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 twelve in her twenty book series following the demobbed legionary. Just eight to go after this one.Falco has taken it upon himself to write poetry and some of the early narrative will ring true and amuse writers – the distractions, the lack of free time and the obstacles to the creative process. In fact, it carries on in this manner and the jokes are about writing, creativity and publishing. There is a lot of satire on our art and the industry, including jokes at the expense of publishing houses – especially vanity publishing. Yes, this is the self-parody and the nod to her readers who are also writers and with that, it is one of the funniest books of this hilarious series. Davis’ books have always been funny, but on few occasions have I been so reduced to tears of laughter as I was with this one.A vanity publisher had been murdered, and after being prime suspect for all of about three pages, Petronius Longus asks for Falco’s help. It is once again down to the Roman world’s most hapless and infamous Informers to find out who did it and why. With cameos from historical figures including the imperial family, Falco grumbles his way through another adventure.Not wanting to repeat myself on style and flow, after all I have written reviews of all of these so far, I’m just going to say that there’s no change of form here. You know what to expect from the quick wit, colourful range of characters, the edutainment factor and his developing relationship with the regular characters. Anacrites is still lodging with Falco’s mum and you feel that when the time comes, it will not be a pretty ending between them.I felt a bit thrown into the beginning of this one, there was no reintroduction and subtle reminders as from previous books, Davis just dives in and I felt it a little difficult to adjust, which is odd for a series that has accessibility as one of its core strengths. Thankfully, this last just a couple of chapters and I soon found myself back into the most major characters are reintroduced by about chapter 5.Great stuff, as ever.See more book reviews at my blog
Falco’s on form in this outing, grappling with financiers, patrons of the arts and writers – the first two being the same chap. Davis reminds me that contempt for banker predates the collapse of 2008 as she brings her sharp wit to bear on an, at times, decidedly anachronistic tale of a wise cracking hard boiled loner. Falco, a little bit V I Warshawski, more than a little Sam Spade and for this outing a dash of Poirot, is dragooned by his old friend and now vigile (aka, police) Petronius Longus, to take on an investigation of the patron of the arts Aurelius Chrysippus – banker, publisher and pompous ass. In doing so he is drawn into the murky world of banking and the murkier world of publishing all the while grappling with the close to impossible to see through world of his family with their tensions, pretentions and yearnings. To top it off, there is more than one murder, a couple of fairly ferocious beatings and a prime role of an adventure story in the Greek style…..There is plenty of cap doffing to other practitioners of the genre, a good dose of knowledge of Roman history and society and plenty of opportunity for sardonic chuckles. Falco continues to entertain.
What do You think about Ode To A Banker (2002)?
I am slowly starting to worry that the book cycle about Falco is slowly running out of steam. "Ode to a Banker" is a whodunnit that fails to engage - its plot is plodding and on the verge of plain boring. There is also very little of literary flair that made first couple of the books in this series such a joy to read. The saving grace of this installment consists of rather fascinating insight into banking world of imperial Rome and the fact that the main characters (by now old friends of the reader) are as endearing as always.
—Marcus
Originally published on my blog here in August 2001.Recent novels in Davis' Falco series have tended to select a particular area of Roman life on which to concentrate; One Virgin Too Many, for example, has several plot strands concerned with religious ritual. In this novel, it is the literary establishment which she satirises. This makes for one of the funniest novels in the series, as Davis works jokes about the clichés of today's publishing world, critics and writers, into her first century setting.It has already been established that Falco has aspirations as a poet, and at the start of the novel he has been persuaded to join a friend in a public reading. This brings him to the notice of a banker who runs a scriptorium - a sweatshop of slaves copying manuscripts - as a sideline. When this man is eventually murdered, Falco investigates. This is an intricately plotted mystery as well as a humorous historical novel; combining the two this successfully is a considerable achievement. Ode to a Banker is one of the best novels in the series.
—Simon Mcleish
La Davis ama intrecciare problematiche moderne (o senza tempo) con il solido background della sua Antica Roma e anche questo romanzo nella serie di Marco Didio Falco non fa eccezione.Editoria, editori a pagamento, speculazioni finanziarie, banche senza la minima etica e tanto altro fanno da contorno a questo delitto tanto complicato quanto dalla soluzione semplice e lineare.L'ironia e il sarcasmo della Davis sono sempre perfetti e accompagnano piacevolmente tutto il romanzo, imperdibile per ogni appassionato delle sorti di Marco Didio, investigatore. (Sarebbe un romanzo imperdibile anche per tutti gli altri, ma magari allora è meglio che inizino dal primo volume della serie, giusto per non perdersi le altre perle della saga).
—Lys
