Product Description

'The fountain was not working. Nothing unusual in that...' Marcus Didius Falco and his laddish friend Petronius find their local fountain has been blocked- by a gruesomely severed human hand. Soon other body parts are being found in the aqueducts and sewers. Public panic overcomes official indifference, and the Aventine partners are commissioned to investigate. Women are bing abducted during festivals, with the next Games only days away. As the heat rises in the Circus Maximus, they face a race against time and a strong test of their friendship. They know the sadistic killer lurks somewhere on the festive streets of Rome - preparing to strike again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57813 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Lindsey Davis has written twenty 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

my favourite falco yet.
I think this one is superb. It most closely followed the traditional ideal of the whodunnit, keeping the reader in the dark with only the slenderest of hints right up to the end. I find Davis's admittedly anachronistic Raymond Chandleresque style witty and lively, and unusually not detracting from the historical content. Her knowledge of ancient Rome really is first rate.

Another enjoyable read.
Falco, back from his Imperial mission to Spain (A Dying Light in Corduba) teams up with his old mucker, Petro, who has been suspended from the Vigiles having taken a fancy for the daughter of a notorious criminal that he helped to put away (Time to Depart). Falco and Petro are soon engaged to investigate the discovery of human remains in the civic water supplies. The rush is on to catch a mass murderer. Does Falco save the day ? What do you think !

The book can be enjoyed in isolation,as can all of the books in the Falco series, but I recommned that one read the previous novels first. As with all of Lindsey Davis's novels the plot isn't as important to her as the development of the characters. I think this is what her devotees enjoy. One enjoys learning of Petro's marital problems, that Falco is now a father and that Anacrities is still a pain. The story doesn't end with Falco solving a mystery - it begins with Falco becoming a land owner and the love life's of his brother-in-laws in need of his worldly wise intervention. This is another enjoyable, untaxing read that leaves devotees chomping at the bit for Two for the Lions. Come on bring it out in paperback !

All Hands to The Pumps
Falco is back in his beloved Rome with Helena and a new baby girl, tactfully named after both grandmothers, Julia Junilla Laeitana. Falco is out enjoying himself with old friend from his army days, Petro, who is now a member of the Vigiles, when they comes across a gruesome discovery in the fountain they are standing by. A severed human hand. With the possibility of bits of Rome's population floating around the Roman water system it is time for our hero to get involved.

This time he has the help of Petro, who has been suspended from the vigiles for having a rather unfortunate liaison. But of course nothing is easy for Falco. What with more than my jobs worth water board officials, who seem to have a vested interest in keeping things quiet, Falco and Petro seem to be running up a dead end. That is until Julius Frontius an ex-consul who Vespasian has assigned to look into the matter becomes involved. He is certainly able to use his influence and the investigation begins to make progress.

When another girl goes missing Falco begins to realise who the serial killer is, but will he be able to catch them before they strike again . . .