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 then heads to his mother's house where he finds another squatter there, an ex-legionnaire friend of his deceased brother Festus. He has been demanding investment money for himself and his legion that was loaned to Festus for a scheme involving statues. Kicking this person named Censorinus Macer out of the house, Falco is next accused of murder when Censorinus is found brutally murdered. Falco's mother, Junilla Tacita, hires him to clear Festus's name. Then to top it all, Helena Justina is arrested as an accomplice to the murder. In order to clear HIS name, Falco must investigate what his brother was up to before he died. He uncovers a nefarious investment scheme that Festus - a decorated Judaean War hero, a charming soldier, and a con man - may have been into. In order to do that, Falco must reunite with his estranged father, Geminus - a furniture auctioneer, to find out if he was involved with the scheme - Geminus and Festus were close. Reluctantly, Falco must team up with his father to find the murderer and recover the statue or they both will lose all the money and possessions they own and Falco will end up in prison. Along the way they seek out Orontes Mediolanus - a much sought-after sculptor who was definitely involved. I think Geminus is one of the most delightful characters in the book.As usual, this is a very humorous book with a lot of witty sparing between our lovers and others. It's also full of twists and turns to get us to the conclusion. In order to marry Helena Justina - a senator's daughter - Falco must come up with a fortune to buy himself into the middle rank of society. This is a long-running theme in the series. The author also has a knack of describing events, places, and people that put you right inside the gritty scenes. Examples are Flora's Caupona with waiter Epimandos, a runaway slave; and descriptions of Manlius and Varga, two painters with short memories. A very pleasant read where you may actually laugh out loud!
This is the fifth novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth in Rome at the time of Vespasian.Falco is eager to get back to to Rome after what has seemed like an endless journey from Germania where his last adventure took him. Falco and Helena are shocked to find the apartment in Rome has been ransacked and used by squatters. Falco has been talked into staying with his mother until he finds out that she already has a lodger, an ex-legionary friend of Festus, Falco's brother and this so called "friend" is demanding money he says he is owed to him by Festus from a business venture.The next day the ex-legionary is found stabbed to death and the chief suspect is guess who? Falco has his work cut out to prove that he is innocent, find the real killer and also prove that his brother is innocent of the crime too. The last part won't be easy because it is just the sort of crude justice that Festus would employ. Falco may have to call on someone else for help. The last person he wants to be indebted to Geminus, formerly Marcus Didius Favonius, Falco's father.
Do You like book Poseidon's Gold (1995)?
Sometimes I wish I liked Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco's series more than I do. I am put off by Falco's contemporary attitude on the one hand but entranced with the stories, the characters and the plots on the other hand.This was a good one with lots of twists and in addition to the usual characters some interesting new ones. We get to know Falco's father a lot better and also learn more about his older brother, Festus, a charming soldier and con man. His lover, the aristocratic Helena, is her usual incredible self. One can't help but wonder why she sticks with Falco. Falco gets himself in all kinds of trouble trying to clear Festus' name at the behest of his mother who, while not Jewish, certainly fits the stereotype of the "Jewish Mother". All through the story, Falco tries to accumulate enough assets so he can move up the social ladder and marry Helena, whose father, though impecunious is a Senator. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, so I'll just say what fun it was to follow Falco as he tried to figure out just what his brother had gotten himself into. In spite of my intermittent distaste for Davis' attempt to make a Roman Informer sound like a present day Private Eye, i must admit each volume in the series gets and holds my interest. This one is no exception.
—Ed
Another enjoyable, beautifully-researched and bittersweet romp through the palaces and squalid back alleys of Imperial Rome, this time finding Marcus Didius back home from Germany to find an intruder in his mother's kitchen, intent on recovering a debt his dead hero brother left behind. Shame and scandal in the family? It gets worse when the intruder is found dead and even Falco's friend Petronius has him clearly in the frame. Can Falco solve the case and clear his name before the magistrate has him crucified? What does his shifty absentee father do? And will it all end with him having the wherewithal to marry Helena? I'm not telling. But it is a lovely send-up of the art market.
—Rosalind
So much family drama! Still, with Marcus and Helena, it's always enjoyable.I had to give the book three stars instead of four though for two reasons:1) The character make a HUGE DEAL about how Marcus in in SO MUCH DANGER of getting arrested... and then when Helena is arrested and he goes to see the magistrate or whatever... NOTHING HAPPENS!!! Really? The book jacket and the first however-many chapters get us all worked up over something that's resolved in six pages?2) I really did not like the twist that Marcus may have fathered his "niece". It was just so much unnecessary drama. It really didn't need to be a thing. The book would have been just fine without it. Unless it was supposed to be just more proof that Marcus had a shady past? We knew that...Also, and this is just me nitpicking, I guess, but the ending just seemed to happen at a break-neck pace. I could barely catch my breath. But overall it was still a wonderful book.Having said that, Marcus and Helena are in the running for my favorite mystery-series-couple... The amount of snark that they give to each other is devastating and wonderful.
—Rebeka
