historical series set in pre WWII Germany. Good fun.

The historical mysteries (or so-called "Night Soldiers" novels) of Alan Furst are simply superb. He is generally considered one of the best historical/espionage writers around and these books have effectively redefined the genre. They are all very loosely linked (effectively stand alone with perhaps one or two subtle references to events in other books), the first of which is the simply wonderful Night Soldiers. Along a similar vein to Downing and Furst, Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir track the progress of washed up German police officer/private investigator Bernie Gunther from just before WWII to the fifties in South America. Very well written and well regarded.

Finally, there are some simply wonderful stand alone historical novels I cannot pass up the chance of recommending. The simply astounding Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is probably one of the best novels I have ever read. It tracks the early career of Thomas Cromwell as he rises from humble origins to being the most powerful man in Henry VIII's England. It justifiably won the 2009 Man Booker Prize. I've just started her A Place of Greater Safety set during the French Revolution and am very much looking forward to it. Mantel is a sublimely talented wordsmith.

Gore Vidal is famous for his historical novels, not least [Julian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_(novel) and more recently [Creation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_(novel). Allan Massie is famous for his historical ("fictional") biographies of Ancient Romans and Thomas Holt has written several historical novels (along with other works), my favourite of which is Goat Song and its sequel, The Walled Orchard (also the name of a subsequent publication of both novels combined).

Should I continue?