Steven Saylor Detective writer

Steven Saylor is an American author who was educated at the University of Texas. He writes historical novels about ancient Rome and a series of detective novels set in the time of Julius Caesar. The detective is Gordianus the Finder. Steven is gay and married. He has also written a couple of modern novels.

Beds and Blue Jeans by Nadine Sutton

This story is available on Amazon. It is a modern story of country music life in Nashville, about a young bar singer called Sam who plays for tips and makes a living at it. He and his girlfriend have had a baby, and their relationship is not going well. Sam finds himself tempted by fans in the bars, but he feels a bit guilty about it, and wonders if he can make his relationship work.

Mystical Paths VI

Perry reveals that he has a gun and tells Rachel and Nick that he had been in love with Christian but that Christian had rejected him. But before he can shoot them Rachel hits him on the head and klls him. She is horrified by what she has done, and Lewis turns up to save the day. He is angry with Nick for getting her involved in this situation and decides to cover up the crime for her sake. Nick goes along with it and they get away with it. Its adjudged that Perry was killed by a hitchhiker. However Rachel is traumatised by the horrible experience and does not want to see Nick ever again. Chastened, Nicholas accepts that he's made a lot of dreadful mistakes, and he accepts Lewis as his mentor. He marries Rosalind but the marriage has its ups and downs. He looks after Jon till his death and goes on with the ministry of healing.

Mystical Paths Part V

Nick realises that Lewis is an expert on the paranormal and that he can help him to cope with his problems... just as Cuthbert Darcy was a mentor to Jon. He and Lewis have long talks and Nick begins to understand that while his father is a wonderful man in many ways, he has his faults, and one of them is that he cannot really cope with family life. Lewis advises him that he may well be suited to a ministry of healing.. that just because Jon did not make a success of it does not mean that he will be a failure at it. Nicholas also has to admit that his sexual relationships have been very selfish and wrong minded, using working class girls to satisfy his needs while dating posh girls. He begins to wonder if his decision to investigate Christian's death was to try and avoid his own doubts about whether he should be ordained or not, and what field to work in. However he and Lewis still decide to look into his death. They visit London and see Perry Palmer, Christian's best friend who had taken him sailing and was on the boat when he was washed overboard. Perry is a quiet rather dull man who works in the Foreign office and there are rumours that he might have an intelligence job. When they call on him, Perry seems very stressed out. Lewis tries to approach him tactfully but Nick pushes him and puts Perry on his guard. Annoyed, Lewis takes Nick back to his own home in Starmouth, to keep him quiet, and he introduces him to his daughter Rachel who is a beautiful languages student. Nick is very attracted to her. He persuades Rachel to work with him to catch a murderer. Perry arrives in Starmouth and makes it clear that he was involved in Christian's death, and Nick guesses that the body is hidden in the coal cellar of Perry's flat.

Mystical Paths Part IV

Nicholas then starts to think about how Christian might have gotten out of the life he was leading... and comes up with the idea that (given his religious background) he could have decided to join the Fordite Monks, under an assumed name. He had studied theology, and although he had earlier professed to be an agnostic, Nick thinks that he might have changed his mind as he found that his worldly success did not satisfy him. He could have become a monk, gotten away from the cloying attentions of women, and led a life of scholarship in a monastery. Nick goes back to his father's monastery to pursue the investigation but then he has a weird experience, believing that he saw a monk in the garden who resembled Christian.. who then disappeared. He gets frightened by this apparent supernatural experience and the Prior sends for a local expert in the paranormal, to help calm him down. He meets Lewis Hall.

Mystical Paths Part III

Nick talks to Katie alone and she tells him that the marriage was not that happy. Christian found her boring after the initial romance had faded, and he became involved with Marina Markhampton. He was not having sex with her because Marina did not like sex, but she kept him amused and happy and she and Katie were fond of each other. Katie can't bear to think that Christian might have committed suicide but she does not quite believe he died in an accident. In their emotional conversation, Nick finds himself trying to console Katie by making love to her. Afterwards he feels disgusted with himself and leaves. Marina takes Katie home and gets her into a nursing home. Nick goes on with his investigation, talking to Christian's brothers, James and Norman. He also talks to Charley Ashworth, Charles' son who is now a curate in a rural parish, and finds to his shock that Christian had had a brief affair with Nick's own half brother Martin, who is a gay actor. He pursues his brother who does not want to talk about it but eventually admits that he was in love for a time with Christian but that Christian ended the affair brutally. He thinks that Christian was a self hating homosexual. Nick is not so sure but as they discuss things, he begins to wonder if Christian had indeed faked his own death, with the help of his boating friend Perry, who worked in the Civil service... This begins to seem plausible that Christian, bored with his life and his marriage but lacking the courage to make an open break, had decided to get out of the rat race by disappearing.

Mystical Paths Part II

Nick is at a loose end. He had decided to go on a gap year before Theological College. So he wen to Africa to work for a Christian organisation. That did not work out and he came home to work in a charity in Starmouth. That too did not work out and Nick went on to Theological college and is now waiting to be ordained. He is a bit bored, and although he feels guilty about it, he engages in a sex life.. though he knows his father would disapprove strongly. He goes on dates with nice upper class girls, but have his flings with working class girls. In hopes of making himself more respectable, prior to ordination he gets engaged to Rosalind Maitland, a nice upper class girl, who does flower arranging. He is very unsure about her and this is why when Marina tells him about Katie, he decides to try and help her. He talks to Katie and finds that she is doing heroin, and that she's a complete mess, and perhaps the only way to bring her closure is by finding out whether CHristian died by accident or might have committed suicide.