Three Hands in the Fountain (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Lindsey Davis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries | Publication Date: April 1, 1999

In vino, veritas. But in the water supply of Rome, horroras Marcus Didius Falco is about to find out. Sharing an ewer of Spanish red with his old friend and new partner Petronius Longus, Falco is on the spot when a man cleaning the local fountain makes a gruesome discovery: a human hand. Small and evidently female, the hand suggests its owner met a terrifying fate. Naturally, Falco and Petro, formerly of the Vigiles, want to seize on it as their first big case. The officials of Rome, however, prefer to hush up the incident, since a population that riots at the drop of a toga might run wild if body parts are polluting their drinking water. Soon other delicate, dismembered hands are being found in Rome's two hundred miles of aqueduct. Now aided, inspired, and given critical clues by his wife, Helena, Falco & Partner are ready to buck the status quo and even butt heads with Falco's old boss, Chief Spy Anacrites, to crack the case. But O, Hades! The duo suspects a serial killer is at large, linked topublic festivals, and likely to strike again at the upcoming Roman Games. Even a detective as astute as Falco may not spot a twisted mind in a crowd of 250,000. And if Falco loses this race with time, another pretty victim will make a deadly splash...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Secret-agent/sleuth Marcus Didius Falco (A Dying Light in Cordoba, etc.) returns with gusto for another case of mystery and intrigueAthis time involving a serial killerAin ancient Rome. As the novel opens, Falco has just come back from a perilous mission to Baetican Spain and is ready to tackle his new role as father to his first-born daughter. But his commitment to paternal responsibilities begins to lag when he and his old friend, Petronius Longus, make a gory discoveryAof a severed human hand in one of Rome's many fountains. As the inquisitive buddies do some reconnaissance work, encountering similar body parts in the Roman water supply, they learn that there is, in fact, a tradition of corpses circulating in the waterworks. Furthermore, these dead bodies often appear after public festivals. The threat of contaminated aqueducts coupled with the imminent Roman Games brings Falco and Petro to confront the authorities on the matter. Official desire to keep the problem under wraps forces the pair to determine the killer's identity on their own, with the help of Helena (Falco's wife), Anacrites (a spy and boarder in Falco's mother's home) and other toga-wearing tipsters. Once again, Davis weaves an intricate, irreverent plot filled with wittily imagined characters.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-Set in first-century Rome, this fast-paced mystery is narrated by a cynical, hard-boiled hero with an imperfectly concealed soft spot for his family. Marcus Didius Falco is back in Rome after an extended trip to Spain. His mother is trying to get him to take on a new partner: his enemy, the former Chief Spy, Anacrites. Falco's friend Petronius Longus is on suspension and in danger of becoming an ex-vigile now that his wife has reported his affair with a married woman who has ties to organized crime. Falco is able to dodge Anacrites by taking Petro on as a partner, but their lives become complicated after they discover a decomposed hand in a fountain. More body parts turn up in the water supply, and it soon becomes clear that someone has been murdering and dismembering women at major festivals for years. The authorities have tried to cover it up to prevent a riot over contaminated water, but now Falco has been given the task of finding the killer before he strikes again. Davis vividly describes life during the period, but the story is never overwhelmed by historical detail. Although the book can stand alone, fans of Falco and his wife Helena will be delighted to encounter familiar characters, from Falco's many sisters and disreputable brothers-in-law to Helena's supposedly more refined aristocratic relations. A riveting, suspenseful, witty read with lots of historical flavor.
Susan Salpini, Purcellville Library, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press; 1st Us Edition edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892966912
• ISBN-13: 978-0892966912
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #526,941 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

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three Hands in the Fountain: Roman History Mystery, May 18, 2000

By 

Sara Elise Phang (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Hands in the Fountain (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco series of murder mysteries set in ancient Rome (AD 70-73) is spot-on. Besides being riveting mystery novels, Davis' historical knowledge is both extensive and up-to-date. (I should know. I have recently received a doctorate in Roman history and am whiling away the long wait for an academic post.) "Fountain" offers an almost painless introduction to the supposedly tedious subject of Roman aqueducts and water management. In the novels, obscure facts of Roman history (such as the organization of the vigiles, Rome's firemen and police, or the Maiuma, a religious carnival involving nude bathing - in "Palmyra") come alive. What's more, Davis does this with humor and a light touch. She completely undercuts the supposedly stuffy image of the ancient Romans with Falco's irreverent perspective. Davis is 1000 times better than Colleen McCullough's bloated "First Man in Rome" series.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast-Paced and Fun, but Clue-less, December 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Three Hands in the Fountain (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Well, mostly clueless. You won't be able to play armchair sleuth, figuring it out as Falco goes along, because of the dearth of clues. The villain is introduced late, not long before he is apprehended, and Falco more or less stumbles upon the truth rather than sleuthing it out. Also, the villain's m.o. seemed a bit implausible, as if engineered to allow the author to give us a tour of the entire water system. (Why dump parts of bodies in one place, and other parts elsewhere?) On the plus side, it's nice to have Falco back in Rome, and this book seemed more focused, with fewer wordy digressions, than other books in the series.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A more mellow Falco investigates Ancient Rome, April 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Three Hands in the Fountain (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In 73 AD Rome, private investigator Marcus Falco shares some wine with his partner, Petronius Longus, when a worker finds the decayed hand of a human female in a nearby fountain. The sleuths see an opportunity to make a name for themselves by investigating what happened. However, the Roman bureaucratic government refuses to even acknowledge the incident for fear of rioting.

Soon, a second hand suffering from less decay than the first discovery is found in another part of the aqueduct system. As the government slowly begins to look into the matter, Marcus and Petronius begin to search for an apparent serial killer, who seems ready to murder again on the date of the next festival. However, Rome's Chief Spy Anacrites plans to add to his own glory rather than allow two intruders like his enemy Marcus and his former employee Petronius solve the case.

THREE HANDS IN THE FOUNTAINS, the latest Ancient Rome historical mystery starring Falco, is a superb tale that makes the city-state seem as if it exists today. The mystery is entertaining and fun. Married life seems to have calmed Falco down a bit, but he still remains a fresh sleuth. Lindsey Davis may be the top writer of ancient historical who-done-its.

Harriet Klausner