Customer Reviews

The Accusers: A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery Novel

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Falco's back in Rome in this latest installment and after his two-novel trip to southern Britain he seems all the better for it as he strolls round his old haunting ground with some alacrity. A fast paced, excellently written novel, Davis has restored the faith that was beginning to wane after the previous `Bathhouse' and `Jupiter'.
The Accusers finds our erstwhile detective being called upon by one of his informing peers who, having secured the conviction for bribery of one Gnaeus Rubirius Metellus during his son's (Metellus Negrinus) tenure as aedile, finds himself cheated out of his 25 percent fee by the convict's subsequent apparent suicide. Silius Italicus refuses to believe this and hires Falco & Associates to check out the facts.
With the Camillii in tow Davis gives us a quick report of the investigation in a format that in entirely new to her writing - a glimpse at Falco's written casebook where details of the suspects are given, leading to a subsequent confession by a herbalist that Metellus Rubirius' eldest daughter, Rubiria Juliana, (there is also the somewhat optimistically naive, Rubiria Carina) had given her father gold coated hemlock pills on the basis the gold would not dissolve and thus prevent release of the poison. However, the gold had failed in its task and as such the conclusion was accidental death. Coming so quickly it is obvious that there is a far more deeper plot, but a desire for funds means that Falco doesn't dig deeper until well after Saturnalia at which point he discovers that Silius has commenced prosecution for murder against Juliana. This also falls apart and eventually we come to the main plot which is Falco's defence of Metellus Negrinus for parricide against both Silius and Paccius countered by his own accusation against Rubirius Metellus's wife, Calpurnia Cara
What follows is an enjoyable exercise in sleuthing as Falco, ably assisted by the Camillii, works his way through a list of suspects as long as your arm and familial collusion that prevents much of the truth from being outed. Having to figure out where Negrinus' (not so fondly known as `Birdy') attachments to his ex-wife, Saffia Donata (also an ex-wife of his best friend Lucius Licinius Lutea) and the multitude of surviving children actually lie proves a headache as Falco uncovers corruption, scandal and major blackmail.
Eventually, half snippets of information and tracking down of various slaves and tradesmen and a soothsayer leads Falco to the eventual triple denouement as he hauls the entire Metelli family into a sitting room to unravel a web of deceit and lies simply to protect a family name that is as spectacular as it is brilliantly exposed.
The finest moment of the novel has a rendition of Falco's speech in the murder courts where Davis has a chance to pit her rhetorical oratory against the surviving greats of Roman speech-making (Cicero being the obvious) and, inevitably comes nowhere near them. However, in good humour, Falco's correct slander of the prosecutors, Italicus and Africanus and their own seedy history proves a delightful episode and his subsequent own blackmail of The Accusers allows him pecuniary redress.
Lindsey Davis fifteenth Falco novel finds him back on home territory and we settle easily back in to the comfort that is Imperial Rome (though Davis does explore some new writing styles to keep it fresh) with an alacrity that was missing from the preceding two efforts. Falco has certainly aged through his career and his informing is genuinely reflecting his social position and experience. Preferring to leave the physical side of matters to Aelianus and Justinus, he can spend more time thinking out the solution and the development of Falco & Asscociates works well.
As ever, a must-read.

Lindsey Davis' new Falco book is another good one. In this one Falco becomes embroiled in a court case and we actually get to see him in action in a court room. Falco and his associates (his two brother-in-laws) are hired to help a young senator as he fights to defend himself from the accusation of killing his father. On the way they become exposed to one of the most disfunctional families you'll ever come across. This liaison could end up costing Falco his whole net worth and then some, because if a court case is brought against someone and they are judged innocent, the advocate is ordered by the court to pay compensation which is determined by the rank of the individual who was accused. Ms. Davis books keep getting better it seems. She manages to keep her Falco interesting and fun through each of them. I haven't enjoyed a series so much since Brother Cadfael.

I seldom read fiction but I make exceptions for some science fiction and very rarely mysteries (my wife is an avid mystery reader and so I get my pick). In these genres I only read works by authors whom I consider to be good writers and that fit my interests in history and science. I realize that this may sound a bit high-handed and arrogant, but I only have a limited amount of time for recreational reading and so have to pick and choose. Lindsey Davis is one of those authors that always fits my standards. Anything written by her is sure to be a good read and is always thought provoking.

In her recent book (2003) "The Accusers" she has not disappointed me. Her knowledge of the culture of ancient Rome of Vespasian's time is astounding, at least as far as I can tell. The informer Marcus Didius Falco, his indomitable patrician wife Helena Justina, their various relatives, associates and enemies round out a group worthy of a Russian novel.

In "The Accusers" a Roman citizen, beset with legal problems, apparently commits suicide at the urging of his wife and possible collusion of his daughter (suicide would cut back on the liability of the family and save the family fortune, which in another twist has been left not to the man's wife, but to his daughter-in-law!) As it becomes evident that the death was murder, his son Negrinus becomes an easy target of those would profit by the murder. Falco and Associates (Falco's wife and her two brothers are the staff) take on the defense of Negrinus (also known as "Birdy"), who they realize is hiding something. As one might suspect, that secret is the key to the death of the father. By the time you read a few pages you are hooked and want to read more.

For me this is the best of mystery writing. I recommend it heartily.

Back in Rome after an extended stay in Roman Britain, informer Marcus Didius Falco and his young brother-in-laws attempt to restart his business tracking down information, assisting in lawsuits, and generally taking advantage of the state of Roman society. Falco gets involved in a case almost by accident--a lawsuit followed by a botched suicide leads to multiple accusations of murder. And all of a sudden, the dead man's son is looking to Falco as his only defender.

To get the young man off the charge of murdering his own father, Falco needs a better alternative and one is readily at hand. His client's mother hated the dead man, is busy accusing her son, and has motive, opportunity, and knowledge of poisons. Falco becomes emeshed in a murder case that he brings against the woman. But if he's wrong, or fails to prove his case, he doesn't just lose. The injured parties will come after him and his meager assets. And his opponents are two of the sharpest lawyers first century Rome has to offer.

Author Lindsey Davis combines action, history, and courtroom tactics into a compelling and fascinating story. Falco is a bit of a film-noir type hard-edged private eye but he's forced to take the stand in this case and also to decide where his ethics lie. Davis's depictions of 1st Century Imperial Rome are crystal-clear and accurate (as far as my History minor lets me remember) but her research never intrudes into the story.

THE ACCUSERS is a welcome addition to a fine series. Recommended.

"Everyone always knows already that the dead man was a serial seducer who lied to political colleagues, ran up hefty debts at a brothel, deliberately farted in the Basilica, and was known by an obscene name behind his back."

That quote numbers among many irreverent comments in THE ACCUSERS. If you have yet to meet Marcus Didius Falco and his wife, Helena Justina, you have a big treat in store. Lindsey Davis has created a first-rate pair of sleuths defending justice in the debauched Rome of the First Century. They have an outlook on life such that problems can be taken in stride, but pleasures are to be savored: "It was not often I had the beautiful pleasure of extortion from a relative. Life was good for an hour."

In 75 A.D. accusers reaped a hefty fee for successful prosecution of individuals they chose to bring charges against. Therefore, fabricating a story, especially about a particularly unpopular citizen, could --- and often did --- bring high rewards. Pursuit of the truth didn't enter into the equation. One character quips, "Trials are not decided by evidence but arguments." Except for the blatant monetary incentive, it sounds much like the courts of today.

Boasting clean togas, Falco and his associates pick up a case in the murders court. Their client isn't the first one to be accused of killing Gnaeus Rubirius Metellus. But someone seems to have tried to put it over as a suicide, which just doesn't wash with the accusers. Here's the rub: If Metellus did himself in, then his family would be forgiven the debt owed to the accusers from a prior corruption case. So proving he was murdered becomes a matter of money for the two inscrutable prosecutors. The ancient Romans demonstrate their decadence, greed, depravity and self-indulgence --- but, due to Falco and his team, also their humanity.

Each day, Falco assembles his associates and divvies up the investigative tasks. There are many interviews to be conducted, lots of evidence to gather, truth to be sorted from lies. Their own client, the dead man's son, is not forthcoming, refusing to offer any explanation that might exonerate him. Obviously harboring a secret, he remains tight-lipped while Falco and his boys meticulously grill witnesses and chase leads. Meanwhile, Helena Justina quietly hunts for clues with her own technique, which involves using her feminine wiles and devious ways. At the end of the day, they all compare notes over family dinner with their two daughters and their dog Nux. Even the mothers-in-law get into the act. Despite a few bumps in the road, they ferret out the answers.

Just the cast of principal characters, described in a witty two-page list at the beginning of the book, sets the humor of the book --- and serves the double purpose of helping you keep track of the couple dozen players with multiple long names. Full of murder, mayhem and riotous corruption, THE ACCUSERS is a hedonistically great read.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

Falco gets involved in court cases centered on a family secret so potentially devastating that it could cause Falco to lose his own hard-earned status. Helena's family members are active in resolving these cases, so it appears that we readers will have the pleasure of seeing more of them in future books in the series.

Falco and friends are back in Rome. The partnership seems to be settling down into a defined pattern, as Falco slowly evolves from solo detective/agent into a respectible middle-class businessman and husband.

The novel is really more of a legal drama than the usual Falco detective adventure. In many ways, it is the story of a couple of high-roller lawyers who are fleecing an unlucky Senator and his family, and decide to use Falco as a sacrificial goat. Falco is out of his depth, and he knows it. But unfortunately for him, he's never been one to just stand by when someone else is being abused.

Fortunately, there is no sign of the forced tension between Falco and Petro and Falco and Helena that marred The Jupiter Myth. The characters once more appear to be their natural selves.

This was a good book, but it didn't quite have the sparkle that the best Falco books have had. The missing element was the offbeat wild card characters that usually make these books so fun. There were no exotic snake charmers or troops of actors or such. Even Falco's relatives were fairly dull and conventional.

I think Davis is still trying to find her way to writing about the new, respectible Falco. The character had to develop, but the problem is that now that he has developed she's not sure what to do with him.

Lindsey Davis' new Falco book is another good one. In this one Falco becomes embroiled in a court case and we actually get to see him in action in a court room. Falco and his associates (his two brother-in-laws) are hired to help a young senator as he fights to defend himself from the accusation of killing his father. On the way they become exposed to one of the most disfunctional families you'll ever come across. This liaison could end up costing Falco his whole net worth and then some, because if a court case is brought against someone and they are judged innocent, the advocate is ordered by the court to pay compensation which is determined by the rank of the individual who was accused. Ms. Davis books keep getting better it seems. She manages to keep her Falco interesting and fun through each of them. I haven't enjoyed a series so much since Brother Cadfael.

Ah, it's wonderful to be back in sunny, familiar ancient Rome again, after the last two Davis books where we've been "exiled" to bleak and blustery Britain. Here, murder is again subtle and surrounded by the power plays of the rich and elegant rather than the muddy connivings of barbarians. The historical (textual) richness of Rome is given full play to produce one of Davis' best stories of Falco, informer to the emperor.

In Falco's hobnailed boots, you'll cross and recross Rome (there are handy maps), from dives to courts (not much difference there!, Davis would say), ferret out recalcitrant witnesses and suspects, smell the stench of corpses, suborn informants, suffer goon attacks, fence with devious lawyers, loose your shirt, and be rescued by smart wife Helena--and not just once. Davis leads off with unusually rough language for her. There are delicious ironies scattered through the story: the guilty getting off, the implication of innocents, the unscrupulous rewarded, foul murder excused, rich scions bankrupted--ah, the Roman Forum at work to maintain Senatorial probity.

This story enters deeply into the snares of patriarchical Roman inheritance law. Unsuspecting Falco takes an involved family case of inheritance, suicide, and malfeasance, ranged against two far cleverer and wilier lawyers. Suitably, Davis has a striking change of style for this book. She adds the apparatus of law and deposition to Falco's usual investigations into the underworld or seamy side of Rome. Several times Davis merely summarizes on wax tablets (uh, casebooks) the results of the endless background interviews by Falco and Associates, rather than bore us to tears. Then she presents the entire speeches made before the judge. They read like actual speeches by an advocate like Cicero, full of flourishes and clever rhetorical devices, to insinuate scandalous guilt in the absence of real evidence. What makes this a 5-star story is the ending, one surprise after another, and still more twists follow. (One hint: keep track of the little children.) Superb.

This is number fifteen in a series of excellent detective stories set in Vespasian's Roman Empire and featuring the informer Marcus Didius Falco. Informers in ancient Rome were something between a private detective and a government spy.

Back from Britain, Falco and his business partners get involved in a court case. The story highlights both some of the similarities and differences between courts in Ancient Rome and today. One similarity is that there were elaborate, complex and highly controversial court cases about large sums of money, in which the winners could make their fortunes and the losers face financial ruin. One difference is that, while in modern courts the clients can win a fortune or be ruined, you can be certain that the lawyers on both sides will come out well ahead, but in ancient Rome the laywers also faced the prospect of vast returns or utter ruin.

(There will of course be those who argue that in this respect the Roman legal system was more civilised than ours ...)

The first commission which Falco and Associates receive on returning to Rome is securing and presenting some evidence in the trial of a Senator for corruption. This is accomplished with no great difficulty: some time later Falco hears that the Senator has been convicted. Then two days later, the Senator dies, apparently by his own hand, and possibly to save his heirs from having to pay the fine.

(This gives rise to one of the best lines in the book - Falco says of the deceased's lawyer "It was a chilling thought that counselling his client to die may have been good legal advice.")

Falco and associates are offered a commission to prove that the death was not in fact suicide. Soon they find themselves prosecuting a new legal case - in which victory will bring great returns, and defeat may bring ruin ...

The full Falco series, in chronological order, consists at the moment of:

1) The Silver Pigs
2) Shadows in Bronze
3) Venus in Copper
4) The Iron Hand of Mars
5) Poseidon's Gold
6) Last Act in Palmyra
7) Time to Depart
8) A Dying Light in Corduba
9) Three Hands in the Fountain
10) Two for the Lions
11) One Virgin Too Many
12) Ode to a Banker
13) A Body in the Bath house
14) The Jupiter Myth
15) The Accusers
16) Scandal taks a Holiday
17) See Delphi and Die
18) Saturnalia
19) Alexandria


I initially tried this series because I had enjoyed the "Cadfael" mediaeval detective stories by Ellis Peters. Where Cadfael is excellent, Falco is brilliant. Ellis Peters herself (or to use her real name, Edith Pargeter) said of the early books of the series, 'Lindsey Davis continues her exploration of Vespasian's Rome and Marcus Didius Falco's Italy with the same wit and gusto that made "The Silver Pigs" such a dazzling debut and her rueful, self-deprecating hero so irresistibly likeable.'

Funny, exciting, and based on a painstaking effort to re-create the world of the early Roman empire between 70 and 76 AD.

It isn't absolutely essential to read these stories in sequence, as the mysteries Falco is trying to solve are all self-contained stories and each book can stand on its own. Having said that, there is some ongoing development of characters and relationships and I think reading them in the right order does improve the experience.