Nemesis

A Marcus Didius Falco Novel
Lindsey Davis

It has been several years since I last read one of Lindsey Davis' excellent crime novels set in ancient Rome. I ran across Nemesis on the new book display at the local library the other day. Marcus Didius Falco is the detective character, or "informer" as Davis calls him. That job description makes him seem kind of sinister, but the sinister part is actually played by Anacrates, the Emperors chief spy.


 Davis has an amazing depth of knowledge about the daily lives of ancient Romans which she uses to flesh out her stories. She uses the food, the customs and mores, the architecture, even the water and sewer systems to draw the reader in to the lives of her characters.

Nemesis is the twentieth book in the Marcus Didius Falco series. It may seem like a large investment of time, but I recommend reading them in order from book one, The Silver Pigs. It isn't necessary in order to follow the plot, but the development of Falco's character, his life story and the family that he gathers around him through the series are well worth the effort. Like Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Falco and his clan will grow on you.

 I have missed a couple of books in the series: Saturnalia (2007) and Alexandria (2009) as well as Falco the Official Companion (2010). I expect you will be seeing reviews of them here soon. Can a movie be far behind?

This post is in the 70th

Published at Man of La Book.