Product Description
"Delectably funny...A novel that gives new meaning to the term 'classic detective fiction.'"
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
In 70 A.D. in ancient Rome, no one is a saint. Or so thinks Marcus Didius Falco, a private investigator first introduced in the award-winning SILVER PIGS, who's trying to prevent a murder before it happens. When every man a woman marries dies, Falco knows there's smoke and fire--and he'll stop at nothing to untangle the Gordion knot that proves it.


From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Venus in Copper - BBC Full Cast Production
I am a big fan of Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco detective stories.He is an Informer (private detective) who periodically gets assignments from the Emperor Vespasian (around 70 BC).These are great fun, light hearted, and give you a real feel for what it must have been to live in Rome during the Roman Empire.His problems center around the fact that he is in a sleezy business, in love with and marries a Senator's daughter and has to come up from his Plebian status to be worthy of her.On top of that he has to contend with all his crazy family members.

Currently (2010), Lindsey Davis has written 20 Falco mysteries.Like all story series it helps to know the preceding stories (The Silver Pigs and Shadows in Bronze) to completely understand the Venus in Copper.

The BBC Birmingham has done the first 4 stories and the voices chosen are well suited to the characters. The plot encompases a number of murders and lots of blind alleys he finds himself in as he tries to unravel the mystery.The side story involves the Emperor's son Titus lusting over Falco's sweetheart, the Senators daughter. All in all it is a fun way to spend 3 hours.

Another Marcus Didius Falco winner
It's been a long time since I've been this involved in a series of mystery novels. The combination of complex, eccentric characters, living their daily lives in ancient Rome, piled into well crafted whodunit stories, has me captivated every time I delve into another volume in the series.

Not Free SF Reader
Bail, bashings and banquet.


Falco is in so much trouble he is in the slammer, thanks to the machinations of his rival Anacrites.His family and friends also have problems with a nasty landlord.

The Emperor, needing some work done, offers and solution, and Falco makes a favorable impression on his younger relatives, as well.

A continuation of the entertaining hijinks in previous books, and you won't be disappointed with this one.

Venus in Copper
This is my favorite of all the Falco books.I love the plot, especially the MO of the murderer, I love plebian Marcus' ongoing relationship with patrician Helena Justina, but most especially I love the storyline involving Titus, the turbot, Marcus' brother's shield, and the Praetorian Guard.Read it and weep, because you'll be laughing hard enough to.

Snakes Alive
This is the third novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth. A series of books that have become hugely popular, so much so that the author is now at the forefront of historical mystery writers. It was probably a stroke of genius on her part to have novels that are extremely well researched and contain all the elementsthat would be and should be found inRome in AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop. In this the third novel Falco is starting to feel like an old friend.

Falco is trying to live down the indignity of being released from jail with the help of his mother of all people and he has accepted a case from some rich private clients. He is also in the middle of trying to entice his girlfriend Helena Justina to come and live with him, though why a senator's daughter, especially one who has just lost their baby, would wish to live in the hovel he calls home is anybody's guess.

When the client Falco is supposedly protecting dies, he is immediately re-hired by none other than the chief suspect. The crux of the matter is that Falco must find and expose a woman, a fortune hunter, who has lost more husbands to accidents than it can be believed possible.

Falco has more than a little excitement during the investigation, including a brush with a female contortionist who has a very interesting snake act. He also has the tremendous honour, or otherwise of a "friendly" visit from Titus Caesar himself, right in the middle of Falco attempting to cook a huge turbot without the aid of every chef's must have, a fish kettle. ... Read more

Product Description
Falco returns for the twelfth time and ventures into thegreedy and vengeful world of money and publishing. When wealthy bankerand publisher Chrysippus is found dead in his library, everyone issuspected--from his money-loving widow to Falco himself. The Romansleuth must first prove his own innocence before he can set out intothe crowded streets of Emperor Vespasian's metropolis to track downthe killer. Eventually, Falco realizes that he must navigate his waythrough a maze of deceit, corruption, and sexual liasons in order toarrive at the truth. As he cleverly sorts through the evidence,another body is discovered, and Falco must quickly identify theculprit--or it may be his body they find next.Amazon.com Review
Marcus Didius Falco, Lindsey Davis's clever private informer,passes a hot Roman summer tracking down the killer of a Greek banker and publisher. Was the killer one of Aurelius Chrysippus'sstable of writers, dissatisfied with the patron's lack of enthusiasm forhis latest opus or resentful about the humiliating terms of hiscontract? Or was Chrysippus's bloody death connected to financialshenanigans at the Aurelian Bank? Commissioned to investigate themurder by his friend Petronius Longus, Falco finds himself in the middleof a case with clues that may lie in the fragments of a manuscript found atthe murder scene--or maybe in the banking records someone seems willingto kill to keep secret. At the same time, Falco's sorting out a thornyfamily matter concerning his mother and his sister, both of whom seeminordinately fond of an imperial spy Falco has good reason to distrust.And if that's not enough, he's also being taken to the cleaners by thecontractors his wife Helena Justina has engaged to renovate their newhome.

As usual, Davis brings first century Rome to glorious life, andsubtly drives home the striking parallels between ancient andcontemporary business, politics, and family life. In the 12th book ofin this increasingly popular series, she makes the most of everyopportunity for satire and spins a lively yarn guaranteed to make thereader laugh out loud and clamor for more. Fortunately, there's a solidbacklist to entertain readers encountering Falco for the first time(One Virgin TooMany, Two for theLions). --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Another Good One
I love Falco! This is one of the good ones - set in Rome and involves both Roman banking and writing/bookselling. Lots of good research went into this one.

Verbose and far too long
What's annoying in this novel is the basically modern theme, modern considerations on crime and society, modern talking in a supposed Rome under the Flavians. coupled with"There's a body in the library!", the stalest premise of english whodunits. Where is the flavor of antiquity? And how can one justify the homophobic slur at Maecenas in a Rome where "greek love" was common, and only being overtly passive was frowned upon?
Steven Saylor's Gordianus the Finder's series is better rooted in history, and less plagued by a plethora of relatives.

Not Free SF Reader
Publishing peril.


Falco is still toiling away till late hours at times working on his writing, and here he falls in with a banker/publishers that plays up to struggling writers.

Falco gets in trouble again when a man dies via a literary blunt implement, and with Petronius' help he gets to investigate and find out what is going on.

Like Last Act In Palmyra, the whole publishing thing may be of little interest to some, and this does detract a bit in general from the book making this one of the lesser entries in this series.

Falco The Poet
This is the twelfth novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth in Rome at the time of Vespasian. A series of books that have become hugely popular, so much so that the author is now at the forefront of historical mystery writers. It was probably a stroke of genius on her part to have novels that are extremely well researched and contain all the elementsthat would be and should be found inthe Roman world of circa AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop.

This book sees Falco delving into the world of literary jealousies and everything that goes with them. Writers block, jealousy and fraud is just scratching the surface. He discovers that there are a series of puzzling links to the Aurelian Bank and finds out the business is owned by Chrysippus.

Chrysippus is a man that Falco knows only too well, because a little private recital of Falco's poetry had recently been gate crashed by Aurelius Chrysippus, a scriptorium owner and some of his literary friends and the following day Chrysippus offers to publish Falco's poems.

When the body of the scriptorium owner is found Petro, long time friend of Falco and the Vigil's enquiry officer, commissions Falco to investigate the murder, while at the same time trying not to pull his leg too hard regarding his poetic prowess.

A Bit of a Disappointment...
I remember when I first discovered this series.I couldn't get enough of Falco!This was about two years ago.I bought this book and it has sat on my shelf for quite awhile;getting lost in the mounds of books I need to read.This weekend I decided to pull it out and re-visit ancient Rome.This book was a bit of a disappointment.I began to get bored at some point and question why I had liked this series.The plot just meandered around.It seemed unreal to me that Falco just "forgot" to check up on some basic facts and alibis.Falco and Lindsey Davis both seemed really tired.I am not giving up on the series...I hope to read more...I just hope that they are a little livelier.Hopefully this will be the only Dud in the bunch. I gave this three stars because I do love Falco and the gang so much, and hope does spring eternal... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Falco 12: of poetry, bankers, builders, and murder

This is the twelfth in a series of excellent detective stories set in Vespasian's Roman Empire and featuring the informer Marcus Didius Falco. Informers in ancient Rome were something between a private detective and a government spy.

The full Falco series, in chronological order, consists at the moment of:

1) The Silver Pigs
2) Shadows in Bronze
3) Venus in Copper
4) The Iron Hand of Mars
5) Poseidon's Gold
6) Last Act in Palmyra
7) Time to Depart
8) A Dying Light in Corduba
9) Three Hands in the Fountain
10) Two for the Lions
11) One Virgin Too Many
12) Ode to a Banker
13) A Body in the Bath house
14) The Jupiter Myth
15) The Accusers
16) Scandal taks a Holiday
17) See Delphi and Die
18) Saturnalia

This book begins in July AD74. Falco and his partner, senator's daughter Helena Justina, are in the process of rebuilding the bathhouse of their new home, and having dire trouble with incompetent builders. (Some things are eternal.) Meanwhile Falco gets asked to take part in a joint poetry reading with his old acquaintance Senator Rutilicus Gallicus. Domitian, the future emperor, attends the reading. The weathly greek banker and Patron of the Arts, Aurelius Chrysippus, initially offers to sponsor the publication of Falco's work. They have harsh words about the terms - and then Chrysippus is found murdered. To prove his own innocence Falco has to establish who really killed him ...

One of the most interesting aspects of this book is that, I think uniquely in the series, one passage refers to the events in the past tense and clearly infers that the story of this book is being told or written some twenty years later, e.g. about 94 AD. This came as rather a surprise to me because it implies that Falco survives the reign of Domitian Caesar as Emperor. Falco fell foul of Domitian in an earlier book and has so far avoided fatal consequences from this because he holds evidence incriminating Domitian in murder and treason. Which is fine while Domitian's father Vespasian and elder brother Titus are still around, but may put Falco in even greater danger from about 80 AD ...

There were a very large number of people for whom being on the wrong side of Domitian during his reign had fatal consequences, so there may be an interesting future volume about how Falco survives this period of history. Leaving Rome for the most remote corner of the then known world sounds like a good bet, though perhaps the friendships with Rutilicus Gallicus and others established in this book may also give Falco a few options on how to avoid a starring role in the arena.


I initially tried this series because I had enjoyed the "Cadfael" mediaeval detective stories by Ellis Peters. Where Cadfael is excellent, Falco is brilliant. Ellis Peters herself (or to use her real name, Edith Pargeter) said of the early books of the series, 'Lindsey Davis continues her exploration of Vespasian's Rome and Marcus Didius Falco's Italy with the same wit and gusto that made "The Silver Pigs" such a dazzling debut and her rueful, self-deprecating hero so irresistibly likeable.'

Funny, exciting, and based on a painstaking effort to re-create the world of the early Roman empire between 70 and 76 AD.

If you have met and enjoyed either the Cadfael or Thraxas series, this is even better.

It isn't absolutely essential to read these stories in sequence, as the mysteries Falco is trying to solve are all self-contained stories and each book can stand on its own. Having said that, there is some ongoing development of characters and relationships and I think reading them in the right order does improve the experience. I can warmly recommend all eighteen books in the series to date. ... Read more

Product Description
Davis' 14th novel in the Marcus Didius Falco series is a noir tale of gangsters, gladiators, and love. For Falco, a relaxed visit to Helena's relatives in Britain turns serious at the scene of a downtown murder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Myth Adventures in Old Londin(ium)
First, the positive, Lindsey Davis has skillfully worked new discoveries of London in the time of Roman occupation into the fabric of an interesting plot centering on corruption and organized criminal enforcers.The author injects some humor by allowing the reader to contrast the London of today with the dingy alleys of drab Londinium.

The bad news is that this novel is written well below Davis's usual standard with clumps of text in clumsy declarative sentences that are couched in passive construction.Even a fight scene in the arena, with criminals facing a band of female gladiators, is written in this flat colorless style. Passages of excellent writing would engage my interest and then suddenly I would be wading through dead prose as if the author was just going through the motions.It was like reading an outline with no life given to the characters and no urgency in the plot. I think the writer may lose some interest when her hero Marcus Didius Falco is working outside of Rome.I know I do. I almost gave this only two stars.

Unexpected pleasures
I picked up my first Marcus Didius Falco novel when I wanted a tape to listen to while I drove or walked, and besides the plot, a couple of things drew me to this "reading" experience enough that I checked out this novel and two others.

First, I enjoyed hearing about what life was like in the Roman empire, though I now want to read about actual life in the Roman empire (whether in Rome, Hispania, or Londinium, the only places I've read about so far), sinceI don't know how well the novels are grounded in facts. The crime detection sounds fairly modern (though without modern technology).

Second, in the first tape I listened to, Falco sounded kind of like a guy from Brooklyn. In this novel, read by someone else, he has a bit more of a cockney accent. I kind of enjoy comparing the performances (and mispronunciations) of the various reader-performers, wondering whether a word that seems clearly mispronounced is because nobody bothered to correct a mispronunciation or because the British readers simply say words incredibly differently than American readers would.

I did learn to check the book out of the library along with the taped recording, because in the front of the books is a map of things as they were at the time. I was a little confused without the map. I know, I know, we're supposed to buy the book, but I do not buy books on tape.

Not Free SF Reader
London Calling.


Falco, fresh from rooting out corruption in the last book, decides to take the relatives on a tripto Londinium.Yes, that means dead people there, one of them known to the bloke Falco was sorting things out for previously.Even more of a surprise is bumping into Petronius, and the pair of them get involved with the criminal element and a racket going on in a 'chain' of pubs in town.

Lots of fun, this one, with the two old stalwarts and a bit of younger help.

Body in the Bathhouse, Part II
Well, continuing right along in our visit to rainy barbarian Britain, now we are in dark and dingy London town in its early days, certainly before civilisation got a good foothold. There is hope, however, for what is the new appearance there of a Roman criminal gang but the other side of Roman civilization, a sign London was becoming worthwhile?

Having resolved a problem with local ruler Togidubnus (in BODY), imperial agent Falco and his family intend to vacation with his patrician wife's cousins in London. "Intend" is the operative word. Falco soon stumbles on murder linked to that ruler, a protection racket, ugly enforcers, sharp practice, and shadowy bosses. Maybe these bosses are so shadowy because the setting is so often dark, muddy, and bleak--as life on the frontier must often have seemed to a true Roman.

Davis's acerbic wit is entertainingly honed here; in recent books it's been too too. Its anachronistic and decidedly British slang can be excused by the nationalities of the setting and the author. Both these books (BODY and JUPITER) show an increasingly literal and explicit archaeological basis for her descriptions of place in her novels. With her map it provides a better sense of distance and effort to the story's actions, and a better sense they might really have happened. The Londinium map even shows us how it "maps onto" (or rather is buried under) the center of modern London. Remarkable! Falco's adventures read like a tourist's guide to ancient London, too, as he explores its scruffy byways from top to bottom, from court to cantina, from an arena with the trendy idea of female gladiators, to criminal hangouts along the fetid Thames.

Falco and his police buddy, Petronius (who just happens to be in town on some unspecified mission), get into some very tight and dangerous corners. Long-time readers of this series will have noticed that Falco most readily gets into that sort of trouble when he hares off on his own. In his mind, noble causes often win out over caution or common sense teamwork, much to the frustration of his lovely wife, Helena. She is, once again, the most likable character in the whole series. With the children underfoot now, we don't see enough of her on the case.

It will be good to be quit of Britannia once again, by Jove, and returning to Rome where Davis shines.

It Was A Dark and Stormy Day In Londinium...
After Marcus Didio Falco solved the mystery of A BODY IN THE BATHOUSE, the thirteenth book in the Marcus Didio Falco Mystery Series, the Falcos planned to remain in Londinium for a vacation, staying with relatives.Then, a man suspiciously drowns at a local pub and the Falcos learn they will be staying in Londinium a little longer than they'd first anticipated.

Roman London, A.D. 75, is nothing like modern day London.It's primitive.With its imminent and endless downpours muddying the roads and the hearts and souls of its people, Londinium is the perfect setting for a murder mystery noir.The only smiles in this dark tale are those the reader leaks out in response to our sarcastic sleuth's wry comments to himself and others.How apropos that the unfortunate murder victim is drowned behind a pub on the wrong side of town.

Solving the murder isn't the only mystery in town.Keeping track of the suspects and the story lines is like trying to watch sideshows at the Circus Maximus.Who was the murdered man and why is his demise of such interest to the king and to Rome?Who is the waif Marcus's wife, Helena, rescues from the streets?What is Marcus's best friend, Petro, doing in London and why is he hiding from Marcus?What does Jupiter have to do with London?Why would Amazonia, the infamous female gladiator, have Marcus seized by her troops?

The plots are as thick with theories and red herrings as the streets and rivers of Londinium are with sludge, muck and bodies.Getting to know Marcus, his family and colleagues starting with this book, the fourteenth in the series, is like trying to understand I, Claudius beginning with its seventh episode.History buffs will enjoy the maps and historical references, noir fans will enjoy the ever-present gloom and disorder, and THE JUPITER MYTH will likely be best appreciated and enjoyed by faithful followers of the Marcus Didio Falco Mystery Series. ... Read more

Product Description
Marcus Didius Falco is ready to make new contacts and start a new career, and a dinner for the Society of Olive Oil Producers of Baetica seems like the perfect opportunity. But when two dinner guests are found beaten--one dead--Falco knows he cannot rest until he solves at least one more mystery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Great series
I love this series.While some of the verabge used was more modern and almost British slang (which I think could be remedied with a little more research)not to mention phrases that could not have been in use in acient Rome ("electric" - did they know about electricity?) the personalities of the characters are just great.I'd really like to meet these people and sit and have a cup of Falernian with them.You care from book to book what happens to them.

Keep it up Lindsey!

Used but Beautiful Imported Hardcover
Imported hard cover book arrived in excellent condition. Nice publication from England. But what made me gasp was that it was signed by the author!

Not Free SF Reader
Oil and Spanish dancers.


The oil industry is in town and is lobbying in the time honoured method: wine, women and song.Falco is invited along for some reason, and when successful and attempted murder is discovered, he realises why.

Falco not only has to protect his arch rival, ask his mother for help and placate a jealous pregnant Helena if he succeeds in his task, he has a murder to solve.

Definitely one of the better books in the Falco series.

'Pressing Times' for Our hero
This is the eighth novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth in Rome at the time of Vespasian. A series of books that have become hugely popular, so much so that the author is now at the forefront of historical mystery writers. It was probably a stroke of genius on her part to have novels that are extremely well researched and contain all the elementsthat would be and should be found inthe Roman world of circa AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop. In this the eighth novel Falco and Helena Justina almost seem like long lost relations to the reader.

A dinner for the Olive Oil Producers ofBaetica, goes badly wrong when one man is killed and another - Anacrites, the Emperor's spy - is seriously wounded and left for dead. Because Anacrites is to be laid up for some time, Falco is brought back into the Emperor's fold as imperial sleuth. Falco is plunged head long into the world of olive oil production and heads out to Baetica.

It soon becomes apparent to Falco that the killing was no simple murder. Falco and Helena are staying in Baetica, using the excuse of inspecting the villa and olive crops of Helena Justina's father, Camillus Verus. This case is not the only thing on Falco's mind either, impending fatherhood is creeping up on our Roman sleuth.

Very Readable
Enjoyable journey back to the Roman Empire under Vespasian.Of course, like all empires, Rome needed a police service or, in this case, a Private Eye.Marcus Didius Falco makes a good detective, private or otherwise.And the history sounds pretty plausible as well. ... Read more

Product Description
It is the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. Marcus Didius Falco and Helena have returned from Greece only to find that Helena’s brother Justinus’s marital problems have exploded. Justinus’s first love, Veleda, a tribal leader and prophetess from Germania, has been brought to Rome and put under house arrest pending a ritual sacrifice at her capturer’s Triumph.

Justinus is love-struck once more and his wife, the temperamental Claudia, is enraged. Then Veleda escapes leaving behind a corpse. Justinus disappears too and it is up to Falco and the Chief Spy Anacrites to try to find the missing couple all against the backdrop of the orgiastic holiday period when literally anything goes . . .


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Falco 18
This is another enjoyable entry in the Falco series.It is set during the festival of Saturnalia. This is a time where there is a lot of family get togethers and celebrations to Saturn.

In this book Falco and his arch enemy/nemesis Anacrites are given the same case to solve. It invovles a woman that Falco had saved before. Her name is Veleda and she has been in residence with a Senator. She overhears that she will be in the triumph march of the general that had captured her which will end in her death. She disappears after there is a murder in the house she is living in.

Falco, his wife Helena and his best friend Petronius and the Vigiles all help in the search for her and to top it all it has to be kept hush hush so that there is not a scandal involving the government.

A great read. I highly recommend it ... Read more

Product Description
Library edition on 12 cassettes... Put your work aside and spend a few entertaining hours in the crowded streets of Imperial Rome. The misadventures of disheveled private investigator, Marcus Didius Falco, will have you laughing out loud as he dashes through his latest dilemmas at breakneck speed. Balbinus, the kingpin of crime, has finally been convicted of a capital offense. But Roman law grants all condemned citizens a "time to depart." As soon as Balbinus skips town, an extensive crime wave sweeps the city. Although Falco has been commissioned to discover the nefarious force behind it, he is also struggling with a more domestic puzzle. He's got to find a bigger apartment for his patrician and pregnant girlfriend, Helena. Filled with humor and history, this lively series has earned world-wide acclaim for its author. Lindsey Davis won a Crime Writer's Association Dagger award for her first Marcus Didius Falco mystery, Silver Pigs. Donal Donnelly's sprightly narration perfectly captures Falco and the other busy citizens of Rome. ... Read more

Product Description
Meet Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer in post Nero Rome. ... Read more

Product Description
The 13th novel featuring Marcus Didius Falco finds the Roman P.I. in the midst of a home improve- ment that brings an unwanted "visitor" to his bathhouse.Poor Marcus Didius Falco: The two shiftless contractors working on his new Roman bathhouse have left him with a horrible smell emanating from the below-ground furnace...and some gruesome site debris. Meanwhile, the king of the Atrebtes tribe in faraway Britannia is planning his own home improvements. But the spectacular Fishbourne Palace he is building is beset by numerous financial problems...not to mention the "accidents" that seem to plague the construction site. Enter P.I. Falco to investigate the scene and make things right. But trouble starts anew when his favorite contractors from Rome appear on the scene, and Falco realizes that someone with murderous intentions is now after him.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

The More Things Change...
This might be the best of the series. It has the expected combination of fascinating historical detail, fall-down-laughing comedy, and the delivery of cliff-hanging action. The life painted here reaches up through the millenia and touches us as if there's no space between -- we'll all recognize the bickering architects and builders, the pub closers, the extraneous relatives, the salesmen.

AUDIO: The narrator bothered me at first -- he sounds almost Australian, which seemed an anachronism -- but I got over it when I discovered how skillful he is. He truly understands Falco and his irreverance, his strutting, his loyalty, his irony, his common sense and his courage. Not good bedtime reading, though, because you'll be laughing instead of sleeping.

Another superb effort by Ms Davis
Mixing historical research with a sense of humor, Ms Davis makes Roman life, except for the blood sports, 'modern.' (Especially if you are a rugby fan) She has kept a long series going with fresh new stories that don't seem tired. I have followed M. Didius through all of his adventures and family trials and tribulations and am quite pleased. I look forward to her next book. This is one of the few mystery books that I like.

Falco novels
I'm a big fan of this series and this character.I expect this book to be as good as Davis' last.

Falco takes a Holiday
This is the twelfth novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth in Rome at the time of Vespasian. A series of books that have become hugely popular, so much so that the author is now at the forefront of historical mystery writers. It was probably a stroke of genius on her part to have novels that are extremely well researched and contain all the elementsthat would be and should be found inthe Roman world of circa AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop.

Falco has like many people been experiencing problems with builders in what was to be his new Janiculum home. Glaucus and Cotta (remember them) were supposed to be renovating the bath house. It would seem that Glaucus and Cotta have left some rubbish behind when they left the renovation and it is down to Falco why they left it there.

While on the subject of building and renovations the Emperor Vespasian has more than a few problems with a building project he is financing for the Togidubnus, Chieftain of the Atrebates in that god forsaken place called Britannia. As Falco has served his time in Britannia he seems the logical person to send and sort out the mess. Helena is keen to turn the expedition into a family holiday, so Falco, Helena and the two young children, plus one or two hangers on arrive at the half built palace in Noviomagus.

Falco soon starts to rub the builders up the wrong way by asking too many questions. Bodies start to appear and the family are soon put in danger. Falco begins to realise why he hated this cold, wet and windy island so much.

Brilliant as Usual
Lindsey Davis has created a great series about an informer in ancient Rome.The informer, Marcus DidiusFalco, is the modern equivalent of a private detective.In this novel he is commissioned by the Emperor Vespasian to settle problems on a building site in Britain.He refuses the commission until he finds the body of a labourer under the floor of his own bath house and discovers the builders who put him there have absconded to Britain, probably to the very same palace that the Emperor is concerned about.Davis has chosen the site of the palace that was discovered in Fishbourne near Chichester in 1960.The costs are too high for the civic purse and Falco discovers a phantom team of labourers and a crooked architect's stash of stolen building materials when he arrives with his family at the distant province.Davis' style of writing makes this a most enjoyable series to read. ... Read more

Product Description
In the long, hot Roman summer of AD74, Marcus Didius Falco, private informer and spare-time poet, gives a reading for his family and friends. Things get out of hand as usual. The event is taken over by Aurelius Chrysippus, a wealthy Greek banker and patron to a group of struggling writers, who offers to publish Falco’s work — a golden opportunity that rapidly palls. A visit to the Chrysippus scriptorium implicates him in a gruesome literary murder, so when Petronius Longus, the over-worked vigiles enquiry chief, commissions him to investigate, Falco is forced to accept. ... Read more

Product Description
Imperial Roman sleuth Marcus Didius Falco must put his detecting career--and his life--on the line when he is arrested for murder and his aristocratic beloved, Helena Justina, is accused of being his accomplice. 15,000 first printing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good puzzle is nicely paced although the end meanders.
A solid mystery with a good puzzle.Davis's greatest strength is her description of Rome and its daily life.However, the Sisyphean story of Falco and Helena not being able to get married is starting to pall.Memo to LD:time to pick up speed and move these two onto another level in their relationship. ... Read more

Product Description
Un día cualquiera del año 70 a.C., sin acontecimientos especiales para un hombre como Marco Didio Falco: deshacerse de algún que otro cadáver, seguir la pista de un complot contra el emperador o conseguir algún pequeño beneficio traficando con plomo robado. Segunda entrega de la serie del detective Marco Didio. Davis estudió Literatura inglesa en Oxford. Autora consagrada dentro del género de novela histórica. Le divierten, los rasgos de humor que se manifiestan en la Roma imperial y que aspira a transmitir al lector en sus novelas.

An ordinary, uneventful day of the year 70 b.C., for a man like Marco Didio Falco: getting rid of the odd corpse, following the lead of a conspiracy against the emperor, or making a bit of money on the side pedding stolen lead. ... Read more

Product Description
In a detective thriller set in ancient Rome, Marcus Didius Falco goes on an undercover mission into Roman Germany to deal with an uncivil Batavian rebel chieftain. By the author of Silver Pigs. 15,000 first printing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Little Less
I love all of the Falco books, but I found this one to be a little too confusing. It helps to know a lot about Roman military history.

An unconventional mystery story

I agree with the other reviewer that this is *not* a conventional murder mystery. However, for me, that was part of its charm.

It IS part mystery, but it's also part action adventure, part thriller, and part history. All together, it combines to create a great addition to the Falco series, with enough of each element to keep things interesting, and author Davis' unique brand of anachronistic humor to prevent the story from taking itself too seriously.

Even I have to admit that the journey -- a la The Odyssey -- was a tad too long for comfort and the meeting with the priestess Veleda was a let down. But what book does not have a few flaws? This one has fewer than most and I will look forward to reading the next book in the Marcus Didius Falco series.

Thriller in Germania nicely Roman
Lindsey Davis has the uncanny ability to capture the Roman attitude and prejudices toward the lands across the Alps. The Romans considered those tall, blonde, celtic warriors to be the most foreign of foreigners, with their hideous rites of human sacrifice and odd Druidic worship. Falco and company tread where most Romans feared to tread, both in foreign, barbarian territory and through the battle grounds of lost legions, slaughtered by the enemy. Yet Davis also understands that people are people, and that some aspects of nature never change, such as trade and prosperity being reliant on local army installations, as the Gauls and Celtic tribes within the Roman province are. The somber tone of this novel is broken up with the humorous and familiar universal traveler with his traveler's woe.As Americans, it is sometimes difficult for us to appreciate what it is like for Europeans who live among Roman relics, whose history is intricately tied to that of Rome.It is easy to overlook the place of Germania in the Roman world, and the fact that it was the tribal north who finally conquered Rome.The Iron Hand of Mars should not be overlooked, nor underestimated.It is a thrilling adventure into unknown territory combined with the humor of travel and the problems of having too many relations.

Disappointing entry in the Falco series.
Falco is off his home turf and it shows in this book.Barely a mystery at all, the ongoing Falco /Helena relationship has never been more tedious. Helena's brother is nicely sketched but his emotional crisis is forced and not believable. The murder is easily forgotten for chapters at a time.The ending is a disappointment. ... Read more

Product Description
It is the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. Marcus Didius Falco and Helena have returned from Greece only to find that Helena’s brother Justinus’s marital problems have exploded. Justinus’s first love, Veleda, a tribal leader and prophetess from Germania, has been brought to Rome and put under house arrest pending a ritual sacrifice at her capturer’s Triumph.

Justinus is love-struck once more and his wife, the temperamental Claudia, is enraged. Then Veleda escapes leaving behind a corpse. Justinus disappears too and it is up to Falco and the Chief Spy Anacrites to try to find the missing couple all against the backdrop of the orgiastic holiday period when literally anything goes . . .


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Boy am I glad that there's another Falco mystery!
We've had to wait a bit for this one, but it was worth the wait!Lindsey Davis is at her best here with fast-talking, fast-thinking Falco and his hilarious entourage.The best part about these books are the characters, and it's like they're old friends when you read about their hilarious adventures again. Falco's domestic bliss and its inherent problems make for very funny reading.And the mystery is always fun too. This book is set in Rome, and it is set around the Saturnalia holiday (around the end of December) in the first century A.D.Falco seems to be the only one in Rome during this holiday time that realizes that people are dying in large numbers on the city streets.And when he uncovers the reason behind these deaths, it is a chilling solution.At the same time he is trying to find an escaped political prisoner.He gets up to more highjinks than you can shake a stick at.This is a truly funny book, and Lindsey Davis is my favourite author.

Well Worth Waiting For!
Lindsey Davis was born in Birmingham but now lives in Greenwich. After an English degree at Oxford she joined the Civil Service but now writes full time. In 1999 she received the Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective for her creation, Marcus Didius Falco. Lindsey Davis's books are eagerly awaited by the large following of readers she has gathered together with her Falco books and I am not ashamed to say that I am one of them. There are several authors that write similar books and I enjoy reading their books too, but the Falco books just seem to have that little bit extra that I cannot put my finger on.

Saturnalia, as anyone with an interest in Roman history is a holiday. The daytime is just something that comes before the night and the wild parties that the city of Rome has always been famous for. It is the ideal time for a returning Roman general to be given his `Triumph' something very rarely accorded to a victorious leader of Rome's mighty legions. The general has a famous enemy of Rome as his captive and wishes to use her as a ritual sacrifice at his Triumph. But things go horribly wrong, she acquires a mysterious illness and then a young man is brutalmurdered and she escapes from house arrest.

Falco has to pit his wits against his old rival and enemy Anacrites a man Falco's mother once admired, but she was in a majority of one. Can either of them find the fugitive before she becomes an embarrassment to the government. With all the mayhem that comes with the holiday season the search seems impossible and only Falco seems to notice that death is stalking the streets of the city.

From the UK pre-publication synopsis:
It is the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. The days are short, the nights are for wild parties. A general has captured a famous enemy of Rome, and brings her home to adorn his Triumph as a ritual sacrifice. The logistics go wrong; she acquires a mystery illness - then a young man is horrendously murdered and she escapes from house arrest. Marcus Didius Falco is pitted against his old rival, the Chief Spy Anacrites, in a race to find the fugitive before her presence angers the public and makes the government look stupid. Falco has other priorities, for Helena's brother Justinus has also vanished, perhaps fatally involved once more with the great lost love of his youth. Against the riotous backdrop of the season of misrule, the search seems impossible and only Falco seems to notice that some dark agency is bringing death to the city streets...
... Read more

Product Description
A frightened child approaches Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco, pleading for help. Nobody believes Gaia’s story that a relation wants to kill her, and neither does he. Beset by his own family troubles, by his new responsibilities as Procurator of the Sacred Poultry, and by the continuing search for a new partner, he turns her away. Immediately he regrets it. Gaia has been selected as the new Vestal Virgin, and when she disappears, Falco is officially asked to investigate. Finding Gaia is then a race against time, ending in Falco’s most terrifying exploit yet. ... Read more