Venus in Copper

Marcus Didius Falco #3

by Lindsey Davis

Venus in Copper is the third book in Lindsey Davis' bestselling Falco series. 

  'Rats are always bigger than you expect...'

     Marcus Didius Falco, ancient Rome's hangdog investigator, hates sharing a cell with a rodent -- though being bailed by his old mother is almost as embarassing. His highborn girlfriend can't decide if she wants him and Titus Caesar's reward for past services is a wet fish. Hoping for a better life, or at least a better apartment, he takes on new clients.

     On the elegant slopes of the Pincian Hill, three nouveaux riches freedmen with two flashy wives are under siege by a clever redhead. Severina Zotica has a foul-mouthed parrot, an odd connection with a snake dancer -- and a very suspicious past. As he pursues this flame-haired fortune-hunter, Falco finds himself beset by violent rent-racketeers, poisoners, and women without consciences who have dangerous designs on him.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Crime, Historical Mystery, Detective

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Lindsey Davis, historical novelist, was born in Birmingham, England in 1949. Having taken a degree in English literature at Oxford University (Lady Margaret Hall), she became a civil servant. She left the civil service after 13 years, and when a romantic novel she had written was runner up for the 1985 Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize, she decided to become a writer, writing at first romantic serials for the UK women's magazine Woman's Realm.
Her interest in history and archaeology led to her writing a historical novel about Vespasian and his lover Antonia Caenis (The Course of Honour), for which she couldn't find a publisher. She tried again, and her first novel featuring the Roman "detective", Marcus Didius Falco, The Silver Pigs, set in the same time period and published in 1989, was the start of her runaway success as a writer of historical whodunnits. A further nineteen Falco novels and Falco: The Official Companion have followed, as well as The Course of Honour, which was finally published in 1998. Rebels and Traitors, set in the period of the English Civil War, was published in September 2009. Davis has won many literary awards, and was honorary president of the Classical Association from 1997 to 1998.

Reviews

[Kara Babcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 emperor’s chief spy. Thanks to his mother and his girlfriend, he gets his freedom—and a new apartment—and immediately sets about acquiring a new case. He has to shadow and investigate a gold-digger, Severina Zotica, who might also be a black widow.

Lindsey Davis’ characters are flip, and none is more flip than Falco himself. Not even a rat-infested prison can get this guy down. Brutal enforcers, bullies, and threats? Falco laughs in their faces. A slim volume and short chapters add to the sense that this is a light read. As far as mysteries go, Venus in Copper comes down decidedly in the “fun” category.

Also, the mystery is a sideline to the book’s chief strength. I like mysteries—they were my first genre love, even prior to science fiction. However, I find that mysteries are at their best when they are intensely interested in exploring the fallibility of the human condition that leads people to commit murder (or any other crime). Davis does this only in the most shallow ways, examining who stands to benefit from Hortensius Novus’ murder without really digging into the psychology behind it. Her characters, because of their flip and foppish behaviours, don’t have the depth required to make them into compelling heroes or villains.

It’s a good thing, then, that Venus in Copper has more going for it than its murder mystery. Rather, it’s the book’s setting, Davis’ mastery of milieu, that makes it so enjoyable. Davis does an excellent job of depicting how similar life in ancient Rome was to contemporary Western living. There were divisions based on class, wealth, and lineage. There were letting agents and landlords and tenants. There were big dinner parties and concerns about making good impressions on one’s in-laws. Davis manages to impress us with the efficiency and complexity of Roman society, despite its primitive technology compared to us—and she does this without being pompous or overbearing about it. Rather than heap majestic descriptions of architecture or politics on us, she delivers bite-sized explanations, narrated by Falco, of everything we need to know. It’s very cool.

There is nothing here that makes Venus in Copper stand out as an amazing mystery or an amazing novel. But it combines my interest in ancient Rome with my love of mystery, and in so doing earns a lot of credibility with me right away. Davis doesn’t disappoint, and while it might not be as psychologically thrilling as I would like, it’s still entertaining and worthwhile. I’m not sure going to make an effort to read the entire series in order, but I’ll definitely pick up any of the other books if I happen to encounter them. (In fact, I have book one as well … I just didn’t realize this was book two when I started reading it.)

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in 2011, and its the 3rd volume of the tremendous Marcus Didius Falco series.

This book is set in the year AD 71, and Falco is finally released from prison, and to make it worse for him, he's bailed out by his mother.

After thinking thigs can't go worse, he's hired by a group of nouveau riche ex-slaves to investigate the cases of husbands dying accidentally.

What he will be against is a formidable female opponent who's a fierce contortionist, her extra-friendly snake and rent racketeers, while at the same time trying to lure the bright and beautiful Helena Justina to live with him at Fountain Court.

What is to follow is a thrilling murder mystery in which Falco will need to explore every angle of this case, and with the invaluable help from Helena Justina this can't go wrong, so in the end after eliminating all obstacles he'll be able to solve this case of murders in his own notorious fashion.

Highly recommended, for this is a superb addition to this wonderful series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Formidable Venus Mystery"!

[Ana M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tercera entrega de la extensa saga Marco Didio Falco. Después de los servicios que prestó al emperador ha sido encarcelado por un pequeño problema de contabilidad. Su madre será la que le saque de la cárcel pagando la fianza y, sin el trabajo del emperador, debe buscar nuevos clientes para mantener su alquiler pagado y ahorrar para subir de categoría. En este caso será contratado por dos mujeres porque piensan que uno de sus socios va a ser asesinado. Así se verá envuelto en un misterio donde las inmobiliarias y su corrupción van a ir saliendo a flote, al mismo tiempo que conoce a una peculiar señorita que se verá envuelta en toda esta historia.

Como siempre es un gusto volver a leer a Marco. Me encanta este personaje y sobre todo Helena. Este caso quizá no me gustó tanto como el anterior, pero he disfrutado mucho de la lectura por las escenas familiares con la extensa y excéntrica familia de Marco y los tiras y afloja entre protagonistas. La ambientación y la recreación de la vida cotidiana de la época me siguen fascinando y estoy segura que antes de que termine el año leeré el siguiente de la saga.

[Assaph Mehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Venus in Copper picks is the third in the Falco adventures series. While the overall framework is the same, Davis is starting to explore other facets of life in Rome. This is a theme that runs throughout the series. Rather than a stencil repeat, each novel concentrates on another aspect of society.

Be aware that while it's not necessary to read the books in order, it certainly helps.

--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, Marcus Didius Falco, Informer (detective) is late paying his rent to landlord Smaractus on his sixth-floor walk-up in a slum of first century Rome. But this time, it isn't entirely his fault - during his last job for the Emperor Vespasian, Falco had to borrow the Emperor's lead ingots which he failed to return. In order to protect his undercover identity as a salesman, he actually had to sell the lead for plumbing pipes ( , book #2 in the Falco detective series). So, the Emperor's Chief Spy, Anacrites, had him thrown in jail for theft. Falco knows he needs to speak to the Emperor - if Anacrites doesn't convince the Emperor to throw away the key to his cell first!

Fortunately Falco has lots of friends, especially L. Petronius Longus, a Captain of the Aventine Watch and his best friend, and a large family consisting of a mother and several married sisters. He also has an influential girlfriend, Helena Justina, a Senator's daughter. Which of them would post bail?

Of course. Mom. Alas.

Well, a new case presents itself when a slave, Hyacinthus, presents himself in Falco's apartment to ask him to attend an interview with two women who share the house of his master, Hortensius Novas, a Freedman (ex-slaves). Novas is very wealthy now through dealings in real estate, and he has some sort of house-sharing and business partnership arrangement with the two other ex-slaves, the women Sabina Pollia and Hortensia Atilia. Novas plans to marry, but the women wish to hire Falco to stop Novas' wedding. Atilia and Pollia very much hope that if Falco investigates the woman Novas plans to marry he will find evidence of wrongdoing by her, so the wedding will be called off.

There is gossip Severina Zotica killed her first three husbands, and the women suspect she intends to do the same with Novas. Novas is an old man and Severina is a beautiful young ex-slave woman, having married her first husband and master at age 16. With every marriage, Severina has increased her wealth, and every husband died in suspicious circumstances, each leaving her as their heir in their wills.

Falco takes the case, but soon he realizes everyone involved in this case is twisted. He dislikes his clients, he dislikes the man he is trying to save, and he dislikes the possible murderous bride-to-be. Anacrites keeps trying to arrest him again, the Emperor is out of town, Helena is mad at him, and Helena's parents disapprove of his lifestyle.

Could things get worse? Of course. The first body is discovered in the bathroom....

This is a delightful detective series with a lot of included detail about ancient Roman life. The first two books in the series were almost too dense with facts about ancient Roman history which overwhelmed each mystery in my opinion; however, the author Lindsay Davis has written this novel with all of the conventional genre elements up front and center! I think the series needs to be read in order, though, because of the continuing family drama.

[Matthew Gatheringwater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these mysteries so much that I've started to ration them for prescriptive reading. (Prescriptive reading? Books read with the intention of changing one's mood, attitude, or perspective, selected on the basis of their being considered likely to induce a desired change. I have all sorts of prescriptive books for all sorts of ailments: books to read when I have a cold, books for depression, for anger, for heart-sickness and inappropriate detachment. And then there are books for seasons, situations, and times of life. It isn't easy to match a book to an ailment, since personal tastes differ, but imagine if this was a valued skill. Every library or coffeehouse could have its own resident bibliognost available for consultation: 'I'm thinking of having an affair although I am financially and emotionally dependent upon my husband, can you recommend a book?' 'Come back to see me after you've read Madam Bovary,' replies the bibliognost and she does and then starts a separate checking account. See? It makes a lot of sense to me.) The next book in this series is going to help me through a cold.

[Viencienta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cómo me gusta el capullo de Falco! Prubitín mío, es muy cínico, muy listo y muy gracioso. Este caso no me ha gustado tanto como los anteriores, pero Falco arregla todo él mismo. De la cárcel a ponerse a buenas con el imperio, a medio resolver el caso y a estar a buenas con Helena... casi nada! Me sigue encantando esa Roma del día a día y no sé porqué me imagino a la madre de Falco como a la de Brian... No serán los mejores libros, pero me río y los disfruto como una enana.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leído en 2011.
Una novela más del detective romano en tiempos del emperador Vespasiano.

Te da lo que la pides : detalles de la época, fina ironía, bien escrita, ágil y un poco de intriga.

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m enjoying this series more with each book, read with the Reading the Detectives group.

I’ve grown to care about Didius Falco, a poor man who works as an “informer” in Ancient Rome (read private detective), his true love, Helena Justina (a senator’s daughter, so out of his reach, socially), his best friend, Petronius, and his large family.

We get to see more of his long-suffering mother and family in this outing. It opens with mum bailing him out of jail, and one of the funniest scenes involves an impromptu rowdy feast of a mammoth turbot gifted to him by Emperor Vespasian’s son - who turns up unexpectedly to dine on it, along with the whole family.

Despite the attempts to draw Falco back to imperial service, he decides to go back to private work. Falco is hired by two former female slaves, who, along with their husbands, are partners in Rome’s shady real estate business. The fifth member of the household and business is Hortensius, a bachelor who’s recently gotten engaged. But his intended has already buried three husbands; the two women clients think she’s a gold digger out to kill another husband and get his portion of the business.

I alternated between reading the book and listening to the Audible, wonderfully narrated by Simon Prebble. I’ve realized this series works best for me as an audiobook- Prebble really captures the dry, self-deprecating humor, and his wry delivery makes the most of the Roman noir vibe. Author Lindsey Davis’s research is very good, she really enveloped me in the Ancient Roman world of shoddy tenement living, corruption and greed. Petronius helps his friend Falco with information on how shady real estate developers operate: What happens is: the Hortensii own a piece of property, and raise a loan secured on it. Then they repeat the process - same property but a new lender; and again;as many times as possible. They pick simple minded investors who don’t know - or don’t enquire - that there are previous secured debts.

But it’s not just about greedy landlords - people die when buildings collapse. It becomes very personal for Falco, and the last quarter or so of the book was especially engrossing for me (no spoilers).

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rome AD 71 and, when we catch-up with Falco, he is languishing in prison. However, this is the third in the series and Davis moves away from the lead ingots storyline and we see Falco taking on a private case. This is a really entertaining mystery, as Falco is hired by a group of nouveau riche, ex-slaves, who live and work together. One of their number, Hortensius Novus, is betrothed to the beautiful Severina Zotica. The problem being that she has had three previous husbands, who all died in unusual circumstances.

Falco sets out to investigate her motives and, in this book, he and Helena become a couple. I dislike series where there is a constant on-off again relationship, so it is good that they settle down fairly quickly although there are definite bumps in the road. The author cleverly merges the past and the contemporary, to make this a fun read, and one of the most enjoyable historical mystery series there is. Very enjoyable and I look forward to continuing my re-read of the series next year.

[Peat · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my very favourites in the series, if only because of the sentimental grounds of watch Falco and Helena definitely become "they will". No, whole series of "will they/won't they" aren't great. There's a wonderful crowd of nefarious rich types as well - gotta wonder who Davies was interacting with at the time - and its just great entertainment.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little mystery. I like her writing very much. I normally don't care for anachronisms in my historical fiction, but Davis is so subtle that it's completely inoffensive. Like an offhand comment from Falco about the unsuitability of a Gallic slave for work as a chef.

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo ricordavo come uno dei casi più belli della serie, e infatti non mi ha tradita, in un momento in cui mi sono ribellata alle letture obbligate e ho deciso di crogiolarmi nella mia comfort zone.
Questa volta l'intero caso si svolge a Roma, tra abusi edilizi e liberti rapaci che si sono arricchiti sulla pelle degli altri senza alcuno scrupolo. Falco viene ingaggiato da due liberte che hanno sposato due loro sodali e vivono insieme a un terzo, che sta per convolare a nozze con quella che Falco definisce una moglie di professione, visto che è tre volte vedova e che ogni volta la dipartita del marito appare piuttosto losca, anche se la rossa Severina Zotica - questo il nome della donna - è riuscita sempre a scamparla.
Tra visite poco gradite alle Latomie per aver indisposto il perfido Anacrite, la spia di palazzo, pagamenti mal riscossi e debiti saldati, Falco si ritrova a cambiare casa e a chiedere a Elena di andare a vivere con lui, cosa che accade proprio la stessa sera in cui Tito gli ha fatto recapitare un rombo gigante a pagamento di una scommessa.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - English Ebook

In this third book of the Falco series, our erstwhile "informer" is hired to suss out the intentions of one recently engaged gold- digger whose previous two marriages ended in disaster for her betrothed.

But, before Falco can piece the lady's plan together, her fiancee is killed, the gold- digger's suspectedness is questioned, and a sophisticated lady comes to reside, for good, in Falco's new high-society apartment.

Davis continues to delight with the Falco series. Humor once again pervades the narration but is much subtler and wittier than ever.

The story, too, is more subtle in its development and much more appealing to a mass market audience, not just fans of the genre.

Enjoyed this third in the series a lot. If you in historical detectives witch are well researched, these are the books for you.

[Fabiola Parmesan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un altro eccezionale romanzo della scrittrice Lindsey Davis in cui il protagonista Falco dovrà risolvere l'omicidio di un ricco liberto. Gli indiziati sembrerebbero tutti colpevoli, le prove contraddittorie, ma alla fine si giunge a una inaspettata conclusione anche grazie all'aiuto di Elena.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good entry into this Roman Empire based series. Set in 71 AD, Falco is hired to check into a thrice-widowed woman whose husbands have died under mysterious circumstances. Then he is hired by the same widow to investigate another death.

The most entertaining part of the book was when Vespasian's son, Titus, invites himself to Falco's house for dinner with Falco's very plebeian family. Hilarity ensues.

If anything the mystery was made more confusing by many sharing the same or similar names, as was not uncommon in Rome. Still when all of the freedmen (former slaves) adopt the name of their former master, it's hard to tell them apart and keep the good guy separate from the bad guys.

[ALPHAreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, the proviso that I'm not listening to the unabridged audio but rather the BBC radio-play adaptation of the first X5 books, which are each 4-hour(ish) long.

And omg, another gem! I am loving this series so much (in fact, so much that I've trawled ebay looking for anyone selling copies!) I particularly love the Falco and Helena romance, and that it carries the tragedy of the last book into this new dimension of their burgeoning romance. Those two are fast becoming an all-time fave book couple, for me!

[Writerlibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3 1/2 stars. This is the first post conspiracy novel and it focuses on what works: the relationships between the characters. Falco and Helena finally decide to kept dancing together to the joy of the reader. The plot is weaved into the characters struggle and emotions. The plot serves the characters development and it works. As in real life the villains do not always get what's coming to them and it's okay since the characters live to be happy another day, another week.

[Gayle (OutsmartYourShelf) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure with the first two books but now I am really starting to warm to Marcus Didius Falco. This book was very enjoyable with Falco investigating a possible 'black widow'. His romance with Helena is also back on track and very sweet in parts. Looking forward to the next one.

[Michelle Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy these books. Thank you

[Jacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vespasian's chief Spy Anacrites, is trying to arrest Falco for the theft of lead, used as plot points in both of the first two Falco books. Yes, technically he did purloin the lead, but it was done in order to track down one of the Emperor Vespasian's enemies, and is more of an error in accounting. Trying to raise the money to raise his status to middle rank so he can marry his upper-crust girlfriend, Helena Justina, Falco takes on new clients. Once again, sadly, Gordon Griffin doesn't quite capture Falco's voice, so some of the quirkiness is lost. Anton Lesser in the abridged BBC audio recordings of the first five Falco books was brilliant, and the later books narrated by the late Christian Rodska are pretty good. Gordon Griffin reads well but is a bit characterless.

[John Frankham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third in this series. Good plotting, dialogue, and most important to the author, lots of information about life in Rome in the first century AD. Good development of our hero's love life with Helena, the senator's daughter, who really is too good for him - such is love!

Marcus Didius Falco, Imperial Rome's answer to Columbo, is hired by relatives of a wealthy real estate developer, Hortensius, to find his murderer. What Falco uncovers is a hotbed of crime in the unscrupulous business dealings of Hortensius. The third book in the series of amusing, romantic detective thrillers set in ancient Rome.

[Halley Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than I remembered.

[Verónica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy buena novela de crímenes y detectives pero ambientada en la Antigua Roma, lo que le hace ganar puntos porque retrata muy bien y de manera muy amena la época y la localización.
Además, el protagonista, Falco, tiene una personalidad muy peculiar y característica; me encanta su ironía y su extraña honestidad. Y, por supuesto, me declaro fan absoluta de Helena.

[Russell Wardle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more than the first two that I've read which I gave 3 stars. But I didn't enjoy enough to give 4 stars if possible I would have give it three and quarter stars

[Druss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook well read. Plenty of twists. Well written

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good historical fiction, and the relationship between Marcus Didius and Helena Justina is finally beginning to fit two full-grown people and not a pair of pre-adolescents. The plot was over-the-top complicated, with (as our hero admits) "No evidence" for a lot of the conclusions he reaches, and the black widow character sitting at her loom is too much of a stereotype for my taste.

[gardienne_du_feu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcus Didius Falco sitzt mal wieder in der Klemme oder vielmehr im Knast. Als ihn seine liebende Mutter freikauft, schwankt er zwischen Peinlichkeit und Freude. Kaum heimgekehrt in seine Bruchbude auf dem Aventin, erreicht ihn sein neuester Auftrag: ein reich gewordener Ex-Sklave namens Hortensius ist im Begriff, eine Frau zu heiraten, deren vorherige Ehemänner - drei an der Zahl - allesamt auf mysteriöse Art und verdächtig schnell ums Leben gekommen sind. Falcos Aufgabe soll es nun sein, zu verhindern, dass Hortensius das vierte Opfer der Lady wird.

Falco ist nicht allzu begeistert, macht sich aber an die Nachforschungen, schließlich braucht er mal wieder Geld. Als es tatsächlich zu einem Todesfall kommt, ist dem pfiffigen Römer ziemlich schnell klar, dass seine bisherigen Theorien nicht allzu viel taugen. Sein Ehrgeiz, den Fall aufzuklären, wächst, doch bis er auf einen grünen Zweig kommt, dauert es noch eine Weile, nicht zuletzt, weil ihm der Eigensinn seiner Helena, die Suche nach einer neuen Bleibe und ein Edelfisch in Übergröße in die Quere kommen.

Mit diesem dritten Teil der Falco-Reihe hat mich Lindsey Davis endgültig überzeugt, dass ich die Bücher alle lesen muss. Der ironische Tonfall, der mir im ersten Band noch so "unrömisch" erschien, passt einfach zu diesem herrlichen Antihelden und hat mich ständig zum Lachen gebracht. Das weitere Personal wie die blitzgescheite Helena, die genau weiß, was sie will, Falcos chaotische Schwesternschar und sein Kumpel Petro ist mir inzwischen sehr ans Herz gewachsen, die kleinen Details aus dem Alltag lassen das alte Rom zu neuem Leben erstehen und zeugen bei aller Schnoddrigkeit von guter Recherche.

Dabei schafft es Davis auch noch, einen verwickelten und spannenden Kriminalfall aufzubauen und auf überraschende Weise zu lösen sowie in Falcos Privatleben einige Dramatik aufkommen zu lassen, so dass der nächste Band am besten schon gleich griffbereit liegt.

Um es mit den alten Römern zu sagen: liber mirabilis - ein wunderbares Buch!

[Benjamin]

The first two books in this series are about Marcus Didius Falco, ex-soldier and current "private informer," getting tangled with an imperial conspiracy and a senator's daughter. The second book felt a bit like it was running in place with the romance angle -- there'd be a misunderstanding, a feeling that things were irretrievably broken, and then they would be retrieved. Having some faith in Ben Aaronovitch -- author of the Rivers of London series of fantasy police in modern London -- who rated the second book lower than the first or third, I decided to take the plunge and just read on, and am reasonably happy that I did.

Not only does the romance feel less cyclical -- and maybe even less central to the love interest's own story, which seems to be slightly less "does my love for this person mean that we should be together despite our huge differences?" than "who do I want to be?" -- but we are outside the Imperial conspiracy angle, and into a straightforward (but not at all) case of murder and real estate speculation. Someone here commented that this book is more the pattern of what the others will be: Marcus getting involved in a new institutional structure. Does that make it sound like The Wire for Ancient Rome? Maybe it's not quite that, but it was still a very enjoyable (and shorter) mystery.

***

2025 Reread
How? Pleasant audiobooks for mental sanity.

What? Marcus Didio Falco + mystery + romance with senator's daughter.

Yeah, so? Still fun. It is interesting to reread a book and remember, say, one big set-piece (to spoil it, Marcus makes some money, moves into a nicer neighborhood to try to up his social standing and get Helena to move in with him; but when she does, it's more like she's running away than running towards, and they remain separate; but then the apartment collapses, and they first think the other is dead and realize they love each other) and then to not have any memory of the actual mystery.

[Melissa McShane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this volume of the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries was where I really got hooked by the series. It's hard for me to classify: is it a mystery with an historical setting, or historical fiction with a mystery-based plot? Venus in Copper is a good mystery story about a "black widow" who may have killed three husbands and gotten away with it, and is now engaged to marry a fourth...or is she trying to protect him from someone else who wants him dead? There are a lot of suspects, a lot of motives, and any number of red herrings as more bodies surface. I especially liked the minor characters, who were distinctive despite there being many more of them than usual. Falco's relationship with Helena continues to develop, though the ultimate question of whether it can be official is still deferred, and it doesn't help that Titus Caesar (another of my favorites) has started sniffing around Helena. This story makes me wonder just how man-of-the-people Titus really was; could he, for example, truly been comfortable in a rickety sixth-floor apartment, sitting on the floor and eating turbot parboiled in an old shield? I'd really like to believe so.