When the Magistrate of the Rhakotis District calls on Heron of Alexandria - the greatest inventor the city has ever known - to help him solve a series of crimes, he learns the unexpected value of the inventor's unique knowledge.

While the "Alexandrian Saga" books detail the clash of empires over technologies unleashed from the Temples never-ending pursuit of coin, these five tales are from a quieter - and earlier - time when Heron helped her friend, the Magistrate of the Rhakotis District, solve strange and varied crimes.

Come along and learn how numerologists court disaster, or how the value of gold can be a fickle thing, or that the ichor of the gods can bring danger and love, or that madness is a perfectly sane business venture, or in the end that curses can bring blessings to those patient enough to wait.

Come along and witness how strange a place the world is, and in that same breath, how very not...