From Amazon.com
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's stable of writers, dissatisfied with the patron's lack of enthusiasm for his latest opus or resentful about the humiliating terms of his contract? Or was Chrysippus's bloody death connected to financial shenanigans at the Aurelian Bank? Commissioned to investigate the murder by his friend Petronius Longus, Falco finds himself in the middle of a case with clues that may lie in the fragments of a manuscript found at the murder scene--or maybe in the banking records someone seems willing to kill to keep secret. At the same time, Falco's sorting out a thorny family matter concerning his mother and his sister, both of whom seem inordinately 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 the contractors his wife Helena Justina has engaged to renovate their new home.
As usual, Davis brings first century Rome to glorious life, and subtly drives home the striking parallels between ancient and contemporary business, politics, and family life. In the 12th book of in this increasingly popular series, she makes the most of every opportunity for satire and spins a lively yarn guaranteed to make the reader laugh out loud and clamor for more. Fortunately, there's a solid backlist to entertain readers encountering Falco for the first time (One Virgin Too Many, Two for the Lions). --Jane Adams
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In Davis's 12th Marcus Didius Falco story (after 2000's One Virgin Too Many), the Roman informer, a sort of Columbo in a dirty toga, investigates a sensational murder connected to the worlds of poetry, publishing and banking. It's a good mystery and, as such, the reader doesn't suspect the perpetrator until all is gradually revealed, and then everything makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, unlike historical mystery author Steven Saylor, Davis deliberately makes his ancient Rome seem contemporary. Characters talk about man management and brandish the stylus and note tablet like a Palm -Pilot. On the other hand, the technology is true to period. Without benefit of forensic evidence and crime labs, Falco has to talk to people and rely on a few clues, such as a missing sea-nettle flan from the victim's lunch tray. Did the murderer really like nettle flans so much that he stopped to snack? Moreover, like sleuths from the dawn of civilization to the present day, Falco has to get on with solving the crime amid the distractions of work and various crises here, involving his father, his mother, his sister, his lover and even his dog, Nux (Latin for "worthless"). The Romans were great believers in what we've come to call family values; the antics of the ruling families aside, those standards were important to the average Roman, including Falco. In the end, we leave Marcus Didius Falco with a wine flagon and a good scroll to read. Given the society in which he lives, he probably won't be idle for long, much to his fans' delight.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
