Good fun in 76 AD, and a couple of murders as well. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1023691.ht...

Latest in this run of detective novels set during the reign of the emperor Vespasian. After a couple of less impressive efforts in recent years, Davis seems to be firmly back on form: this is an entertaining tale of family dynamics interacting mildly with high politics - Falco is called in to track an escaped German political prisoner, who coincidentally is the former lover of his brother-in-law. Oddly enough the actual murders are the least convincing part of the plot, but the rest is good fun. ( )

As the festive holiday of Saturnalia approaches, 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.

Saturnalia is the 18th in Davis' series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, a Roman private investigator during the reign of Vespasian.

The story takes place during the Roman festival of Saturnalia, originally a feast to celebrate the dedication of the Temple of Saturn on December 17 but later expanded to an entire week. It was a pretty riotous affair, with slaves exchanging places with masters (within carefully presribed limits), the giving of presents, public and private feasts, wild parties, and generally rowdy behavior.

Davis uses the 7 days of the feat to organize her story. The main plot centers around the escape, in Rome, of the captured German high priestess Veleda and the fear at the highest levels that Veleda might organize a rebellion in Rome itself. Falco is given the mission to find Veleda; he has until the end of Saturnalia to do so.

We've met Veleda before in the 4th book of the series, The Iron Hand of Mars. At that time, Falco, accompanied by Justinus, brother of Falco's lover Helena, to Germana Libera, east of the Rhine River, on an imperial mission to dsicover the fate of a Roman general presumed missing in the area. They are captured and sent as gifts to Veleda; they escape with Veleda's help after Justinus, a handsome young man, spends a night alone with Veleda.

But 5 years later, Justinus is married with a young son. The marriage is not an easy one, and Justinus and Claudia Rufina have had yet the latest in a series of arguments. Veleda's presence in Rome is not conducive to a reconciliation; in fact, Justinus disappears and all concerned are quite certain that he has decamped to find his former lover. Falco promises Helena's Senatorial family that he will find Justinus.

Veleda escaped from being held, as was customary at that time, in the house of a noble family. Her escape coincides with the murder of the son of the family in a particularly brutal fashion--he has been decapitated and his head placed in the pool in the atrium. Veleda is the prime suspect for this murder.

But other murders are occurring around Rome during this time, and the victims are far from noble--ex-slaves, runaways, homeless and vagrants. The question: are these murders in some way related to Veleda and her escape?

During the course of the investigation, we meet various representatives of Rome's medical establishment. We also participate in the raucous celebration of Saturnalia; Davis' description left me wistful--I was definitely born too late!

In this book, Davis departs from her usual approach in several ways: 1) the existence of a subplot and 2) Falco may be growing up! While Falco is as irreverent and cynical as ever, he is far more subdued--after all, he has a wife and family to consider. The quips are still there, his interactions with Petronius, his best friend and chief of the local vigiles, are still somewhat acerbic but the snappiness that characterized the earliest novels in particular is gone. However, that doesn't seem forced. Falco is still Falco and his family is still fascinating--but all have matured in one way or another, which seems natural. Any number of recurring characters reappear in addition to Falco's dysfunctional family; Anacrites, the Chief Spy, contributes his usual oily nastiness to the goings-on. The plot is still very good and the writing carries the reader along to a surprise ending.

A very entertaining read. Highly recommended. ( )