Product Description

'I still can't believe I've put the bastard away for good!' Petro muttered. Petronius Longus, captain of the Aventine watch and Falco's oldest friend, has finally nailed on of Rome's top criminals. Under Roman law citizens are not imprisoned but are allowed 'time to depart' into exile outside the Empire. One dark and gloomy dawn Petro and Falcoput the evit Balbinus aboard ship. But soon after, an outbreak of robbery and murder suggest a new criminal ring has moved into Balbinus' territory. Petro and Falco must descend into the underworld of Vespasian's Rome to investigate...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27128 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From the Back Cover
'I still can't believe I've put the bastard away for good!' Petro muttered. Petronius Longus, captain of the Aventine watch and Falco's oldest friend, has finally nailed on of Rome's top criminals. Under Roman law citizens are not imprisoned but are allowed 'time to depart' into exile outside the Empire. One dark and gloomy dawn Petro and Falcoput the evit Balbinus aboard ship.

But soon after, an outbreak of robbery and murder suggest a new criminal ring has moved into Balbinus' territory. Petro and Falco must descend into the underworld of Vespasian's Rome to investigate...

'Non-stop action, excitements and astonishments - a real cracker.' The Good Book Guide

'Absolutely smashing' Daily Telegraph

'Davis's writing zings with fun' Daily Mail

About the Author
Lindsey Davis has written nineteen novels, beginning with The Course of Honour, the love story of the Emperor Vespasian and Antonia Caenis. Her bestselling mystery series features laid-back First Century detective Marcus Didius Falco and his partner Helena Justina, plus friends, relations, pets and bitter enemy the Chief Spy. Her books are translated into many languages and serialised on BBC Radio 4. Past Chair of the Crimewriters' Association and a Vice President of the Classical Association, she has won the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Dagger in the Library, and a Sherlock award for Falco as Best Comic Detective. She was born in Birmingham but now lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Geat!
Lindsey Davis just keeps getting better! I have read and loved the entire Falco series to date and this one was one of my favourites. The whole series is well researched and believable. I found myself unable to put this one down and finished it in one long, long session!. Buy it and keep it.

An enthralling read, with lots of historical detail
This is the first Lindsey Davis book which I read. I picked it up at the airport for a light read on a long-haul flight. It is an enthralling read, as are all her books; a real page turner. With her usual mixture of suspense, comedy (sometimes slapstick) and great historical detail, she really brings ancient Rome to life.

Still my favourite, maybe because it was the first which I read, maybe because it's the only one so far which read to be set in the city of Rome (all others being set in the provinces).

Highly recommended.

Miss Davis Gets Better
This is the seventh novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth in Rome at the time of Vespasian. A series of books that have become hugely popular, so much so that the author is now at the forefront of historical mystery writers. It was probably a stroke of genius on her part to have novels that are extremely well researched and contain all the elements that would be and should be found in the Roman world of circa AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop. In this the seventh novel Falco and Helena Justina almost seem like long lost relations to the reader.

Time to Depart the title of this latest offering from Lindsey Davis is quite a poignant phrase. If a Roman citizen committed a crime they were not confined to prison but in the true sense of the words they were given time to depart from the Roman Empire and very few were ever allowed to return. Exile was considered to be the worst punishment possible for a Roman. Falco is on the quay at Ostia. "It is Time to Depart" for one of Rome's most famous criminals and Falco and his friend, Petronius are there to see that it actually happens.

In this book Lindsey Davis has allowed Falco to remain within the confines of his beloved Rome. Working with his oldest friend Petronius Longinus, Captain of the Aventine Watch. There has been an outbreak of robberies and murder in the city and Falco and Petro pool their resources to try to get to the bottom of them. At the same time Falco is looking for a new place to live for himself and Helena. He believes that in a few months time their old apartment will not be big enough for them