Three Hands in the Fountain - Hardcover

Davis, Lindsey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892966912 ISBN 13: 9780892966912

Publisher: Mysterious Press, 1999

Synopsis

In vino, veritas. But in the water supply of Rome, horroras Marcus Didius Falco is about to find out. Sharing an ewer of Spanish red with his old friend and new partner Petronius Longus, Falco is on the spot when a man cleaning the local fountain makes a gruesome discovery: a human hand. Small and evidently female, the hand suggests its owner met a terrifying fate. Naturally, Falco and Petro, formerly of the Vigiles, want to seize on it as their first big case. The officials of Rome, however, prefer to hush up the incident, since a population that riots at the drop of a toga might run wild if body parts are polluting their drinking water. Soon other delicate, dismembered hands are being found in Rome's two hundred miles of aqueduct. Now aided, inspired, and given critical clues by his wife, Helena, Falco & Partner are ready to buck the status quo and even butt heads with Falco's old boss, Chief Spy Anacrites, to crack the case. But O, Hades! The duo suspects a serial killer is at large, linked topublic festivals, and likely to strike again at the upcoming Roman Games. Even a detective as astute as Falco may not spot a twisted mind in a crowd of 250,000. And if Falco loses this race with time, another pretty victim will make a deadly splash...

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Reviews

It's the reign of Emperor Vespasian in first century Rome, and informer/spy/p.i. Marcus Didius Falco (Time to Depart, 1997, etc.) has taken a partnerlongtime friend Petronius Longus, dismissed from Rome's Fourth Cohort unit of police; living apart from wife Silvia; and infatuated with Milvia, wife of gangster Florius. (Falco, meanwhile, is happy with his loving, clever Helena and their baby daughter.) The new partners are by the Tailor Lane water fountain one day when a human hand is found by a worker. It soon develops that various body parts, all female, have been turning up in the aqueduct system over a period of time, always after one of Rome's frequent festivals. The Curator of Aqueducts is now taking the matter seriously, putting it in the hands of his Chief Spy Anacrites (anathema to Falco), assistant engineer Bolanus, and ex-consul Julius Frontinus, just appointed to the governorship of Britain. The third hand to surface wears a ring, and before long an identification is made: the victim was Asinia, wife of Caius Cicurrus, who never arrived home after attending one of the Festival Games. It becomes apparent to the investigating team that what's happening must have its origins in the countryside and hills outside Rome where the Aqueducts are fed. Falco makes extensive forays into the area, looking for those citizens who frequent Rome at Festival times, but it takes the disappearance of Claudia, fiance of Helena's brother, to send Falco on a last journey to the countrysideand to a final confrontation with a killer. Falco, less of a wise-guy in this outing, is mellowing with his new family. The puzzle and its resolution are only marginally convincing, but the evocation of ancient Romealmost street by streetshould prove a treasure to readers interested in the era. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

YA-Set in first-century Rome, this fast-paced mystery is narrated by a cynical, hard-boiled hero with an imperfectly concealed soft spot for his family. Marcus Didius Falco is back in Rome after an extended trip to Spain. His mother is trying to get him to take on a new partner: his enemy, the former Chief Spy, Anacrites. Falco's friend Petronius Longus is on suspension and in danger of becoming an ex-vigile now that his wife has reported his affair with a married woman who has ties to organized crime. Falco is able to dodge Anacrites by taking Petro on as a partner, but their lives become complicated after they discover a decomposed hand in a fountain. More body parts turn up in the water supply, and it soon becomes clear that someone has been murdering and dismembering women at major festivals for years. The authorities have tried to cover it up to prevent a riot over contaminated water, but now Falco has been given the task of finding the killer before he strikes again. Davis vividly describes life during the period, but the story is never overwhelmed by historical detail. Although the book can stand alone, fans of Falco and his wife Helena will be delighted to encounter familiar characters, from Falco's many sisters and disreputable brothers-in-law to Helena's supposedly more refined aristocratic relations. A riveting, suspenseful, witty read with lots of historical flavor.
Susan Salpini, Purcellville Library, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Secret-agent/sleuth Marcus Didius Falco (A Dying Light in Cordoba, etc.) returns with gusto for another case of mystery and intrigueAthis time involving a serial killerAin ancient Rome. As the novel opens, Falco has just come back from a perilous mission to Baetican Spain and is ready to tackle his new role as father to his first-born daughter. But his commitment to paternal responsibilities begins to lag when he and his old friend, Petronius Longus, make a gory discoveryAof a severed human hand in one of Rome's many fountains. As the inquisitive buddies do some reconnaissance work, encountering similar body parts in the Roman water supply, they learn that there is, in fact, a tradition of corpses circulating in the waterworks. Furthermore, these dead bodies often appear after public festivals. The threat of contaminated aqueducts coupled with the imminent Roman Games brings Falco and Petro to confront the authorities on the matter. Official desire to keep the problem under wraps forces the pair to determine the killer's identity on their own, with the help of Helena (Falco's wife), Anacrites (a spy and boarder in Falco's mother's home) and other toga-wearing tipsters. Once again, Davis weaves an intricate, irreverent plot filled with wittily imagined characters.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

It's 73 A.D. and Rome is ruled by the Emperor Vespasian. Freelance investigator Marcus Didius Falco and his pal Petronius Longus are lounging by a fountain enjoying a flagon of wine when, to their horror, they discover a bloated and decayed human hand in the fountain. The hand has obviously been there for months, but another hand--one that has been hacked from its owner's wrist much more recently--soon turns up in a nearby aqueduct. Fearful the killer may be trying to pollute Rome's water supply, Falco and Petronius team up to crack the case. Hampered by disbelieving officials, a bureaucracy that thwarts them at every turn, family difficulties, a frustrating absence of concrete clues, and relatives who scoff at their motives, the two manage to overcome considerable odds and nab the murderer. As readers follow the sometimes hilarious antics of Falco and Petronius (who are talented sleuths despite moments of buffoonery), they'll feel as if they've been transported back to the first century A.D., so realistic are the historical details in Davis' book, the tenth in this celebrated series. Filled with scintillating suspense, laugh-out-loud humor, devilishly clever plotting, and a cast of wonderfully eccentric characters, number 10 is among the best. See also Steven Saylor's Rubicon, reviewed on p.1484, the latest in another popular series set in ancient Rome. Emily Melton

In Davis's latest mystery featuring Marcus Didius Falco, the Roman gumshoe teams with old friend Petronius Longus to discover who is assaulting and murdering young women during festival time and then tossing their chopped-up remains into the city's reservoirs. Slow to start but with the usual good historical detail and ironic wit; necessary where historicals are popular.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892966912
• ISBN 13: 9780892966912
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368