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Marcus Didius Falco #8
A Dying Light in Corduba
Marcus Didius Falco is ready to make new contacts and start a new career, and a dinner for the Society of Olive Oil Producers of Baetica seems like the perfect opportunity. But when two dinner guests are found beaten--one dead--Falco knows he cannot rest until he solves at least one more mystery.
436 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
64 people are currently reading
918 people want to read
About the author
Lindsey Davis
78 books1,493 followersLindsey 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
April 28, 2019
Liquid gold - olive oil
Rome depended on it
A plot to capture the market takes our detective Falco to Rome's Spanish province to find the ringleaders.
His is working for the Chief Spy, but is paid by the Chief Secretary. These two are engaged in a power struggle to stop the oil cartel or control it.
He must deal with tycoons with low motives, murderous women in disguise, and a new administration head, Quadratus, who thinks he knows it all (and doesn't).
Quadratus
'He is the worst kind, Falco. We've had them all. We've had them rude and over-confident. We've had debauched young tyrants who live in the brothels. We've had fools who can't count, or spell, or compose a sentence in any language, let alone in correspondence-Greek But when we heard that Quadratus had been wished on us as quaestor, those of us in the know nearly packed up and left.'
'What makes him so bad?'
'You can't pin him down. He looks as if he knows what he is doing. He has success written all over him, so it's pointless to complain. He is the sort the world loves - until he comes unstuck.'
To add to Falco's problems he is traveling with his wife, who is very pregnant.
The clock is ticking.
Can he solve the oil problem before his child is safely born?
Another delight mystery-murder in my favorite Roman detective series of Marcus Didius Falco.
Enjoy!
Rome depended on it
A plot to capture the market takes our detective Falco to Rome's Spanish province to find the ringleaders.
His is working for the Chief Spy, but is paid by the Chief Secretary. These two are engaged in a power struggle to stop the oil cartel or control it.
He must deal with tycoons with low motives, murderous women in disguise, and a new administration head, Quadratus, who thinks he knows it all (and doesn't).
Quadratus
'He is the worst kind, Falco. We've had them all. We've had them rude and over-confident. We've had debauched young tyrants who live in the brothels. We've had fools who can't count, or spell, or compose a sentence in any language, let alone in correspondence-Greek But when we heard that Quadratus had been wished on us as quaestor, those of us in the know nearly packed up and left.'
'What makes him so bad?'
'You can't pin him down. He looks as if he knows what he is doing. He has success written all over him, so it's pointless to complain. He is the sort the world loves - until he comes unstuck.'
To add to Falco's problems he is traveling with his wife, who is very pregnant.
The clock is ticking.
Can he solve the oil problem before his child is safely born?
Another delight mystery-murder in my favorite Roman detective series of Marcus Didius Falco.
Enjoy!
October 9, 2021
**Should Read as 4.5 Stars!**
Read this book in 2013, and its the 8th volume of the wonderful Marcus Didius Falco series.
This tale is set at first in Spain, with Falco, his now Patrician wife, Helena Justina, Falco's brother-in-law, Aelianus, and not to forget, Anacrites, the Imperial Chief Spy, at a banquet for the Society of Olive Oil Producers.
Not during the banquet, as was suspected by Falco, but afterwards Anacrites is badly wounded by a golden arrow last seen in the bow of the party dancer, but that lady is now on her way to Corduba.
While tracking that lady throughout the Peninsula to Corduba, Falco and his heavily pregnant wife, Helena Justina are discovering a slippery scandal in the olive trade, and a trail of murders is also on their path in their attempt to catch this killer without a conscience.
What is to follow is an exciting Roman mystery, in which Falco and Helena Justina will encounter a vicious and cunning villain, and one to pay full attention to in his attempt to apprehend this dangerous and deadly culprit before any more deaths follow, in the end succeeding in his eventful mission, and besides that a beautiful family occasion will occur with the birth of their first born.
Highly recommended, for although this is not the very top, it is still another wonderful episode of this awesome series, and that's why I like to call this book: "An Excellent Spanish Olive Oil Adventure"!
Read this book in 2013, and its the 8th volume of the wonderful Marcus Didius Falco series.
This tale is set at first in Spain, with Falco, his now Patrician wife, Helena Justina, Falco's brother-in-law, Aelianus, and not to forget, Anacrites, the Imperial Chief Spy, at a banquet for the Society of Olive Oil Producers.
Not during the banquet, as was suspected by Falco, but afterwards Anacrites is badly wounded by a golden arrow last seen in the bow of the party dancer, but that lady is now on her way to Corduba.
While tracking that lady throughout the Peninsula to Corduba, Falco and his heavily pregnant wife, Helena Justina are discovering a slippery scandal in the olive trade, and a trail of murders is also on their path in their attempt to catch this killer without a conscience.
What is to follow is an exciting Roman mystery, in which Falco and Helena Justina will encounter a vicious and cunning villain, and one to pay full attention to in his attempt to apprehend this dangerous and deadly culprit before any more deaths follow, in the end succeeding in his eventful mission, and besides that a beautiful family occasion will occur with the birth of their first born.
Highly recommended, for although this is not the very top, it is still another wonderful episode of this awesome series, and that's why I like to call this book: "An Excellent Spanish Olive Oil Adventure"!
October 29, 2009
Set in 73 AD: Our heroes Falco and Helena, who are shortly expecting their first child, travel to Spain on a mission to track down a murderer and uncover shenanigans in the olive oil market.
Not one of my favorites in this series, but these are consistently amusing. I prefer the ones that are set in the city of Rome, which so far is about every other book. So I'm looking forward to the next one.
The details of the olive oil business were interesting, and I liked the depiction of a wild teenage party, Roman provincial style.
Not one of my favorites in this series, but these are consistently amusing. I prefer the ones that are set in the city of Rome, which so far is about every other book. So I'm looking forward to the next one.
The details of the olive oil business were interesting, and I liked the depiction of a wild teenage party, Roman provincial style.
December 28, 2016
'A Dying Light in Corduba', #8 in the Marcus Didius Falco detective series, is an overcomplicated plot involving Roman and Baetican (Spanish) politicians scheming to monopolize the olive oil market. I was not convinced despite the complexity - it was a Rube Goldberg device from beginning to end. Oh well.
Roman Falco takes his 7-month pregnant girlfriend, Helena Justina, to Spain at her insistence, despite the potential dangers of bad guys and to her pregnancy. She refuses to be left alone in Rome. Falco had promised to be with her when the baby comes, so he agrees to let her travel with him.
He has been given an assignment by Claudius Laeta, a Roman clerk with ambition, to learn who is behind a murder and an attempted murder after a party attended by members of the Society of Baetician Olive Oil Producers who met for dinner and a dance - and also, perhaps, for beginning a cartel conspiracy to fix oil prices! Shortly after the party, several of the Society's members immediately leave Rome for Baetica, so that is where Falco must go. He would not normally have taken this assignment, but he and Helena need the money, especially with a baby on the way. Neither has ever been to Spain before, but they discover Romans do what they do everywhere - plot, scheme and try to build great family dynasties over the dead bodies of others in their way...
Roman Falco takes his 7-month pregnant girlfriend, Helena Justina, to Spain at her insistence, despite the potential dangers of bad guys and to her pregnancy. She refuses to be left alone in Rome. Falco had promised to be with her when the baby comes, so he agrees to let her travel with him.
He has been given an assignment by Claudius Laeta, a Roman clerk with ambition, to learn who is behind a murder and an attempted murder after a party attended by members of the Society of Baetician Olive Oil Producers who met for dinner and a dance - and also, perhaps, for beginning a cartel conspiracy to fix oil prices! Shortly after the party, several of the Society's members immediately leave Rome for Baetica, so that is where Falco must go. He would not normally have taken this assignment, but he and Helena need the money, especially with a baby on the way. Neither has ever been to Spain before, but they discover Romans do what they do everywhere - plot, scheme and try to build great family dynasties over the dead bodies of others in their way...
December 12, 2017
Back on the road, Falco travels to Spain and explores the all-important Olive Oil trade across the Roman empire. (And if you think for a moment that ancient trade was not a global phenomenon on a vast scale, look up Monte Testaccio).
Expect a convoluted plot encompassing politicians and money, as well as agricultural and trade copnsiderations. I personally love the setting (having visited modern Cordoba), but this was a quick and lighter read than the previous volume in the series (Time to Depart).
Be aware that while it's not necessary to read the books in order, it certainly helps - certainly so far into the series.
--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
Expect a convoluted plot encompassing politicians and money, as well as agricultural and trade copnsiderations. I personally love the setting (having visited modern Cordoba), but this was a quick and lighter read than the previous volume in the series (Time to Depart).
Be aware that while it's not necessary to read the books in order, it certainly helps - certainly so far into the series.
--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
December 29, 2009
Eighth in the series. The plot grows rather convoluted, working through layers upon layers of misinformation and double dealing as the ruling Roman bureacracy, with myriad counterproductive agencies and factions, confronts the possible formation of an economic cartel to control the increasingly lucrative olive oil trade coming out of first century Spain, now solidly under Roman rule for enough generations to have the language and Roman traditions fairly well established. Finding out who actually did what is not the fun part here, no, the fun part is appreciating day to day life in Cordoba then, as percieved through the eyes of our rascally hero Falco, accompanied by his very pregnant investigative and life partner Helena. Davis actually makes learning about agricultural, commercial, and political practices in this time and region entertaining, and we advance the series' story line along to the birth of the pair's first child.
March 2, 2022
Helena Justina is due to give birth, Marcus Didius Falco and she set off to unravel an oily conspiracy in southern Spain.
Although the books can be read individually it’s better read them in order to follow the relationship between Falco and Helena
Although the books can be read individually it’s better read them in order to follow the relationship between Falco and Helena
December 14, 2013
This is a Marcus and Helena go to Spain, have a baby and solve an oil cartel problem on the side plot. I liked it, less than when I first read it many, many years ago.. I had forgotten most of the oil cartel plot points but it's the beginning of Marcus and Helena as a family, Anacrites has met Falco's mother and boy.. does that turn out to be a pain for our poor, suffering hero in the long run. Light reading with no consequences.
August 21, 2017
The book was a little slow at the beginning, but by the beginning of Part Two (Chapter 19), the pace picked up, and I was thoroughly hooked. Davis presents wonderfully vivid characters, and she has a fine eye for historical detail. She ties in Falco's past, the events of the first Falco mystery, to add perspective to Falco's career and his relationship with Helena Justina. The ending seemed a bit rushed, but the situation presented in the beginning is neatly wrapped up.
August 17, 2009
I've been trying to read the Falco series in order, but when you're on holidays in small towns, you take what you can find. Davis has done some excellent historical research for this, as usual, funny and exciting crime novel set in ancient Rome (well, actually in Roman Spain this time) - everything you need to know about the politics surrounding the olive industry.
January 25, 2013
This is my favourite novel in the series so far. Falco and Helena are never the conventional couple. As well as a rollicking good adventure we are supplied with a interesting travelogue of S Spain. Anacrites and his henchmen (woman) are a lively addition to the mix. I wonder what Petro is getting up to whilst Falco is out of town?
March 8, 2014
I started to read the Falco series from the beginning and continue to enjoy them enormously. Marcus Didius and his partner, Helena, are well established as a couple and now seem like old friends to me. Roll on the next book.
March 6, 2014
Falco has been invited to a dinner with the Society of Olive Oil Producers of Baetica, along with The Chief Spy Anacrites.
When two members of the party are attacked Falco travels to Baetica in Spain to track down and question witnesses. Along with a very heavily pregnant Helena Justina.
When two members of the party are attacked Falco travels to Baetica in Spain to track down and question witnesses. Along with a very heavily pregnant Helena Justina.
December 31, 2009
The one in Spain with the olive oil, the intrepid dancing girl and the birth of Falco's firstborn!
December 26, 2010
A relatively satisfying Falco mystery, wandering around Spain. The end seemed a little rushed, and it missed out on some of the griminess of Rome, but good none-the-less.
March 23, 2014
I enjoy all of the Marcus Didius Falco "hard-boiled" Roman mysteries. Although anachronistic (?) the humor is irresistable. And I love the the "love story".
August 4, 2017
Love this series! Falco is warm, funny, sometimes funny, sometimes cybical, always honest. The new series starring his adopted daughter, Flavia Alba, is excellent, too.
November 28, 2020
This was chosen as something of an art of the possible endeavour and has been listened to over a long period, a challenge for any book but one to which A Dying Light in Corduba rises. I love the way Lindsey Davis uses the Roman period setting. Marcus Didius Falco is investigating a possible olive oil cartel, and, as it turns out, some very nasty related events. It requires painstaking work and long travel and meanwhile his beloved Helena Justina is heavily pregnant and with good reason for them both to be anxious about the birth.
Falco and Helena are such strong characters, and the humour is so dry, that the story held my attention even when I wasn't sure I was following all the complex plot details. I also read (much, much faster) a print copy of an earlier story, and can appreciate the skill of the audiobook narrator contributed to my ability to attend and enjoy.
Falco and Helena are such strong characters, and the humour is so dry, that the story held my attention even when I wasn't sure I was following all the complex plot details. I also read (much, much faster) a print copy of an earlier story, and can appreciate the skill of the audiobook narrator contributed to my ability to attend and enjoy.
June 2, 2024
Audiobook read by Gordon Griffin, not my favourite narrator, but the Falco stories are good. This time Anacrites (not Falco's favourite person) is attacked in Rome, and badly injured, and one of his young agents is killed, so Falco, together with seven months pregnant Helena Justina, sails off to Spain to expose a consortium conspiracy to fix the price of olive oil. Though Falco's main mission is to catch the murderer and get Helena Justina back to Rome before her baby is born. Unfortunately is becomes clear that there are factions in Rome he can't trust, and another spy is operating in the same area on a similar mission.
February 9, 2023
Aunque resolver el misterio sea lo de menos, tiene su gracia lo bien que se documenta la autora (aceite de la Bética, bailarinas de Gades, jamón ibérico...😳😂). El humor y la ironía, mezclados con el drama, también son signo inconfundible de las aventuras de Marco Didio Falco.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2024
After the previous book ,I was hoping these books had become more to my liking. Alas, not to be. This was strung-out so long. There were so many characters, that I gave up on trying to sort them out and just went with the flow. My main interest was whether Helena had the baby.
February 16, 2022
Good story, pace picked up by the end. Had to persevere, but overall I liked it.
April 24, 2019
fascinating mystery at the dinner of The Olive Oil Producers of Baetica.
January 13, 2025
In this entry to the Falco canon, he and Helena travel to Spain to investigate a potential olive oil cartel. Mystery, murder and intrigue follow as ever.
There are a few parts in this one that drag a bit - some characters don’t engage as much as usual, but the descriptions are as excellent as ever and the denouement is very satisfying
There are a few parts in this one that drag a bit - some characters don’t engage as much as usual, but the descriptions are as excellent as ever and the denouement is very satisfying
February 27, 2022
Made it to the end out of sheer stubbornness. I gave up caring about the characters about 3 hours in. Not my bag at all.
August 19, 2017
This 8th in the series is set in ancient Rome in 73 A.D. Our hero is Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer (investigator) who is soon to be a father. He still hasn't managed to achieve for himself a position in society where he can actually marry Helena whose father is a Senator. The story is part detective novel and part romantic comedy with lots of historical adventure. These stories are always witty and this one involves a convoluted plot beginning in Rome and then ending in Corduba, Hispania (Spain).
Falco has been invited to a banquet for the Society of Olive Oil Producers of Baetica. He is dismayed to find his nemesis Anacrites there who is the Chief Spy for Emperor Vespasian. Upon leaving the banquet he discovers that Anacrites has been severely beaten and another spy named Valentinus has been murdered. A dancer at the banquet named Selia and her henchmen are suspects. The Baeticans return home immediately after the banquet which is also suspicious. Claudius Laeta, one of Vespasian's chief secretaries, commissions Falco to travel to Corduba, Spain to check out a rumor and investigate whether or not a cartel is being formed to monopolize and fix prices in the growing olive oil business. Falco also wants to track down the dancer and bring her to justice. Meanwhile, it is up to Falco to take care of Anacrites who may be dying so he foists him on his mother to take care of.
Helena is seven months pregnant, and Falco has promised he will be present at the birth. What a conundrum. Since they need the money and Falco needs to make the trip to Spain, Helena decides to go with him. This is an easy decision as her mother has been harping at her about the birth. They travel by water to make the trip easier for Helena, but not so easy for sea sick Falco. In Corduba Falco meets the new quaestor named Quinctius Quadratus who is sent fishing by the Proconsul so he won't muck up his new job. Falco and Helena stay at her father's olive farm in Corduba run by a tenant named Marius Optatus. He has a grievance with his former employer.
Falco soon learns that there is a second spy who has been sent over, and it's a woman! Is she the dancer he's after or not? Also, at the climax of our story Falco has flashbacks to his horrible time as a slave in the silver mines (see Book 1) and a reunion with a bad memory named Cornix. The story involves various palace officials competing against each other, senators involved in the cartel scheme, and various other sub-plots. These stories are always well plotted, filled with quick witted suspense, and contain funny scenes rife with chuckles to keep you smiling. I love the witty repartee between Falco and Helena and their devotion to each other even though their union is frowned upon. There are some slow passages which bogged the story down at times for me, but an excellent series.
Falco has been invited to a banquet for the Society of Olive Oil Producers of Baetica. He is dismayed to find his nemesis Anacrites there who is the Chief Spy for Emperor Vespasian. Upon leaving the banquet he discovers that Anacrites has been severely beaten and another spy named Valentinus has been murdered. A dancer at the banquet named Selia and her henchmen are suspects. The Baeticans return home immediately after the banquet which is also suspicious. Claudius Laeta, one of Vespasian's chief secretaries, commissions Falco to travel to Corduba, Spain to check out a rumor and investigate whether or not a cartel is being formed to monopolize and fix prices in the growing olive oil business. Falco also wants to track down the dancer and bring her to justice. Meanwhile, it is up to Falco to take care of Anacrites who may be dying so he foists him on his mother to take care of.
Helena is seven months pregnant, and Falco has promised he will be present at the birth. What a conundrum. Since they need the money and Falco needs to make the trip to Spain, Helena decides to go with him. This is an easy decision as her mother has been harping at her about the birth. They travel by water to make the trip easier for Helena, but not so easy for sea sick Falco. In Corduba Falco meets the new quaestor named Quinctius Quadratus who is sent fishing by the Proconsul so he won't muck up his new job. Falco and Helena stay at her father's olive farm in Corduba run by a tenant named Marius Optatus. He has a grievance with his former employer.
Falco soon learns that there is a second spy who has been sent over, and it's a woman! Is she the dancer he's after or not? Also, at the climax of our story Falco has flashbacks to his horrible time as a slave in the silver mines (see Book 1) and a reunion with a bad memory named Cornix. The story involves various palace officials competing against each other, senators involved in the cartel scheme, and various other sub-plots. These stories are always well plotted, filled with quick witted suspense, and contain funny scenes rife with chuckles to keep you smiling. I love the witty repartee between Falco and Helena and their devotion to each other even though their union is frowned upon. There are some slow passages which bogged the story down at times for me, but an excellent series.
December 27, 2021
I'm typically behind a decade or so behind in my mystery series reading, but I've fallen woefully behind in my Lydia Davis reading. Two and a half decades. Sheesh.
Don't let that be a reflection on Davis or Didius Falco. I strongly recommend her classic Silver Pigs, which started the series. It's a stitch to read, and quite amusing. It's tone probably couldn't have been maintained for more than a volume or two, so it's fair to say that the humor and sarcasm have been toned down for the rest of the series, though they are still present. Falco was more of a foil in that first volume, and Davis elected to make him a sympathetic protagonist after that.
I won't engage in spoilers, but the story begins at a dinner in Rome, in the old palace, involving Spanish olive oil producers. The aftermath of the dinner is, um, criminal, and this will lead to Falco being sent to Corduba and environs, to uncover the causes. To complicate everything, Helena is Very Pregnant and impending birth looms over the whole investigation. Will Didius get home in time? Will her family allow him to live???
What I love about these novels, and Davis's willingness to send her characters throughout the Empire, is that it emphasizes the realities of everyday life back then. We see rich and poor, Roman and provincial and foreigner, good neighborhoods and poor ones, fields and farms and shops. We get discussion of transport trades, trade routes, and how things are managed. If you've ever walked among the ruins of that world, you'll understand the pleasure of the living visit these books (and the Steven Saylors) provide.
There's only one use of "grimace" in the novel, but there was anachronistic phrasing that bothered me as I went along: "zooming" "homing in on" and a reference to maize, which the reader will understand as New World Indian corn, which didn't exist in Rome. There's some anachronistic-ish slang and phrasing, but that's all part of the game of Didius Falco novels, so one must go along with that. Falco books are modern detective/mystery novels that have time-traveled to Rome, wink wink.
I recommend this volume, I recommend this series, and when I realized I was way behind in purchasing the more recent titles (including his daughter taking over the series) I got online with Mystery Lovers Bookshop and fixed that.
Don't let that be a reflection on Davis or Didius Falco. I strongly recommend her classic Silver Pigs, which started the series. It's a stitch to read, and quite amusing. It's tone probably couldn't have been maintained for more than a volume or two, so it's fair to say that the humor and sarcasm have been toned down for the rest of the series, though they are still present. Falco was more of a foil in that first volume, and Davis elected to make him a sympathetic protagonist after that.
I won't engage in spoilers, but the story begins at a dinner in Rome, in the old palace, involving Spanish olive oil producers. The aftermath of the dinner is, um, criminal, and this will lead to Falco being sent to Corduba and environs, to uncover the causes. To complicate everything, Helena is Very Pregnant and impending birth looms over the whole investigation. Will Didius get home in time? Will her family allow him to live???
What I love about these novels, and Davis's willingness to send her characters throughout the Empire, is that it emphasizes the realities of everyday life back then. We see rich and poor, Roman and provincial and foreigner, good neighborhoods and poor ones, fields and farms and shops. We get discussion of transport trades, trade routes, and how things are managed. If you've ever walked among the ruins of that world, you'll understand the pleasure of the living visit these books (and the Steven Saylors) provide.
There's only one use of "grimace" in the novel, but there was anachronistic phrasing that bothered me as I went along: "zooming" "homing in on" and a reference to maize, which the reader will understand as New World Indian corn, which didn't exist in Rome. There's some anachronistic-ish slang and phrasing, but that's all part of the game of Didius Falco novels, so one must go along with that. Falco books are modern detective/mystery novels that have time-traveled to Rome, wink wink.
I recommend this volume, I recommend this series, and when I realized I was way behind in purchasing the more recent titles (including his daughter taking over the series) I got online with Mystery Lovers Bookshop and fixed that.
March 14, 2018
Oh dear I have a new addiction of the reading kind...
Falco, Falco, Falco - what are you *like*? I fear the man will never have any sort of regular reliable paycheck coming in, but constantly on call to the Emperor, running around what we call Europe at his beck and call. On less than minimum wage and no travel and subsistence payments either.
On this occasion, our hero is invited to a rather obscure dining club event, where he bumps into two of his least favourite people - Anacrites, the chief Spy, and his beloved's younger brother, a proper little imperial snot if ever there was, fresh back from Spain. After having to play nice, and witness an less than talented 'dancer', whose main skill seems to be to wear as little as possible in a very suggestive style (SOP for dancers during the period of Rome I believe), Falco trundles off home, pleasantly drunk with two slaves trailing behind carrying an amphora of something his other half, Helena, will appreciate.
The next morning, three things happen: Falco realises in his drunken stupor he has gone home to his former apartment, the Chief Spy has been attacked, and the rather polite young man he was casually speaking to has been found murdered.
Oh law. Falco makes his way home to Helena with the amphora of goodies, where she is convinced he has spent the night in the arms of another woman. No sooner has he explained himself and made himself more respectable than he is summonsed to the palace - Vespasian wants a word, and who can say no to the Emperor?
With an imperial nose firmly out of joint at the incapacitation of his Chief Spy, Vespasian smells a plot to upset his rule, and despatches Falco to Spain to track down a suspected nest of traitors out in the countryside. Falco refuses for good reason - Helena Justina is pregnant. Very pregnant and he has promised her he won't leave her for the birth, particularly as she has had two miscarriages before this. The Emperor insists. And Helena, game and stubborn as ever, sees no problem - she will go with Falco.
So, armed with Imperial Seals, letters of recommendation and an investigation - plus a very pregnant unofficial wife, Falco sets forth.
A lone from the work's library - really enjoyable :)
Falco, Falco, Falco - what are you *like*? I fear the man will never have any sort of regular reliable paycheck coming in, but constantly on call to the Emperor, running around what we call Europe at his beck and call. On less than minimum wage and no travel and subsistence payments either.
On this occasion, our hero is invited to a rather obscure dining club event, where he bumps into two of his least favourite people - Anacrites, the chief Spy, and his beloved's younger brother, a proper little imperial snot if ever there was, fresh back from Spain. After having to play nice, and witness an less than talented 'dancer', whose main skill seems to be to wear as little as possible in a very suggestive style (SOP for dancers during the period of Rome I believe), Falco trundles off home, pleasantly drunk with two slaves trailing behind carrying an amphora of something his other half, Helena, will appreciate.
The next morning, three things happen: Falco realises in his drunken stupor he has gone home to his former apartment, the Chief Spy has been attacked, and the rather polite young man he was casually speaking to has been found murdered.
Oh law. Falco makes his way home to Helena with the amphora of goodies, where she is convinced he has spent the night in the arms of another woman. No sooner has he explained himself and made himself more respectable than he is summonsed to the palace - Vespasian wants a word, and who can say no to the Emperor?
With an imperial nose firmly out of joint at the incapacitation of his Chief Spy, Vespasian smells a plot to upset his rule, and despatches Falco to Spain to track down a suspected nest of traitors out in the countryside. Falco refuses for good reason - Helena Justina is pregnant. Very pregnant and he has promised her he won't leave her for the birth, particularly as she has had two miscarriages before this. The Emperor insists. And Helena, game and stubborn as ever, sees no problem - she will go with Falco.
So, armed with Imperial Seals, letters of recommendation and an investigation - plus a very pregnant unofficial wife, Falco sets forth.
A lone from the work's library - really enjoyable :)
November 13, 2012
Falco, the likeably chaotic private eye in ancient Rome, is supposed to keep his eyes and ears open at a lavish dinner of influential olive-oil manufacturers from the Spanish provinces. Rumour has it that there is a cartel in the making, aiming to drive the price of the already luxuriously expensive oil even further skyward. He doesn't find out anything particularly useful, but the evening comes to a tragic end - two guests are mugged and brutally beaten up on their way home, one of them dies of his injuries.
Obviously there is something funny going on among those oily people, and Falco is asked to look into the matter. Considering Helena's advanced pregnancy, he could have done without travelling to Corduba (by boat on top of everything else - horror for the poor man who gets sick as soon as he looks at a wave). But when Helena is happy about the chance to escape her overprotective mother, he just can't say no. Upon arrival in Hispania it looks like there is no oil cartel at all, but Falco makes some other interesting discoveries among the rich and powerful ...
First of all I found the "oil crisis" Falco is supposed to ward off highly amusing. The parallels with today's oil market are hard to miss. And there are lots of other things that just don't seem to have changed over the course of millenniums, like greed and power and teenagers partying wildly when they're home alone. Or enthusiasm about gadgets.
As always, Falco has a wonderfully anachronistic way of expressing himself and keeps putting his foot in his mouth, but on the other hand he's a clever detective, and his worries about pregnant Helena and his fear something might go wrong when the child is born are simply touching. He's a really multi-faceted, credible character.
The case itself is going ahead rather slowly, suspense only starts in the last third of the book. But the precise and authentic description of the circumstances of living, and the reunion with old acquaintances, was fun once more, so I was more than happy to overlook some slow moments.
Obviously there is something funny going on among those oily people, and Falco is asked to look into the matter. Considering Helena's advanced pregnancy, he could have done without travelling to Corduba (by boat on top of everything else - horror for the poor man who gets sick as soon as he looks at a wave). But when Helena is happy about the chance to escape her overprotective mother, he just can't say no. Upon arrival in Hispania it looks like there is no oil cartel at all, but Falco makes some other interesting discoveries among the rich and powerful ...
First of all I found the "oil crisis" Falco is supposed to ward off highly amusing. The parallels with today's oil market are hard to miss. And there are lots of other things that just don't seem to have changed over the course of millenniums, like greed and power and teenagers partying wildly when they're home alone. Or enthusiasm about gadgets.
As always, Falco has a wonderfully anachronistic way of expressing himself and keeps putting his foot in his mouth, but on the other hand he's a clever detective, and his worries about pregnant Helena and his fear something might go wrong when the child is born are simply touching. He's a really multi-faceted, credible character.
The case itself is going ahead rather slowly, suspense only starts in the last third of the book. But the precise and authentic description of the circumstances of living, and the reunion with old acquaintances, was fun once more, so I was more than happy to overlook some slow moments.
June 27, 2017
I've just learned how careful we have to be when buying olive oil and how we could be scammed no matter how careful we are. Now I've read this book which tells about a potential price cartel in the Spanish olive business in the time of the emperor Vespasian. Plus ca change as they say. There is a dinner for oil producers at the palace and Falco is invited for reasons he can't quite fathom. After the dinner Falco's sometime boss Anacrites the Chief Spy and one of his agents are attacked resulting in the agent's death and Anacrites being severely injured.
Falco is busy minding his own business, including keeping a careful watch on a seven months pregnant Helena Justina, when he finds himself hired by Laeta, one of Vespasian's chief secretaries, to investigate a proposed price cartel in southern Hispania, a plot that appears to be connected with the dinner Falco attended. He has promised to be with Helena right through her delivery so traveling to Spain wouldn't seem to be a possibility, but that is not taking Helena's determination into account. She claims that two months is ample to sail to Spain, settle the case and return in time for the Roman midwife to aid in the birth of the baby. Such a plan!
In Spain we meet a totally charming young man, travel in a rented carriage equipped with an Archimedes hubometer, learn how to crush olives, and have some unpleasant experiences with a dancing girl. More fun than you can imagine and I had flashes of James Bond a few times while reading this. A fight on a balcony reads as a cross between Bond and Zorro.
Falco is busy minding his own business, including keeping a careful watch on a seven months pregnant Helena Justina, when he finds himself hired by Laeta, one of Vespasian's chief secretaries, to investigate a proposed price cartel in southern Hispania, a plot that appears to be connected with the dinner Falco attended. He has promised to be with Helena right through her delivery so traveling to Spain wouldn't seem to be a possibility, but that is not taking Helena's determination into account. She claims that two months is ample to sail to Spain, settle the case and return in time for the Roman midwife to aid in the birth of the baby. Such a plan!
In Spain we meet a totally charming young man, travel in a rented carriage equipped with an Archimedes hubometer, learn how to crush olives, and have some unpleasant experiences with a dancing girl. More fun than you can imagine and I had flashes of James Bond a few times while reading this. A fight on a balcony reads as a cross between Bond and Zorro.
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