Saturnalia: A Marcus Didius Falco Novel (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Lindsey Davis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries | Publication Date: May 15, 2007

It's 76 A.D. during the reign of Vespasian and the Roman holiday of Saturnalia has begun. The days are short; the nights are for wild parties. But not for Marcus Didius Falco. Falco is an informer by trade - his job is to uncover unwelcome truths and deal with sensitive situations, frequently at the behest of the imperial government. And just such a case has arisen. A general has captured a famous enemy of Rome, and brings her home to adorn his eventual Triumph as a ritual sacrifice. But everything goes wrong from there - first she acquires a mysterious illness, then a young man is horrendously murdered and she escapes from house arrest.
     Marcus Didius Falco, hired to find her and return her to custody before Saturnalia is over, is pitted against his old rival, the Chief Spy Anacrites. The two of them are in a race against time to find the fugitive before the public learns of the situation, making the government look stupid. Falco, however, has other priorities. Helena's brother Justinus has also vanished, perhaps fatally involved once more with the great lost love of his youth.
     Against the riotous backdrop of the season of misrule, the search seems impossible and only Falco seems to notice that some dark agency is bringing death to the city streets…

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As the festive holiday of Saturnalia approaches in Davis's well-crafted 18th Roman historical (after 2006's See Delphi and Die), informer Marcus Didius Falco receives an imperial commission from Emperor Vespasian to solve the murder of nobleman Sextus Gratianus Scaeva. The victim's brother-in-law was holding a valued captive, Veleda, a female German rebel leader who had caused plenty of problems for the Roman Empire. She somehow escaped at the same time the crime occurred, becoming the prime suspect in the process. Unconvinced that the mystery can be wrapped up neatly with the capture of the fugitive, Falco, aided as always by his astute and independent wife, Helena Justina, pursues other leads even as he hopes to find Veleda and prevent further political turmoil. The occasional anachronistic colloquial phrase jars a bit, but overall Davis does her usual sound job of bringing first-century Rome to life. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

A rebellious German priestess and a murdered nobleman keep informer-investigator Marcus Didius Falco busy in Davis' eighteenth historical whodunit set in Rome in 76 CE. Falco fights crime in the morally depraved city at the pleasure of the emperor, a duty that becomes even more daunting during the season of debauchery known as Saturnalia. As the novel opens, German beauty Veleda (whom Falco first encountered in 1993's The Iron Hand of Mars) has escaped house arrest around the same time young Gratianus Scaeva is found dead, his decapitated head floating in the atrium pool at his family's villa. Adding to Falco's woes is news that his married brother-in-law (who happens to be one of Veleda's former lovers) has gone missing. As always, the shrewd and outspoken Falco is helped by his headstrong wife, Helena Justina, and hindered by nefarious Anacrites, Rome's Chief Spy. Davis serves up a huge cast of characters and colorful descriptions of daily life in first-century Rome, details sure to please readers with an affinity for ancient history. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312361297
• ISBN-13: 978-0312361297
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #576,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lindsey Davis' Roman novels begin chronologically 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; there is a reader handboook, 'Falco: the Official Companion'. 'Master and God' set in the time of the Emperor Domitian, will be published in 2012. She has also written an epic novel of the English Civil War and Commonwelath, 'Rebels and Traitors'. 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 has also been awarded the Premio Colosseo for enhancing the image of Rome, and the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement as a mystery writer.
She was born in Birmingham but now lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Falco's BEST, June 4, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saturnalia: A Marcus Didius Falco Novel (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Saturnalia is the eighteenth Falco novel, and one of the best.

Marcus Didius Falco is an informer for hire, a spy, in Rome. This novel takes place in A.D. 76 under Vespasian, during Saturnalia, the wildly popular seven-day celebration on the winter solstice. Saturnalia involves the giving of gifts, family banquets, the transposing of master/slave roles, civic celebrations at the temple of Saturn, including a banquet for the people, and silly drunken behavior including the wearing of humorous costumes.

This festival is the setting for a very difficult and sensitive case, where Falco and his chief spy rival, Anacrites, are given the same assignment--find the missing German freedom fighter, Veleda. She had been captured and was kept in pampered captivity in the house of a Senator, but then a man is murdered and decapitated, and she and her servant Ganna both disappear. Veleda had overheard that her fate was to be part of a "triumph" for the general that captured her, a triumph involving her very public death.

This is the same Veleda who had five years before saved the lives of Marcus and his brother-in-law Justinus, who had fallen in love with her. Falco and his wife Helena, her family, and Petronius of the vigiles (sort of a cross between firemen and police) help with the search, along with some of the Legion who had been in Germany and might recognize her. Worse, the public cannot know of the missing woman (it might make the government look bad); and Justinus, now a married man with a child and a very jealous wife, disappears as well. Several odd doctors are in this tale with a wide variety of unusual medical practices.

Davis' ability to bring these fascinating characters, locales, cultures, and celebrations to life is nothing short of magical. All classes people her novel: nobility, senators, slaves, traders, soldiers, and homeless escaped slaves trying to survive on the fringes of society.

Armchair Interviews says: Great story for who love stories set in ancient times.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Falco's back in town, May 27, 2007

By 

Blue in Washington "Barry Ballow" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Saturnalia: A Marcus Didius Falco Novel (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Lindsey Davis is in very good form with this new Marcus Didius Falco story. Our hero is back in Rome and working on an imperial commission that involves a missing foreign priestess destined for sacrificial murder, problems with his patrician in-laws and an ongoing rivalry with another spy. The plot(s) is fairly intricate and satisfying, but the heart of the book is Falco's ramblings around ancient Rome, complete with detailed descriptions of life, social customs and politics of the time. The author's never-ending wit and geniality are imposed on the Falco character and others in the story, making the tale the more enjoyable. This an excellent installment in the Falco series, well-worth the money and time.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of her best, June 13, 2007

By 

Pat (Austin, TX, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Saturnalia: A Marcus Didius Falco Novel (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Lindsey Davis's Falco books are among my favorites. I love the way she characterizes his crazy and amusing family and friends, and in this one she features them throughout, so it was a special treat. The Vigiles' Saturnalia party is hilarious. I also prefer when her stories take place in the city of Rome, as this one does, rather than around the empire.