Product Description
Unabridged Audiocassette version of the Iron Hand of Mars, (10 cassettes/14 hours) ... Read more

Book Description
"A seamless blending of humor, history, and adventure." Publishers Weekly
A detective novel of ancient Rome.
When wild Germanic troops rebel and a Roman general disappears, Emperor Vespasian turns to the one man he can trust: Marcus Didius Falco, Imperial Rome's answer to Columbo. Slipping undercover into Germania, Falco meets with disarray, torture, and murder in his quest to find a Druid priestess who alone can persuade the barbarians to embrace peace. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Not Free SF Reader
Standard rebellion in Germany.


Falco is off overseas again, as Vespasian wants to know what is going on in Germania and the legion dealing with the uprising there, having lost an executive. Our favorite informer takes them a new standard and again involves himself in getting into trouble.

Not quite as good as some of the earlier books, but decent enough.


3.5 out of 5

Still very fine after all these years
I just reread this earlier Lindsey Davis/Marcus Didious Falco mystery and it was still completely enjoyable the second time around.Interesting plot, wonderful historic detail and terrific character development and interaction.What's not to like.Lindsey Davis is my girl!I look forward to her annual Falco offering and happily recommend this series to anyone who hasn't heard of it (how would that be possible?)

They Just Get Better
This is the fourth 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 inRome in AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop. In this the fourth novel Falco and Helena Justina seem like old friends.

In this novel Falco has to leave his beloved Rome and travel to Germania, a land that is haunted by the ghosts of past massacres. Dark and dismal, cold and wet and huge parts of it covered by virtually impenetrable forests, where the bloodthirsty tribesmen feel at home and are more than ready to inflict another defeat on the Roman army, such as they did not many decades past.

Falco has the enter the most dangerous country known to Roman world, with a few trainee recruits, their Centurion and their Commander. Not just any old Roman officer but Camillus Justinus, the brother of Helena, who will cut Falco into little pieces and feed him to the fishes in the Tiber if he even thinks about returning without her favourite sibling.

Falco battles the frontier, native/Roman leaders, and Helena
Falco hits the road again in this fourth novel, this time for Germania.Unlike the first two novels, where the action split between Rome and rural locales, almost all of "The Iron Hand of Mars" is set in Gaul and Germany.The grit of the frontier backdrops matches Falco's sour attitude toward the journey and his Imperial mission.His girlfriend Helena Justina fortunately joins the more urban portions of the trip, as their character interactions in Davis's subtle prose are the highlight of these novels.

The plot consists of a long list of Imperial requests relating to recent and past Roman military troubles on the frontier.Davis skillfully explains the history of first century Roman clashes with the Germanic tribes and relates it to the plot without bogging down in dry exposition.Falco's interaction with various members of the frontier legions shows Davis's thorough command of Roman military details.Falco's trek through feral Germania has the same wild adventure tainted with ghosts of legionary history feel as the journey beyond Hadrian's Wall in Sutcliffe's "Eagle of the Ninth."However, random encounters with several of the final people on Falco's task list leave the ending feeling coincidental.Regardless, Davis skillfully develops several new characters, including a gruff centurion and Helena's tribune brother, and continues to build the relationship between Falco and Helena.

More History than Mystery
This book is definitely more of a history book than a mystery book, but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable.The wild ride through old Germany and the adventures that befall Falco's ragtag bunch of recruits is fun.The more I read of Falco, the more likeable he becomes.And the characters we are introduced to in each book make quite an impresion.In this case an effeminate barber called Xanthus, and the lovely Helena's younger brother.Her characters seem alive, and it makes for a fun quick read.If you are interested in getting an idea of what Germany was like in 71AD, you could do worse than read this book.Looking forward to the next installment. ... Read more

Book Description

Lindsey Davis’s sixteenth novel in the bestselling Marcus Didius Falco series is a tale of scandal, piracy and deception.

In the wealthy town of Ostia, our hero Falco appears to be enjoying a relaxing holiday. But when his girlfriend, Helena, arrives carrying a batch of old copies of the Daily Gazette – with the intention of catching up on the latest scandal – Falco is forced to admit to Petronius his real reasons for being there.

“Infamia,” the pen name of the scribe who writes the gossip column for the Daily Gazette, has gone missing. His fellow scribes have employed Falco to find him and bring him back from his lazy, drunken truancy. However, Falco suspects that there is more to his absence than might at first appear. Before long, Falco’s enquiries lead him into the world of piracy and the discovery of criminal traditions long believed dead. Is this the right path toward finding Infamia? Why would pirates have taken him? And if they have, will he be found alive?

Customer Reviews (12)

Strong entry in the series and a great set up for the next one.
The family gets out of Rome and the "press" of the era is explored.Plus there's pirates.Everybody likes pirates.There is a deus ex machina that saves Falco but otherwise this was an enjoyable mystery.

A Welcome Addition to the Series
Marcus Didius Falco is not, despite his claims, visiting Ostia for pleasure, but to track down Infamia, whose scandalous column in the Daily Gazette gets him in trouble more often than not. He said he was going to visit an Aunt in Ostia, but he never returned and the only thing he leaves behind him are some personal effects and a trail of several odd clues.

For instance, shortly before his disappearance, he attempted to take on various different jobs, even applied to the Vigiles. One of the last people to see him is a reclusive old sea merchant who claims, despite rumors otherwise, to have never been a pirate...piracy being one of the things that, officially, no longer exists.

This sixteenth book following the adventures of Falco has several interesting twists. An informer (private eye) of some renown, he, along with his best friend Petronis and his love Helena find themselves in an increasingly dangerous situation, filled with Cicilain pirates, kidnapping and murder.

The series is famous for its rich depiction of Ancient Rome and each one seems to focus on a slightly different area of the culture and history, teaching us a great deal. This time, as you may have gathered, it's piracy.

It was interesting to see how the pirates were used by the Roman government, then declared completely stamped out, though, unofficially, everyone knew it was still going on. Also, the rules that these pirates abided by to make sure that their victim's families paid up showed them to be shrewd businessmen as well as criminals.

Falco just gets better and better
Marcus Didius Falco has been voted the best comic detective.This is mostly due to Davis' style of writing, she writes books you cannot put down partly because ofthe plots and partly the light humour she give her readers.Falco is an informer in Ancient Rome, that is much like a private detective today, he gets into a lot of scrapes but solves his own cases and several of other peoples.In this book he is hired to find the missing scribe who writes the scandal pages of the Daily Gazette.His investigation takes him to the coastal town of Ostia some twenty miles from Rome where Diocles was supposed to be holidaying.Falco moves his whole family into a small apartment, that is partner and colleague, Helena, their two daughters and a foster child Albia who takes care of the babies.While pursuing leadson the scribe's whereabouts Falco stumbles on a large band of pirates anda kidnapping syndicate in the region so he assists the law enforcement agency in the region to round up those gangs in the process of discovering the truth about Diocles' disappearance.

Amusing, lightweight look at Imperial Rome
"Scadal Takes a Holiday" is the latest of Lindsey Davis's chronicles of the "informer" Marcus Didius Falco of the first century AD Rome -- sort of a hardboiled detective in a toga (although Falco doesn't really like wearing a toga).This adventure takes him to port of Ostia downriver from Rome, seeking for a scandalsheet writer who has disappered.As usual, his family proves more troublesome (and maybe more dangerous) than the criminals he encounters. Although Davis's characters perhaps lack the depth and subtlety of those of Steven Saylor (author of a series of mysteries set in first century BCE Rome), the Falco books nonetheless are well researched and provide authentic glimpses into the politics and culture of early Imperial Rome.

Funny and exciting historical mystery
The upper class in Rome get their news from the Daily Gazette. It's mostly boring--events of the Emperor, some lies (rumors of pirates are untrue), but with a load of gossip. Except that gossip has gotten thin lately as the gossip writer has taken an extended vacation. So extended, in fact, that his fellow writers hire Marcus Didius Falco, an informant, to find him.

Falco, along with his wife and assorted members of his family, head for Ostia, the port of Rome where Diocles was supposed to be visiting with his aunt. As Falco investigates, he finds evidence of multiple crimes--piracy that had supposedly been smashed by Pompey, professional kidnapping, and a strange mix of firefighting with professional building.

Author Lindsey Davis continues her funny and exciting Marcus Didius Falco series in SCANDAL TAKES A HOLIDAY. Falco's relations with his aristocratic wife Helena and their respective families adds to both humor and to the character depth. As always, Davis's historical detail adds to the interest and engages the reader.

I thought Davis occasionally got carried away with the family and a series of mysteries that didn't really relate to each other, making this novel a bit weaker than some of the others in the series. That doesn't mean that SCANDAL wasn't a completely enjoyable ride. I found myself laughing out loud several times and read through the entire novel in a single sitting. ... Read more

Book Description
The 15th novel in the acclaimed Marcus Didius Falco series finds the first century sleuth confronting Roman legal forces that may just destroy him--and his family.

Fresh from his trip to far-flung Londinium in Britain, Marcus Didius Falco needs to re-establish his presence in Rome. A minor role in the trial of a senator entangles him in the machinations of two powerful lawyers at the top of their trade. The senator is convicted but then dies, apparently by suicide. It may have been a legal move to protect his heirs, but Falco is hired to prove it was murder. As Falco shows off his talents in the role of advocate, he exposes himself to a tangle of upper-class secrets and powerful elements in Romes legal hierarchy that may have consequences he hadnt quite bargained for. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Not Free SF Reader
Multiple dodgy lawyers, not exactly a shocker.


Back from Britain yet again, Falco needs to get back in the swing of things in his investigative role.He gets involved in the case of a senator that has apparently committed suicide, but with two lawyers involved, both with dubious reputations, something doesn't seem right.

Falco has to work cut out for him investigating these guys who know a whole lot of tricks that can get your lowly Informer into a lot of trouble.


3.5 out of 5

Falco, the Legal Eagle
This is the fifteenth 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.

After spending more time than he intended to in Britain (The Jupiter Myth) Falco is back in his beloved Rome. In theory he is still an informer for the Emperor although the less he sees of the Imperial family, the better he will like it. He becomes embroiled in a dispute between two high successful members of the legal profession and of course the dispsute ends up in a death.

Hired to prove that the senator's death was not suicide, Falco find himself following a trail of scanal, blackmail and corruption, the like of which even he has rarely seen. Has he bitten off more than he can chew this time. After all he is playing with the big boys now . . .

Very Disappointing
Because the writing is literate, I would have rated this book a "3" but for my high expectations when I began reading it.I've reviewed Lindsey Davis' FALCO mysteries before, and always rated them highly--something they deserved--for local color, human interest, scholarship, wit, and unusually good writing.

This one goes nowhere.It's plodding, devoid of Falco's usual mental and physical exertions.There's little if any character development except that Helena's brother Aelianus seems to be maturing and mellowing. Falco is acted upon, rather than being his usual competent and courageous self, someone who controls the denouement of the plot.He makes an inordinate number of errors and bad judgments.His actions turn to dust, and at the end nothing really has changed except that a sour widow has unnecessarily died.

The humor in all the others is missing here; instead there's a deep cynicism.I'm sure Davis will hit her stride again, but this is the least important novel in the series.

Courtroom drama
Ah, it's wonderful to be back in sunny, familiar ancient Rome again, after the last two Davis books where we've been "exiled" to bleak and blustery Britain. Here, murder is again subtle and surrounded by the power plays of the rich and elegant rather than the muddy connivings of barbarians. The historical (textual) richness of Rome is given full play to produce one of Davis' best stories of Falco, informer to the emperor.

In Falco's hobnailed boots, you'll cross and recross Rome (there are handy maps), from dives to courts (not much difference there!, Davis would say), ferret out recalcitrant witnesses and suspects, smell the stench of corpses, suborn informants, suffer goon attacks, fence with devious lawyers, loose your shirt, and be rescued by smart wife Helena--and not just once. Davis leads off with unusually rough language for her. There are delicious ironies scattered through the story: the guilty getting off, the implication of innocents, the unscrupulous rewarded, foul murder excused, rich scions bankrupted--ah, the Roman Forum at work to maintain Senatorial probity.

This story enters deeply into the snares of patriarchical Roman inheritance law. Unsuspecting Falco takes an involved family case of inheritance, suicide, and malfeasance, ranged against two far cleverer and wilier lawyers. Suitably, Davis has a striking change of style for this book. She adds the apparatus of law and deposition to Falco's usual investigations into the underworld or seamy side of Rome. Several times Davis merely summarizes on wax tablets (uh, casebooks) the results of the endless background interviews by Falco and Associates, rather than bore us to tears. Then she presents the entire speeches made before the judge. They read like actual speeches by an advocate like Cicero, full of flourishes and clever rhetorical devices, to insinuate scandalous guilt in the absence of real evidence. What makes this a 5-star story is the ending, one surprise after another, and still more twists follow. (One hint: keep track of the little children.) Superb.

Intrigue in ancient Rome
Lindsey Davis' imaginatively conceived "The Accusers" is an historical fiction set in 75 A.D. Rome following the exploits of her protagonist Marcus Didius Falco.Falco is employed as an informer, the Roman equivalent of a modern day detective.Of equestrian rank, a middle class sature, Falco has been gone from Rome for 6 months and has returned seeking work.He has been summoned by Silius Italicus, a rich and storied informer to perform some investigating.

Italicus had presided over a trial involving senator Rubirius Metellus.Metellus had been convicted of corruption in meting out patronage.The penalty for this conviction was a million and a quarter serterces of which Silius Italicus was to garner the lion's share.Unfortunately for Italicus, Metellus' apparently planned suicide served to protect the family finances and deprive Silius Italicus of his considerable fee.Falco was to investigate the circumstances of the questionable suicide, trying to prove murder instead.

Falco was ably aided by his clear thinking wife, Helena Justina, daughter of a Roman senator and her younger brothers Justinus and Aelianus.Together they formed a formidible team that plodded through all the nuances of Roman law and Metellus family machinations to unravel the circumstances behind Metellus' death.

Davis creates an impressive representation of Roman life complete with maps and genealogic trees.The story however has too many dull moments which serves drag its pace. ... Read more

Book Description
In ancient Rome, the career path for ambitious citizens who aspire to become senators is called "The Course of Honor." And this honorable course has an unbreakable rule: A senator is forbidden to marry a slave. When the soldier Vespasian meets an interesting girl frying sausages in the imperial palace, he doesn't know that Caenis is immensely intelligent, or that she holds a position in the household of Antonia, daughter of Mark Anthony and sister-in-law of the Emperor. But soon he's in love, struggling against a world that rejects his lover. And as emperor after emperor plays out deadly, seductive games of lust and conquest, no one envisions that a country-born army man might win the throne-no one except a slave girl who observes the bizarre fortunes of an imperial city and begins a daring course of honor of her own.Download Description
This novel tells the sweeping story of the ascendancy of the Emperor Vespasian, the impecunious son of a provincial senator who finally brought peace to Rome after years of fighting during the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and the year of the Four Emperors. It is also the story of the forbidden love between Emperor Vespasian and his mistress, Antonia Caenis, a slave working for Claudius's mother. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

What an interesting book!
"What an interesting girl!" thinks young tribune Titus Flavius Vespasianus upon meeting the young slave secretary Caenis, a deeply intelligent, independent, introspective young woman. Caenis remains interesting to him throughout the book and throughout her life--in the way we could all hope to remain interesting to those we love. The book, too, held my attention from beginning to end and actually caused me to cry several times (and I don't normally cry over books). Davis has a fantastic command of historical events and everyday detail, her characters are wonderfully alive and worthy of our sympathy. I would even go so far as to suggest that Falco--much as I love him--does not measure up.

Outstanding background
If you are a Falco fan and have not read this, do so. It provides wonderful background material for Vespasian. He's not just an old man, but a fellow who lived and loved the best. In fact, he's more like Falco than he would like to admit. The details only hinted at in the Falco books are here: Vespasian's survival in a time of 'really strange' and dangerous emperors, his rise to power, and his inherent humanity in the face of a vicious age. The tale has a different style than the Falco books. It's difficult to desribe, but it's "sweeter," a love story between Caenis and Vespasian that survived decades of events. Falco is Falco and he and Helena are fun. It's a great adventure series. But this one? It will put a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes. But that's a good thing. They made it. It worked. A love story in the time of turmoil is a great thing. Thank you to Lindsey Davis with sharing this.

In many ways, her best.
Before she started her witty and successful Falco series, Lindsey Davis wrote this book, but couldn't get it published.How glad I am that Falco's success allowed us to see this gem!As the readers' poll on her website testifies, it is in many ways her best - and best-loved - book.

Romance in Ancient Rome
This is one of the best books I've ever read. It has a little bit of everything while being very well written and a very fast read. First there is this remarkable romance. Ceanis is a character I will never forget. We have the joy of watching her grow and mature as she goes from slave to freedwoman. Then there is the setting: ancient Rome, with all its political intrigue and violence. I first read this book when it was published some 10 years ago and I have never forgotten it. When I recently reread it, I was once again reminded why it had always stayed with me.

Such an Eloquent and Inspiring Love Story
I read this book about a year ago, and now, a year later, I find myself searching for it on Amazon because I enjoyed it so much.The story is based on historical fact and is about the extraordinary love affair between the emperor Vespasian and a slave, his Caenis.I was surprised at the amount of care the author took in describing events and characters and found myself comparing the story to the emperor's biography by Suetonius...the novel is extremely accurate! Lindsey Davis is a fantastic writer; she somehow translates emotions into words so that when the reader reads them, he/she knows exactly how the character is feeling. ... Read more

Book Description
One dark and gloomy dawn Petro and Falco put the evil Balbinus aboard ship, a criminal sent into exile. But an outbreak of robbery and murder suggest a new criminal ring has moved into Balbinus’ territory. Petro and Falco are called in to investigate... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Excellent story
I recently have been rereading the Falco series, and I find A Time to Depart to be interesting, vivid and funny.I like the mixture of the tragic and the comic, with the reality of the similarity between people of our own time and people who lived in Vespasian Rome made vividly clear.I liked this book so much that I decided to buy a used hardback edition of it, because I know I will be reading it again.

Not Free SF Reader
Underworld upheaval.


Good old Petronius busts a Roman gang leader, leading to a fight for control and his former position among the Roman criminal element.

Or, in other words, people Falco is somewhat familiar with, so the Emperor taps him to look into what is going on, and things get a little hair for both he and Helena.


3.5 out of 5

The Books get Better and Better
This is the seventh 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 seventh novel Falco and Helena Justina almost seem like long lost relations to the reader.

Time to Depart the title of this latest offering from Lindsey Davis is quite a poignant phrase. If a Roman citizen committed a crime they were not confined to prison but in the true sense of the words they were given time to depart from the Roman Empire and very few were ever allowed to return. Exile was considered to be the worst punishment possible for a Roman. Falco is on the quay at Ostia. "It is Time to Depart" for one of Rome's most famous criminals and Falco and his friend, Petronius are there to see that it actually happens.

In this bookLindsey Davis has allowed Falco to remain within the confines of his beloved Rome. Working with his oldest friend Petronius Longinus, Captain of the Aventine Watch. There has been an outbreak of robberies and murder in the city and Falco and Petro pool their resources to try to get to the bottom of them. At the same time Falco is looking for a new place to live for himself and Helena. He believes that in a few months time their old apartment will not be big enough for them

Marvellous Stuff!
In this book Helena and Falco are back in Imperial Rome. The stories seem to be more exciting when Falco's on his own turf. This story tells about rival gangs and gangsters in ancinet Rome. I don't know whether it's comforting or not to know that these types of bad guys have been around forever. Falco and his friend Petro get involved in a city wide manhut. Corpses turn up along the way. We see heists, murders, fraud and the whole gamut in this book. It's a rollicking good tale, and I can hardly wait for the next one.

The Too-Long Arm of the Law
The Rome of the Vespasian's time may be ancient to us, but it's home to Marcus Didius Falco, the emperor's informer and hero of "Time to Depart," the seventh book in this series by Lindsey Davis.

The departure in the title is that of Balbinus Pius, the godfather of Rome's underworld. Convicted of a capital crime, he is given "time to depart" under law to escape execution. Return to the city would mean death.

Shortly thereafter, the city is hit with a number of grandiose crimes: a market is emptied of valuable goods, the goldsellers are robbed in daylight, and, worst of all, men connected with Balbinus' trial are found tortured and killed. Falco finds himself in the center of these troubles in a number of ways. The goods he bought overseas on behalf of his father were among the stolen goods, and his best friend, Petronius Longus, was the officer who put away Balbinus. On behalf of the emperor, he must help his Petro determine who is seeking to replace Balbinus, as well as secretly determine who in the empire's version of a police force, may be on the take.

Falco is also troubled by domestic matters when he finds that his lover, the daughter of a Senator who cannot marry him under law, is pregnant. Apart from the legal troubles (which, irritatingly, are neither resolved, nor did it turn out as threatening as Falco thought), he also needs to find a home, both for his expanding family and a mongrel dog determined to join them.

One of the pleasures of visiting a historical world is in seeing just how different it is from our day. The world of ancient Rome did not have autos or phones, windows or locks on doors. A high-rise meant a five-story building. You didn't walk down certain streets, especially after night, or you had a retinue of club-wielding slaves that you hope will protect you when needed. Family links were not just optional, but vital, even when its members were undesirable (and Falco's extended family provide him with a great source of frustration, from his neer-do-well father to his lazy brothers-in-law). Graft, prostitution, murder, influence peddling and organized crime are not modern inventions by any means, but in a world measured on the human scale, these are take on an intimate, almost claustrophobic quality. Falco's world is smaller than ours, who can live in one city and drive to another to work, and "Time to Depart," for all its grand scope, is also an intimate novel.

It's also a longer novel than needed. When the crime wave breaks out and no suitable candidates for the role of instigator offered, it becomes apparent what's going on, and suspicions are confirmed after about 275 long pages. After that, events pick up speed, and the resolution of most of these threads are efficiently weaved in the book's remaining 125 pages, concluding with a wedding (not Falco's) which will either leave you shaking your head at the licentiousness of ancient Romans, or remind you of the receptions you attended. ... Read more

Book 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

Book Description
With Titus Caesar in pursuit of his patrician girlfriend Helena, the louche Roman sleuth, Marcus Didius Falco, is sent out of the way on an undercover mission to Roman Germany where there has been trouble with the natives. There he must exercise his doubtful diplomatic skills on the very uncivil Civilis, a one-eyed Batavian rebel chieftain, and must also persuade Veleda, a sinister tribal prophetess to desist from incessant rabble-rousing. But every rustling leaf heralds the approach of ancient ghosts, headhunting tribesmen or primeval animals… ... Read more

Book Description
Ninth in Davis’ award-winning and acclaimed Falco novels.

The love story of the Emperor Vespasian, who brought peace to Rome after years of strife, and his mistress, the freed slave woman Antonia Caenis, this book recreates Ancient Rome’s most turbulent period — the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero, and Vespasian’s rise to power. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An honourable courseý
Flavius Vespasianus was one of Rome's better, if less glamorous, emperors - not mad, not bad, and not interested in expansionist military adventures. He came to power as the "last general standing" at the end of the short and brutal civil wars that followed the death of Nero, and proved an excellent safe pair of hands to restore the political and financial stability of the Empire. His upbringing had fitted him well for this. Vespasian was born into a noble family that had seen better days and was heading towards poverty (at least by noble standards). He advanced slowly through the "cursus honorum" or "course of honour", the careful laid out and regulated system of promotions and elected offices that led to high political office in Rome. He proved a capable general and a good and intelligent leader of men, and these qualities finally brought him to the throne where, in a sense, his real work began.
This book is a fictionalised biography but it is also a romance, a tale of the enduring love between Vespasian and Antonia Caenis, who became his mistress but whom he could never marry because of the social gulf between them.
An enjoyable, readable, and informative tale that generates real affection for the main characters in the heart of the reader and throws light on a period of Roman history not always given much attention.

An honourable courseý
Flavius Vespasianus was one of Rome's better, if less glamorous, emperors - not mad, not bad, and not interested in expansionist military adventures. He came to power as the "last general standing" at the end of the short and brutal civil wars that followed the death of Nero, and proved an excellent safe pair of hands to restore the political and financial stability of the Empire. His upbringing had fitted him well for this. Vespasian was born into a noble family that had seen better days and was heading towards poverty (at least by noble standards). He advanced slowly through the "cursus honorum" or "course of honour", the careful laid out and regulated system of promotions and elected offices that led to high political office in Rome. He proved a capable general and a good and intelligent leader of men, and these qualities finally brought him to the throne where, in a sense, his real work began.
This book is a fictionalised biography but it is also a romance, a tale of the enduring love between Vespasian and Antonia Caenis, who became his mistress but whom he could never marry because of the social gulf between them.
An enjoyable, readable, and informative tale that generates real affection for the main characters in the heart of the reader and throws light on a period of Roman history not always given much attention. ... Read more

Book 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

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Lindsey Davis, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 2082 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description
Rome. AD 70. Private eye Marcus Didius Falco knows his way around the eternal city. He can handle the muggers, the police and most of the girls. But one fresh sixteen-year-old, Sosia Camillina, finds him a case no Roman should be getting his nose into. Some friends, Romans and countrymen are doing a highly profitable, if highly illegal, trade in silver ingots or pigs. For Falco it's the start of a murderous trail that leads far beyond the seven hills — to a godforsaken land called Britain, to Emperor Vespasian himself, and to Helena Justina – a lady leagues out of Falco’s class. ... Read more