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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Take Falco back to Rome, June 9, 2003
Couple of firsts here for Davis. Initially a direct continuance from `A Body in the Bathhouse' where the culprit who Marcus had exiled to Gaul, turns up in Londinium as the murdered party, secondly Marcus has a more personal reason for investigating the case. A step away from his usual informing, though it is given an official air by Hilarius and Frontinus, the Roman Britain procurator and governor, respectively. What Davis also does, is impose an even tighter deadline for Marcus to carry out his sleuthing, than in the preceding novel. After the somewhat muddied effort in `Bathhouse', the Jupiter Myth is a better offering from Davis (however, I still believe Marcus is at his very best when operating in the familiar surroundings of Rome). It is, however, very slow after opening with Verovolcus' body headfirst in the Shower of Gold's well. By the end, it is ironic that this murder was more a catalyst for the remaining action, rather than particularly relevant. In fact, more effort is given to Marcus' search for Petro who inexplicably takes off over the first hundred-plus pages than any cohesive effort at establishing motive and suspects. Indeed, Petronius' behaviour doesn't match with the character Davis has so painstakingly created over the series. His rough treatment of Marcus, ordering him to stay out of it before he gets killed is blatantly ignored in the immediate as the pair begin to openly meet. I am still not entirely sure what the purpose of the scene was. Other than mutterings about a widespread protection racket and liberal descriptions of Londinium after Boudicca's revolt the book then stumbles through until we meet Marcus' old flame - the new gladiatrix Amzonia, more personally known as Chloris. It is at the point the entire novel is rescued as Davis' writing lifts, the action becomes precise, fast-flowing and Marcus becomes the fast-witted informer we all love. We leap from a battle in Londinium's wooden ampitheatre (Helena even gets involved with a pack of dogs), to ballistae at warehouses, legionary fights at locales to the breathless end with Petro's saving and Maia's somewhat exasperated final action. So, a tale of two parts. On the first part you could see a continuance of `A Body in the Bathhouse' in that it was beoming more and more evident that Falco doesn't travel very well. However, in the second part, Davis rescues it with the final hours from Maia's `capture' to the breaking of the racketeering gang. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, this time, Rome follows Falco to Britain and thus the easy familiarity is readily established. By the end of the novel Falco is back to his sleuthing best with plenty of action thrown in making this latest installment a delight to read. However, his insistence on going `home' to Rome, gives hope that the whole of Falco's next installment (The Accusers) will be back to its very best.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Falco in Londinium, December 9, 2003
I generally like it when Falco goes out of town. Falco gets to make fun of the colonials, and Davis gets to descibe a new setting and (often) a different cuture. But Falco shouldn't be out of town for too long at a time. The Jupiter Myth was fairly well executed, but it had two major problems. First of all, Falco works best when he alternates between the provinces and Rome. Two books in the same province (Body In The Bathhouse, Jupiter Myth) are too much. Especially a province where he has already been (The Silver Pigs). It is obvious that for a British author there is a certain natural appeal to setting the books in Britain, but I'd rather see Falco continue to be on the move. The endless references to Britain's weather are somewhat trying (especially to a reader from a rainy climate, like me). I want to just shake Falco and tell him, "Get over it, already!" The second problem is the Helena dispute. It seems so forced. Falco has a rough past, but never once has he been anything but devoted to Helena since they first met. Why now would she suddenly take seriously a chance meeting with an old flame? I think Davis is looking for a substitution for the old tension between Falco and Helena from back before Falco was established enough for them to securely marry. This isn't the right way to do it, though. It just seems out of character for Helena. The story was also rather grim, almost as grim as The Silver Pigs. Beloved children die, mobsters corrupt the town, problems erupt between Helena and Marcus, a very morose Petro wanders around in a funk ... it certainly is not a happy story. Even for a murder mystery. On the whole, though, I liked it. Falco and Helena are still engaging characters, and their companions are all nicely three dimensional. I look forward to the return to Rome. Perhaps what is needed is a new perspective. I wonder what a Falco book would be like from Helena's point of view? Or Petro's?
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More Falco, April 12, 2004
By A Customer
I was introduced to Falco through my daughter's Latin teacher, who loaned us all of the books except this one. I whipped through them all, loving Falco, Helena, and all the rest of the colorful characters. I also liked this one, though it was darker than the others. It might have been the gloomy/chilly/too hot weather (Falco is never happy about the weather!). It might have been the reports of the deaths of two children back in Rome, though I'm pretty sure this was a common occurance. It might just have been Falco's black mood through most of the book. He seemed to be sulking just a bit, wanting to go back to sunny Rome, not staying in murky Britain with his wife's relatives. Either way, I enjoyed it a lot. Fans of the Falco mysteries will, too. Beginners should start with the first one.
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