Returning, whether it means going back or giving back, is never easy, at least not in this volume of three Miriam bat Isaac novelettes:

In the first story, "The Bodyguard," Miriam's twin brother returns from the dead to serve as a bodyguard to the son of a legionnaire.

In the second story, "The Beggar," an old man disguised as a matronly beggar, returns to Alexandria to find the lovechild he left behind.

And in the third story, "The Black Pearl," Miriam sails to Ephesus to return the city's black pearl, only to have it disappear.

If, like Miriam, you thrive on uncovering the guilty longings, secrets, lies, and evil deeds of others, then let her take you through the shrill parade of macabre creatures she confronts in these stories.