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The Thieves of OstiaCaroline Lawrence
The Thieves of Ostia
by Caroline Lawrence
In the Roman port of Ostia, someone is killing the neighbourhood dogs. Flavia and three friends set out to find who, and why.
A story about children, adventurous and wry in tone. We would put it with children of 8–11, and at a reading age of about 9 for reading alone.
Worth knowing before you buy
- An animal dies
- Mild peril
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Part of a series
This is book 1 of the The Roman Mysteries series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.
Our take on this book
In the Roman port of Ostia in AD 79, someone is cutting the heads off the neighbourhood watchdogs, and four children — a sea-captain's daughter, a Jewish boy, an enslaved African girl and a mute beggar boy — set out to find out who and why. Caroline Lawrence trained as a classicist, and the Roman detail is woven in so naturally you learn it without noticing: the baths, the funerals, the food, the shape of a Roman house. The mystery is a real one, properly clued, and the four detectives are a genuinely diverse and well-drawn team whose differences matter to how they solve it. There is peril and the death of animals, which upsets some readers, so it suits a child who can take a bit of edge with their history. For an eight- to eleven-year-old who likes a detective story, this opens a long, satisfying series set in the ancient world.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
CogheartPeter Bunzl
MoonlocketPeter Bunzl
Small Change for StuartLissa Evans
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.