I never knew ancient Rome could be such a scream. The first of a long, and -- thankfully -- continuing series of mysteries that feature the tough, but warm-hearted, sleuth Falco, solving mysteries in the Roman Empire. The parallels with our modern "civilization" are priceless. This book also includes a look at ancient Britain.

The beginning of one of the most fascinating series that I ever had the pleasure of reading. If you are in to mysteries, romance and historical novels that are set in the ancient world, then this is the series for you. Lindsey Davis is a thorough researcher. Her maps will be poured over, her references to historical figures are accurate. Her hero's grouchy attitude is always humorous although at a moments notice she can plunge the story into dark and dangerous territory. ( )

Sosia needs rescuing and Marcus finds a mystery dealing with stolen Imperial ingots. He goes to the silver mines of Britain to solve the mystery, all to the tune of many laughs. A truly delightful character that brings ancient Rome to life.

I treasure this book, because Ellis Peters personally recommended it to me. (Yes, that's name dropping. No, I didn't know her personally, it was at a book signing.)

I love this book, indeed the whole series. Davis has recreated ancient Rome in a thoroughly believable way. The characters are three dimensional and vivid, and the protagonist is both skilled and not overly so.

I also love the romance between Marcus and Helena, all prickly offended pride on her part and stubborn pride on his, and the way they get together makes sense for both of them.

The mystery is fun and reasonable, the denoument doesn't rely on hidden facts that we never had a chance to find out.

Also really important to me - the writing sparkles. The dialogue and the description alike are really well done. ( )

This is the first in a series of mysteries set in ancient Rome. I was hooked on the description alone. The detective, Marcus Didius Falco, is an "informer," which basically means he spies on husbands and wives who are cheating on each other. In this book, however, Falco faces a much more exciting (and dangerous) challenge when government property is being stolen. Soon he finds himself embroiled in a plot that could affect the future of the entire Empire. I really enjoyed this book and thought there was something for everybody - mystery, humor, suspense, romance, even political commentary. Though I don't know a huge amount about ancient Rome, I'm told it's also quite historically accurate. I'm definitely going to try and acquire the rest of the series!

I only read up to page 100. I started caring about Didius so I think some folks might like it (if you can't relate or like characters I think it's harder to do this) but some things happened a little too abruptly. And, though it was nice finishing a chapter in seconds, it was too formulaic. So, maybe that's the nature of these mystery genres in mass market format? Sorry, I like giving more detailed reviews but I couldn't finish the book and so just wanted to remember what I thought about it - in December 2008 at least.

A clever mystery featuring cheeky Roman sleuth Marcus Didius Falco and a sharp-tongued senator's daughter named Helena Justina. ( )

1st sequel of the adventures of private eye Marcus Didius Falco, starting in AD 70; very amusing, good plots, interesting insights into the daily life of ancient Rome (1989) ( )

Enjoyable mystery novel starring a private detective who lives in 2nd century Rome. ( )

Funny, well constructed historical detective story set in the Vespasian period. Loved it.

Wonderful beginning to a great series about a Roman private eye who is dispatched by the Emperor to investigate the theft of silver "pigs" from mines in Britain. Great detail. ( )

Most historical mysteries are either light on the mystery or light on the flavor of the time period. This is neither. The start of a great series full of great characters. ( )

Ancient Roman private eye.

Davis takes the whole wisecracking private detective schtick and transplants it to an Ancient Roman setting, at least briefly, anyway, in this book.

Investigator and Imperial Agent Falco gets sent to Britain to look into dodgy mining doings, and gets in a whole lot of trouble.

There he meets Helena Justina, a senator's daughter. An instant hate/love relationship with someone who is out of his class.

A mystery to solve and economics to overcome.

Very entertaining historical crime novel.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/11... ( )

It does what it sets out to do. The central character is a private investigator in Rome, and investigating a bullion scam takes him to the slave mines of Cornwall and back again. Personally I could have done without the love interest, but I'm a cynic, so I don't hold it against the book. An entertaining mix of genres, and not a bad story holding them together either. ( )

Marcus Didius Falco is a private informer (private detective) in ancient Rome. Like all the Falco books this is a good yarn with lots of little authentic historical details. A gentle sense of humour adds to the fun of these stories. ( )

I turned to this first of Lindsey Davis' Falco novels, after having watched the BBC/HBO series 'Rome'. The two are not dissimilar: both feature larger than life characters and a good sense of humour; Falco lacks the inyerface sex scenes and creative swearing of the TV series - which on balance is probably a good thing!
Told through the eyes of Falco and set during Emperor Vespasian's glory days, we get to meet his girl Helena, best mate Petro and his mother as well as the Emperor and his sons. All are well rounded characters and we'll hear more of them in subsequent adventures.
Great fun - roll on the next installment. ( )

Ehh.

I enjoy the voice of the narrator, and the wonderful little historical details.

But sometimes Marcus Falco's typical Roman arrogance and obliviousness isn't funny, it's upsetting. I know it's probably accurate, but looking back on it from the future, I keep wanting to say "look around you!" The big climax takes place during a Triumph for a very famous and horrible conquest of a nation, and it's just background noise for the characters. This is particularly troubling after what Marcus survives in this book. ( )

The Silver Pigs was an exceptional read. Marcus Didius Falco is a highly likeable, slightly flawed, wry character. I found the first person style to give Falco's character more depth and enhanced his dry wit. The story line was involved and interesting. The supporting characters were all well developed and well placed within the plot. Davis tends to drift too much into the history of Ancient Rome for my tastes, detracting a bit from the text since much of it was over my head, but this did not take away from my enjoyment of the novel. ( )

Marcus Didius Falco is very different from Steven Saylor's Gordianus the Finder. Marcus is a bit of a crude party-boy, but his intellect and wit are keen. Most Flaco mysteries are set in Rome, but this is one of the few in which he travels the Roman empire, this time ending up as a slave in a British lead mine. Putting that misery aside, it's a fun read! ( )

Falco's first outing, and I think one of the best of the his adventures I've read. Davis's exuberance keeps the story bowling along and Falco's film noir detective persona is so blatantly anachronistic that it is impossible to carp. ( )

The first in a detective series placed in Ancient Rome and its provinces. Marcus Didius Falco starts his investigations on behalf of the emperor Vespasian and incidentally meets the love of his life in cold and misty Britain which he certainly will not come to miss. Good for light reading and nice for those who like books on Ancient Rome. ( )

I read Silver Pigs based on the recommendations of someone on a historical fiction book group with me, and I really am grateful to her! This book is wonderful. In general, I stick to historical fiction in a fairly limited time frame, rarely venturing out of my favorite niche of Georgian and Regency era England. However, I have now become a devoted fan of the ancient Roman empire.

Lindsey Davis is so talented at melding little facts about daily life in Rome (and Britain) into her story. The story is told from the point of view of Marcus Didius Falco as though you are his contemporary, and he assumes that you understand all the "pop culture" references and side jokes he makes about Rome, Roman culture, and the Empire; in this way, you really *do* learn a lot about the history of the period, in a "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" type of way. It reads almost like a satirical account in a Roman newspaper might read. I LOVED the way Davis did that, and still managed to create truly sympathetic characters that you cheer for.

I'm excited to learn that there are at least sixteen books in the Falco series- I have added them ALL to my TBR pile and look forward to the pleasure of reading each one. ( )

Wonderful fiction about the underside of Rome. These stories remind me of Juvenal's satires in a way, depicting the corruption, sleaze and sheer ugliness of Rome in imperial times. Great stories to boot. ( )