The thirteenth novel featuring sleuth Marcus Didius Falco explores the fervor of home improvement that’s sweeping the Roman Empire and Falco’s own household, specifically the bathhouse—where a body turns up.
Some things never change. With his new villa, Falco also gets a timeless headache: building contractors. After the departure of two shady plasterers, a rank odor in the bathhouse soon leads to the discovery of a corpse under the mosaic floor. Should Falco follow the culprits to remote Britannica? Despite the British weather (damp), the inhabitants (barbarians), and the wine (second-rate), Falco takes his whole family and goes. In veritas, Falco has another, secret reason for this exodus—his sister Maia has rejected the affection of a powerful Roman official, who vows brutal revenge. Now to protect those he loves, Falco must outrun an imperial enemy with a very long—and very deadly—reach.
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“Marcus Didius Falco, everyone’s favorite sarcastic ancient Roman, undertakes a reluctant trip to far-flung Britain in his thirteenth appearance…Falco’s tongue is as sharp as ever…and Davis delivers her usual entertaining family dynamics and historically accurate details.”
— Booklist
“Queen of the humorous crime romp.”
— Guardian (London)“In the thirteenth of this popular series, Davis takes her witty and thoroughly likable Roman PI to Britain in 75 AD…[and] leaves us laughing at how little life has changed over the millennia.”
— Publishers WeeklyLindsey Davis is an English novelist of historical fiction and best known for her award-winning historical crime stories set in ancient Rome and its empire, the acclaimed Marcus Didius Falco series and the Flavia Albia series. Her novels have won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers’ Association Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award and in 2011 the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association for lifetime achievement. Born and raised in Birmingham, England, she read English at Oxford and worked for the civil service for thirteen years before becoming a writer.