Synopsis
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.
Reviews
The intriguing premise of a detective story set in Imperial Rome in 70 A.D. is unpredictably fulfilled by Davis's hero-gumshoe, M. Didius Falco, an iconoclastic young republican. Falco rescues the niece of a senator from a kidnapping attempt, is attracted by both her innocence and the secret she keeps regarding a silver ingot (the "pig" of the title) and then stricken when her corpse is found in a spice warehouse. Hired by her family to track down the reasons behind her death, Falco spends the winter in Britain working as a slave in a silver mine. Enduring vividly depicted hardship with customary sharp-witted pluck, he picks up the hints of a plan to overthrow Vespasian, the current emperor. He also meets the senator's divorced, sharp-tongued daughter, Helena Justina, and brings her back to Rome where they work with--and against--each other to bring the well-developed plot to its satisfying conclusion. Wisecracking in ancient idiom, Falco seems, nevertheless, a recognizably up-to-date young man, one whose honor, humor and humanity work him quickly into reader's affection. Davis's story, though couched in period detail, rewards as much for deft handling of plot and depth of characterization as for its historicity.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Describe a detective in seedy surroundings, an impulsive young woman, intrigue in high places, and the plot sounds all too familiar. But, name the detective Marcus Didius Falco, place him in first-century Rome, and an entertaining newcomer to fictional detectives is introduced. In 70 A.D., Falco is a cynical observer of himself and society under the new emperor, Vespasian. An encounter with a senator's niece precipitates a sequence of events including murder, plots within the ruling family, and a trip to Britain to uncover thefts in the Roman silver mines. Woven into Falco's adventures are humor, romance, suspense, and clues for the discerning reader. The maps are helpful and even the "Dramatis Personae" is entertaining. Highly recommended for mystery or historical fiction collections.
- Ellen Kaye Stoppel, Drake Univ. Law Lib., Des Moines
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
