Product Description

The spirit of adventure calls Marcus Didius Falco on a new spying mission for the Emperor Vespasian to the untamed East. He's picking up extra fees from his old friend Thalia the snake dancer as he searches for Sophrona, her lost water organist. With the Chief Spy Anacrites paying his fare, Falco knows anything can go wrong. A dangerous brush with the Brother, the sinister ruler of Nabataean Petra, sends Falco and his girlfriend Helena on a fast camel-ride to Syria. They join a traveling theatre group, which keeps losing members in non-accidental drownings. The bad acting and poor audiences are almost as bad as the desert and its scorpions - then as the killer hovers, Falco tries to write a play...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96400 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From the Back Cover
The spirit of adventure callls Marcus Didius Falco on a new spying mission for the Emperor Vespasian to teh untamed East. He's picking up extra fees from his old friend Thalia the snake dancer as he searches for Sophrona, her lost water organist. With teh Chief Spy Anacrites paying his fare, Falco knows anything can go wrong.

A dangerous brush with the Brother, the sinister ruler of Nabataean Petra, sends Falco and his girlfriend Helena on a fast camel-ride to Syria. They join a traveling theatre group, which keeps losing members in non-accidental drownings. The bad acting and poor audiences are almost as bad as the desert and its scorpions - then as the killer hovers, Falco tries to write a play...

'A wonderful series of detective novels' The Good Book Guide

'Several cheers for lindsey Davis... Great fun' The Times

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

One of her best
I find it difficult to understand why other reviewers were disappointed by this book. To my mind, it is one of Lindsey's best (and yes, I have read them all). Apart from anything else, it has the most memorable plot - one of comparatively few genuine whodunnits in the Falco series - and the locations are spot on. Visit places like Petra and Palmyra today, and you can just picture Falco going about his investigation. Difficult to fault!

Last Act, But Not for Falco, I Hope
Quite a number of authors have jumped on the sleuth in Ancient Rome bandwagon, but Lindsey Davis is probably the best of the lot. Her leading character Marcus Didius Falco has been sent out of Rome on a dangerous mission to spy out the Lands of the East. An Imperial order sends him and his girlfriend Helena Justina, the daughter of a Senator to the rose red city of Petra. There they discover a murdered playwright.
Falco feels obliged to investigate the murder and soon becomes embroiled in more murder and mayhem, making him wish he had not left his beloved Rome. All the author's books have been entertaining and of a very high standard, this one is no different.

Slightly disappointing but has its humourous moments
The Falco series are characterised by smooth plotting, finely drawn characters and genuine wit. This particular novel is probably the weakest of the series. The murderer's motive is weak, the detection process laboured and the denouement contrived. The book is saved by the characters of Falco and Helena and Falco's pungent wit which somehow avoids anachronisms which one finds in similar attempts at 'historic' humour. I particularly enjoyed the encounter with the christians. Well worth a read but not one of her best.