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In the ruthless world of 8th-century Constantinople, where alliances shift like the tides and betrayal lurks behind every gilded door, Irini of Athens fights to secure her place as Empress of the Byzantine Empire. But power comes at a deadly cost.
Surrounded by enemies within her own palace-her scheming mother-in-law, five treacherous step-brothers, and a husband who sees her as a threat-Irini knows that survival is not guaranteed. With childbirth looming, she summons the only person she can trust: Abbess Thekla, the knife-wielding woman who owes her a life debt. But Thekla soon realizes that Irini's ambitions reach far beyond being a dutiful wife and mother-she craves absolute power, and she will stop at nothing to seize it.
As blood stains the marble halls of the Great Palace, Thekla must navigate a web of intrigue, deception, and vengeance. Can she survive Irini's unrelenting thirst for dominance, or will she become just another casualty in the empress's ruthless ascent? Loyalties will be tested. Betrayals will be paid in blood. The empire will never be the same.
Poison is a Woman's Weapon is the second book in the thrilling Empress Irini Serie that chronicles the dramatic ascent of Irini of Athens to become Empress of the Byzantine Empire.
About the author
Janet McGiffin divides her time between her apartment in Manhattan, her family in Washington State, and her friends in Athens, Greece. She was born in Fairfield, Iowa into a newspaper family and learned to write copy as a teenager by writing obituaries for the Ellensburg Daily Record in Washington state. After university, she worked for the Milwaukee Health Department where she gained first-hand knowledge for her best-selling mystery series published by Fawcett Press, NY, featuring Doctor Maxine St. Clair, an ER doctor in an inner-city hospital. She worked as a press officer for the Washington state senate, then moved to Athens, Greece where she wrote grant proposals for small non-profit women's organizations in Mediterranean countries. She also wrote a humor column for the Athens News newspaper with field archaeologist Adrian Vrettos, wrote two English language easy readers for Cambridge University Press, UK, and a series of hiking articles for greecetravel.com. She researched her Byzantine-era Empress Irini Series through extensive travel in Greece, followed by six months of research at the Bodleian libraries in Oxford, England. She enjoys hiking in Greece, England, Wales, and Scotland.
