Somehow, you get caught up in these Falco novels. From a reader perspective, he's likable, and gets trapped into the same sort of scrapes that you or I would (if we were a Roman era informer, that is). Over time he's acquired family, met up with old friends, and has been dumped on by dubious em...
Any fan of Lindsey Davis' Falco series will enjoy this book. His daughter, Flavia Albia, has taken the reins of the informer business and is negotiating ancient Rome as a professional woman (though not as a prostitute, as she would say). Falco and Helena are incidental characters, but they have...
I really wanted to like this. I utterly adore the Falco novels and have read every one more than once. Upon rereading Nemesis, I saw more clearly how Albia was being set up as to follow Falco. The first time I read it, I remember thinking - aargh, no, I can't stand this character, why is Linds...
This was an entertaining and interesting novel set in the reign of Domitian as emperor of Rome. It is an interesting depiction of life under a capricious and paranoid ruler and the fear and uncertainty the ruler inspires in those who have to deal with him. The main characters are a praetorian g...
I bought this thinking it was the next Marcus Didius Falco crime caper, but it's an hors series work, set in the time of the Emperor Domitian. It traces the lives of Flavia Lucilla and Gaius Vinius Clodianus from the time she (a hairdresser working for her mother) tries to report a non-burglary t...
A good history book is one thing. A good historical novel is another. 'Rebels and Traitors' tries to be both and ends up being neither. The problem is a lack of focus. There are three protagonists but none of them have a clear goal or purpose, beyond surviving through the unrest of the Civil Wars...
Writers aren’t always kind to each other but Edith Pargeter, who wrote the best selling Brother Cadfael series of Mediaeval murder mysteries, said of one of Lindsey Davis’s early novels: 'Lindsey Davis continues her exploration of Vespasian's Rome and Marcus Didius Falco's Italy with the same wit...
In Three Hands in the Fountain, Marcus returns to Rome to find out that his longtime friend Petronius Longus has been thrown out of his home–his affair with Balbina Milvia (daughter of the mob boss our boys tracked down in Time to Depart) has become public knowledge and Arria Silvia can endure th...
The mystery portion of See Delphi and Die is essentially telegraphed fairly early in the narrative. Character is character and character will out. Yet, there are enough “red herrings” and unlikable characters throughout the novel that even when one senses the eventually exposed villain, the trip ...
Marcus Didius Falco is quite exasperated. Not only has he just become a father for the second time, he is also overseeing the renovation of his future home, and on top of that, he is involved in a remake of his father's house. He is especially cross about Gloccus and Cotta, two incredibly unrelia...
I read some series like River Song travels with the Doctor: out of order. I’ve dipped and dallied with various books in the Falco series, but most recently I read Venus in Copper before going back to the source, Falco #1: The Silver Pigs. Here we meet Lindsey Davis’ private eye: Marcus Didius F...
C1996. FWFTB: olive, fatherhood, dancer, investigation, Baetica. The 8th outing of Falco the Informer. Nothing has really changed for Falco other than Helena’s pregnancy. He has still not managed to climb up the class ladder and he remains at odds with the hierarchy in general.I didn’t seem to en...
After the disappointing 4th in the series, this 5th is a real treat. It's 72 A.D. and Marcus Didius Falco and his love Helena Justina have just returned to Rome from a long six months mission commissioned by Emperor Vespasian. He finds his "home" and possessions ransacked by squatters. Falco t...
Two for the Lions sees Marcus partnering up with his old nemesis Anacrites as Census fraud investigators. Anacrites (who had tried to arrange for our hero’s death in Last Act in Palmyra) attracted the sympathy of Falco’s ma when he received a severe knock on the head in A Dying Light in Corduba. ...
This is the 18th installment in the Marcus Didius Falco mystery series but the first I ever read. The narrator/detective hero is an investigator who often works for the Emperor or other important figures in imperial Rome. The time is 76 A.D., so the emperor is Vespasian, and their December holi...
It has been almost two years since I read the previous book in the series so I am certainly overdue! One Virgin Too Many is the eleventh book in Davis' celebrated Falco series about a retired legionary setting himself up as a private detective in Vespasian's Rome. The series is funny, educational...
Marcus Didius Falco and family (just about everyone related to him) are in Ostia, Rome's busy port city. Falco is searching for the missing scribe, Diocles, who happens to write the gossip column for one of Rome's "newspapers." He of course, eventually finds the missing scribe, but not before enc...
I swear I’ve read some of these before, but they’re the type of books that are made of the same mould. Marcus Didius Falco is a “private informer” in the first-century Roman empire. Recently back from a stint in Britain on the emperor’s business, Falco finds himself in jail for crossing the emper...
This is the first Lindsay Davis novel which has disappointed me. My indifference to Last Act in Palmyra may be more my problem than the author’s. Ironically, it is the very nature of the “realism” in the book that seems to have removed my “suspension of disbelief” for the story. I realize it is s...
Have you ever been to a movie that had one or two twists too many? Have you ever thought, “This chase scene was placed here either to extend the running length of the film or to provide something recognizable for the video game?” That’s the way I feel about Shadows in Bronze. Don’t get me wrong. ...
Of all of the Falco novels, this one turned out to be one of my favorites, probably because it included more military adventures than other Falco books and swordplay.This tale of intrigue is set in Germania where Falco, Vespasian's agent, is tasked with attempting to derail a rebellion led by the...
This series reminds me of Robert B. Parker's "Spenser" series in that Marcus Didius Falco is such a wise guy like Spenser and his best friend, Petronius,is the strong silent type like Hawk.In this entry, Falco and his live-in Girl friend Helena have just returned to Rome in time for Falco to witn...
Yes, it’s that time again when I dip into the colourful world of Lindsey Davis’ 1st century Roman informer (Private Detective) Marcus Didius Falco, his high-class wife Helena Justina and their growing family as Falco seeks to move up a class and gain some credibility and standing. This is number ...
Every time I start reading one of the books in this series I think. " not as good as the last one" and then, before I know it I am completely caught up in the story staying up late to read just a few more pages and throughly enjoying myself. I like the way Marcus has developed over the years. In ...
Blank walls faced outwards, even though this dwelling possessed the added seclusion of a position on the Palatine. Everything was designed to eliminate the bustle of exterior crowds and to provide, even within the capital, a family haven of strict privacy and peace. The architects had not reckone...
I thought he would probably accept it, causing me less of a headache than I got from my own bad mood. I cannot deal well with failure. Dromo was dodging about behind me, looking at stalls and shops. I needed to keep an eye out all the time, in case I lost him. Faustus had taught him one route to ...
People in my family say this happens. You have to go home and rave about, groaning like an ogre, while everyone keeps out of your way. If you start throwing your boots at the walls too noisily, Helena comes in and settles you. She says, calm down, darling, you don’t frighten me but you are scarin...
She knew there had been arguments in parish meetings and in the taverns about whether Birmingham should defend itself or succumb. Her parents argued as hotly as anyone, though there was never any possibility her father or unenlisted brothers would fight; the Tews had decided to flee. None of them...
I took a step forward, pointing my right forefinger. “Move them back!” My tone made her believe I would carry out my threat to her eyes. It almost made me believe it too. That’s all you need. Now she saw that I too had an unforgiving past. No one crossed her; nobody crossed me. After a beat of di...
Laeta had said, ‘the Caelian Hill mob’. What did he mean? I asked Faustus but he either did not know or chose not to tell me. I continued straight ahead on my own towards the Flavian Amphitheatre. I passed along the Sacred Way to a place where my father kept an advertising space on permanent hire...