Timo of Corinth

• A Choice of Murder by Peter Vansittart
  Peter Owen, 216 pp, £14.99, June 1992, ISBN 0 7206 0832 5
• Portrait of the Artist’s Wife by Barbara Anderson
  Secker, 309 pp, £13.99, June 1992, ISBN 0 436 20097 X
• Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman
  Macmillan, 255 pp, £14.99, June 1992, ISBN 0 333 57867 8
• Double Down by Tom Kakonis
  Macmillan, 308 pp, £14.99, April 1992, ISBN 0 333 57492 3

Corinth, between two seas, the eye of the world. Timoleon, called Timo, son of Timodemos, younger brother of Timophanes. Timo growing up, butt of Timophanes the violent. ‘Violence? How else did father Zeus win Olympus?’ Only winners have respect in Corinth. Timophanes is a winner. Takes power, announces the Programme, becomes the Despot. Yet in battle flinches. Timo saves his life. No thanks, no promotion. Timo’s loving friend Kallias tells of a plot against the Despot. ‘Timo. They need you. Your turn has come.’ The god Hermes whispers to Timo: ‘Dagger.’ Timo stabs and kills his brother, is exiled from Corinth, spends years in the wilderness. Time alters the past. Gods, too, change ...