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Alexandria
 
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Alexandria (Hardcover)

by Lindsey Davis (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
List Price: CDN$ 26.62
Price: CDN$ 16.60 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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Product Details

Product Description

Product Description

In first century A.D. Rome, during the reign of Vespasian, Marcus Didius Falco works as a private “informer,” often for the emperor, ferreting out hidden truths and bringing villains to ground. But even informers take vacations with their wives, so in A.D. 77, Falco and his wife, Helena Justina, with others in tow, travel to Alexandria, Egypt. But they aren’t there long before Falco finds himself in the midst of nefarious doings—when the Librarian of the great library is found dead, under suspicious circumstances.

Falco quickly finds himself on the trail of dodgy doings, malfeasance, deadly professional rivalry, more bodies and the lowest of the low—book thieves! As the bodies pile up, it’s up to Falco to untangle this horrible mess and restore order to a disordered universe.


About the Author

LINDSEY DAVIS is the author of the long-running series of historical mysteries featuring Marcus Didius Falco. She was the winner of the first CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger and her novels are bestsellers around the globe. She lives in London.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Buried in books, Jun 6 2009
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Alexandria (Hardcover)
The ancient city of Alexandria was known for two main things: the Lighthouse at Rhodes, and the vast Library (largest one of its kind in the ancient world).

So it's a pretty good bet that when Marcus Didius Falco takes a family vacation in Alexandria, dead bodies will crop up at one (or more!) famous locations. Lindsay Davis' ancient-Roman mystery series is still pretty fresh and enjoyable in the nineteenth volume, "Alexandria," especially with all the malevolence and skeletons in the world of ancient academe... although the literally red-hot climax ends up falling a bit flat.

Falco, a pregnant Helena Justina and their assorted kids arrive to stay with shady Uncle Fulvius and his life partner Cassius, who introduce them to the director of the Library, Theon.

Unfortunately, Theon is found dead in a locked room the day after Fulvius' dinner party -- and a necropsy (an autopsy with a cooler name) reveals that he had eaten oleander. Was it suicide, or murder? Falco begins investigating with the help of Helena and her brother Aulus, and discovers that for all its lofty goals and ideals, the Library's faculty is actually a hotbed of grudges, sexual competition, infighting and ambition. You know, normal.

As a shortlist of new candidates is produced, Falco tries to figure out who might have been desperate enough to kill Theon, and whether the proposed discarding of old manuscripts from the Library might be connected to it. Unfortunately, his investigations lead him to a showdown with a giant crocodile, a second murder and a deadly undercover mission at the Pharos Lighthouse. And the conspiracy at the Library may reach

Lindsay Davis has a rare writing knack -- she can write historical mysteries without spending the whole book constantly going, "Look at all my cool research! Check out all the uninteresting details I dug up to give the book an authentic feel!" as many such writers do. It's full of the flavour of ancient Rome transplanted to dusty, decorative Alexandria and its waning glory, and some barbed mockery of the Romans' attitudes toward the Egyptians and the city of Alexandria.

Along the way, there's plenty of tangled personal grudges and thwarted ambition among the various people working at the library, and a murky little conspiracy involving vanishing scrolls. Davis spices this up with some heart-pounding suspense (a massive wrestling match with Sobek) and some wicked humour (the snake that likes to stare up people's tunics). And she has a clever way of giving the characters perspectives that ancient people might have had -- such as "the Odyssey" being referred to as a bawdy adventure tale.

The biggest problem: it feels like Davis overreached herself slightly with all the suspects, with the result that Falco's dramatic unmasking of the bad guy is rather awkward (I half expected him to yell "IT WAS YOUUUUU!") and anticlimactic.

Despite that, Falco himself has aged remarkably well for a character in his nineteenth mystery -- mellow and loving to his family, prickly around his annoying relatives, hard-edged and keen-eyed when working as an informer. Helena Justina uses a solid mix of brains, charm and insight to get information Falco needs. There's also a colourful supporting cast -- oily little officials, womanizing zookeepers, surly astronomers, a snakey lawyer and a sexy mistress who's playing a dangerous game. Not to mention a new character who might come in handy in the next book.

"Alexandria" has a slightly flat grand finale, but the mystery itself is a winding, frequently deadly trip through an exotic ancient city. Definitely a good little read, especially for such a long-running series.
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