⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 8/10
Marcus Didius Falco is a favourite fictional creation of mine. The series written by Lindsey Davis has followed his career as an informer from the beginning, and he has grown slowly but surely. But he is still very much the man he was at the beginning. A bit of a lad, but with a heart.
This volume takes us into slightly different territory for Falco. He has returned from his adventures in Britannia, but his absence from Rome for a considerable time means that he has been largely forgotten, so business is slow. One of the small jobs he undertakes is to obtain evidence for a court case; job done; move on.
But the case has repercussions, and Falco and his partners – his brothers-in-law – find themselves involved in an ongoing feud between two prominent advocates, and a suspicious death. Ultimately, rather than supplying evidence to a lawyer – a familiar role for him – he finds himself acting as a lawyer. Roman law being what it was, this means that his very livelihood, and the financial future of his family is at stake. Much of the action in the later stages of the book takes place in court, and the author does really well to explain the intricacies of the Roman legal process without resorting to history lectures.
As usual, his wife Helena Justina plays a crucial role in both his life and his work. And his ever present mother also puts in regular appearances, mostly just to annoy him, but occasionally providing crucial, if unwelcome, insights.
Before reading the book, I, as always, read a few reviews. Some didn’t like the fact that so much of the action is court-based, one or two comparing it to the works of Stephen Saylor, and his character Gordianus. Thankfully, being a huge fan of that author’s work as well, this was actually a recommendation for me!
Falco has often been something of a marmite character for fans of historical fiction. Some feel that his ‘modern’ use of language is out of place, but to me this has never been a problem. Certainly, he will use phrases that you might suspect aren’t exactly historically accurate, but it gives us a feel for the man. Slang is notoriously invisible to history. By its very nature, it is visceral; constantly changing. The Romans undoubtedly used slang terms; some are recorded in graffiti, but most are lost to us. So I have no problems with Falco using more modern ones. It would be out of place for him to use more formal language all the time, particularly given his background.
In any series of this kind, there is a delicate balancing act for the author. Each book is usually a self-contained mystery; a puzzle for Falco – and us – to solve. But there is also the ongoing arc featuring Falco’s life; his family, his wife, his friends. For me, Lindsey Davis seems to get the balance about right in every book. She has in this one, and its on to the next in the series for me.
This is a review of the Arrow Books 2013 Kindle edition.
Click here to view this book on Amazon.
