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"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." But what if you're a Roman, and you're in Britain? What do you do then? In A.D. 75, the Brits are an uncivilized bunch; and Marcus Didius Falco and his extended family, including his best friend and partner Petronius, are in Londinium for a visit. As Falco is quick to point out, the British amenities are sorely lacking in comparison to civilized Rome, whether that be the political environment, the societal structure or the weather. At times, his criticisms of everything British tended to grate on this reader. In Rome, Falco is an informer; and as is usual for him, he tends to stumble across crimes as he journeys. In this case, Verovolcus, a disgraced architect associated with a Roman ally by the name of King Togidubnus, is found with his feet sticking out of a well behind a seedy bar. Falco is familiar with the drowned man, as he had banished him to Gaul instead of subjecting him to a public trial and execution for murder. The silence that Falco meets when he tries to find out what happened to the man leads him to believe that there are gangsters involved, thugs who terrorize anyone who crosses their path. Lawlessness prevails, and the world of Londinium at that time is very dark indeed. As the investigation proceeds, Falco bumps into an old girlfriend, Chloris, who is now known as "Amazonia" and has a thriving career as a girl gladiator. Falco's wife, Helena, does not take kindly to the fact that Chloris is still in lust with Marcus Didius. In the course of the narrative, there's more murder, arson and a surprise addition to the Falco family, as well as an interesting relationship twist involving Falco's sister, Maia. There are enough narrative threads to keep the reader following merrily along. However, I did have a problem with the pacing of the book. There were a few very exciting action scenes, most notably a large fight involving the girl gladiators, but it felt as if much of the action were reported via dialog between the characters rather than being directly experienced by them, a lot of talk and not too much action overall. And the identity of the murderer was easily deduced. Fans of Marcus Didius Falco and crew will find this 14th entry in the series satisfying. I missed some of the laugh-out-loud humor that was typical of the earlier books; but as always, I enjoyed the characters that Davis has created and the wonderful relationship between Marcus Didius and Helena.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, August 2003
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