The husband and wife team of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer had published several short John the Eunuch detections in mystery anthologies and in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine prior to 1999's highly acclaimed first full length novel, One for Sorrow. Their protagonist's adventures continued in Two For Joy (2000), a Glyph Award winner in the Best Mystery category. Two For Joy also gained an Honorable Mention in the Glyph Best Book Award list and in addition was a finalist for the IPPY Best Mystery Award. Three For A Letter (2001) and Four For A Boy (2003) followed. In June 2003 the American Library Association's Booklist Magazine named the John the Eunuch novels as one of its four Best Little Known Series.

The next John the Eunuch story will appear in Mike Ashley's The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits (Carroll & Graf edition, it's already out in the UK from Constable Robinson). It's called The Finger of Aphrodite and is set in besieged Rome, being another locked room story.

Simon Prebble has worked extensively on British and American television as both actor and narrator.