From Publishers Weekly
No caveats for readers of Davis's second playful, well-plotted mystery featuring imperial agent Marcus Didius Falco and based in first century, C.E., Rome. Nero's successor Vespasian has squelched an early treasonous plot and assigned Falco to take care of loose ends, which include the body of the uncle of the high-born young widow Helena Justina, whom Falco met and courted stormily in Silver Pigs. Disguised as an idle vacationer in the company of his comrade and captain of the Aventine Watch, Petronius Longus and family, Falco travels south to Neapolis, Capreae and Pompeii (eight years before its destruction) where he uncovers and must thwart a new conspiracy involving the shipment of Egyptian grain to Rome and an unwitting Helena. Like a toga-clad McGee or Spenser, Falco has a modern sensibility that wears its ancient trappings comfortably, whether he's sneaking down a narrow Roman street or feasting sumptuously at a sunlit coastal villa. A rousing horserace in the Circus Maximus, balanced with a touching romantic resolution, rounds out this action-packed entertainment, enlivened by Davis's vivid characterization of both major and minor players, and his clear delight in--and easy authority with--the story's time and place.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Falco, an imperial agent for the Emperor Vespasian in 1st century Rome, has an eye for pretty women but a heart that belongs only to Helena, daughter of Senator Verus. Because of Falco's humble origins the lady is quite out of his league; still the attraction is mutual. This is the author's second novel with Falco as hero (the first was Silver Pigs, LJ 9/1/89). Here the Emperor asks him to track down treasonous plotters still smarting from Vespasian's usurpation of the throne. The real beauty of this novel lies in its well-etched characters including wayward senators; rascally friends of Falco; and troubled members of his family. In addition, Davis gives us the wonderful wit of narrator Falco and a de lightful evocation of ancient Rome's sights, sounds, and smells.
- Patricia Altner, Dept. of Defense Lib., Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.