Customer Reviews

Silver Pigs: A Detective Novel in Ancient Rome

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For starters, I'm a big fan of the wise-cracking school of detectives. Stephanie Plum, Alan Gregory, and others always bring a smile to my face. Now I can add Didius Falco. What is different is that his snide remarks are 1,930 years old and concern things like going to that barberic land called Britain where, heaven forbid, it's so cold you have to wear socks.

I happen to love fictional history so this is a great match of mystery and history. I learned more about the Roman Empire under Vespesian than I've learned since college. And it wasn't just politics--- the book includes a good sense of everyday life. Did you know that urine was used as bleach?

There's also a dandy mystery with complicated webs of politics and greed and murder to be solved. Didius has a few missteps but ultimately has the moxy to unravel the tangled mess.

My only quibble is a modest one. I listened to the unabridged tapes. The narration is in first person, past tense which is ok. Unfortunately, the narrator has the voice of a fifty/sixty year old man. This made it a little hard to visualize a 29 year old Falco (particularly in some of the more romantic moments).

Bottom line - a series I'm eager to continue reading for the clever mystery plotting, the engaging main characters and the history lessons.

SILVER PIGS is the first of a series of mysteries highlighting the adventures of the Roman sleuth Falco and his clever accomplice and lady friend, Helena Justina. The latest, LAST LIGHT IN CORDUBA, is just about to be released in the U.S. Buy it by all means, buy them all, but START WITH THIS ONE.

Lindsey Davis makes one critical mistake in this first outing, but it is nevertheless an engrossing and endearing book--and perhaps my favorite. Her hero, precariously poised between the lower and upper ranks of Imperial Roman society, is the perfect observer of the daily life of what the average person assumes was either a very dusty, dry existence or else extremely sensational, as in I, CLAUDIUS. The truth was probably somewhere in between, and we get it rendered in SILVER PIGS with a gritty realism and a charmingly anachronistic Sam Spade delivery that makes the novel humorous and unforgetable.

Falco has a number of problems in this book--not counting his demanding mother, irritating brothers-in-law, and not terribly hygenic nieces and nephews--the first of which is making ends meet. The fabric of his existence seems held together with cockroaches. It becomes increasingly hard to hold together after he befriends the niece of a Senator, who unwittingly holds the key to a dangerous secret.

It is with the character of Sosia that Davis makes her only significant mistake: Falco and the reader get so very attached to her that when, at the end of the first section, we are forced to part ways with her, it is tempting to put the book down in discouragement.

It is vital that you do not, for that would mean failing to meet Sosia's cousin Helena Justina, who changes everything for both Falco and the reader. The novel's pace picks up considerably after Falco is posted to Britain, of which he says sourly: "If your mapskin has grown ragged at the edges you will have lost it, in which case so much the better is all I can say."

The silver pigs of the title, by the way, are pigs of iron, laced with silver, mined in Britain, and the property of the Emperor. At least, that is the way it is supposed to be...

This is an absolutely outsanding work on many levels. To begin with, Lindsey Davis brings to life a world which existed 2000 years ago. She details daily life, from Falco's apartment to upper class living, and even the politics of the time, allowing you to experience the Roman empire hands on. But there is much more to this book than just Davis' ability to let you experience a new world - there is the amazing fact that this all really happened. There is evidence that Falco existed, that he fell in love with a young, high ranking woman, and that he actually did help to solve the mystery of the silver pigs. This is not just some throw-back to a 1940s 'private eye' movie, it is one of the original stories, pulled out of the pages of history books and transformed into a fascinating story which will broaden your horizons. I highly reccomend this book! And if you enjoy it, continue reading the series!

SILVER PIGS is the first novel in the finest historical mystery series being written today, and why it would be permitted to fall out of print when old Agatha Christie clunkers are on the shelf is beyond my understanding. The series has an off-the-cuff verisimilitude that reminds one of great science fiction, and oh, can Davis write! Very few books make me giggle, then bring tears to my eyes a few pages later, but Davis pulls that off in SILVER PIGS (and in every novel). I especially love her forgiving knowledge of human nature, similar to Ellis Peters' and Sharan Newman's, but Davis ranks well ahead of any of them in her handling of language.

I've read, and fortunately own, all the Falco novels available (so far) in paperback, and continue to be amazed by the high quality of each. They make great gifts, and I assure you, the recipients become instant Davis fans.

Historical mysteries are always fun to read. Part of that fun, is finding ourselves living in that time period. Another part of the fun is looking for any anachronisms or things that are historically out of place. For example, Caesar is in the Senate House and Marcus Aurelius is speaking. Sorry, wrong. Lindsey Davis' The Silver Pigs introduces us to Marcus Didius Falco, an private informer. Davis' books are much morer humourous that Saylor's Gordianus series. While Saylor has Gordianus enmeshed in the history of Rome as the Republic fell and the Empire rose, Davis has Falco going through the mundane daya to day activities in Imperial Rome. In this first out, Falco is sent to Britannia to learn about declining production in silver mines. Here, he meets the beautiful Helena Justina, the soon to be object of his affection. The mystery is well paced and Falco is a quite endearing character. I enjoyed the book a lot.

Silver Pigs may be out of print in the US, but it's still available (without paying collectors prices) in Britain. Get ye to Amazon[.com] UK (and probably Amazon[.com] Canada) so you don't miss the best series-starter ever. All the books in this series can stand on their own, if they must, but without this one, well, it's like missing the first half hour of a movie. Worth every New Pence of the postage!

This book was the required "travel reading" for my highschool's summer Classics Tour. While in Rome, I was able to envision the city and its ambiance that Dideus Falco says seductively invites you to explore. You might have to possess some knowledge on Roman customs/history to truly appreciate the plot and many of the allusions. Yet even the casual reader can't help but at least smirk when lines like, "Whay happened next is between me, the senator's daughter, and the gardener's horse." Kudos to Ms. Davis for not making my required reading boring and on creating a comfort book for all who enjoy the prospect of an Ancient Roman mystery.

It's been well over 10 years since some friends recommended Lindsey Davis's Silver Pigs to me. I have been a fan ever since. I have read Steven Saylor as well and like them both for different reasons. Both Davis and Saylor seem to have a handle on Roman history, topography, and daily life, each with a unique twist. I've had very little time lately to get into the last 3 books in the Falco series, and I must say that some are better than others, but all have fun surprises and suspense as well as humorous episodes with Falco, his family, and Helena and her family. The series is especially fun for those with some Classical background, but stand by themselves for those who just like a good detective read.

This is the first novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth. A series of books that have become hugely popular, so much so that the author is now at the forefront of historical mystery writers. It was probably a stroke of genius on the part of the author to have novels that are extremely well researched and contain all the elements that would be and should be found in Rome in AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop.

Falco has done his time in the legions in that god forsaken place called Britain and it is the last place on earth that he would return to through choice but he has been told by the powers that be that he will go back to Britain and no, there is no choice.

When he arrives the weather is even worse than he remembered and the natives are still as unfriendly as ever. He just wants to complete his mission, find the missing silver and get the hell out of it, that is until he meets the lovely Helena Justina and if he thought he was having a hard time before he met her, he was in for an almighty shock.

I first had to read this book for my Latin language class in college. Well, I was looking for something to read recently and remembered this book. I always love a good mystery. This book definitely fits the bill. In addition to just plain good writing (hers not mine!), the book is intelligent and historical. I had forgotten all of the history crammed into the book. It is rare that a writer can turn out a thoroughly enjoyable read combined fiction, history, and intelligence. Bravo! I am now searching for her other books to enjoy!