Three Hands in the Fountain

Falco and Helena are back in Rome with their infant daughter, Julia. When Falco and his best friend, Petronius, slip out of a family party celebrating Julia’s birth, they make a gruesome discovery in one of Rome’s fountains. How did a severed hand get into the water supply? When a second hand is discovered in another fountain, Falco and Petronius suspect that there may be a serial killer at work. Ex-consul Frontinus hires Falco and his new partner, Petronius, to search for the killer. The discovery of a third severed hand provides them with more information, but will it be enough for them to track down the killer before he takes his next victim?

Rome’s water system is at the center of this book. The mystery feels forced to fit what show more Davis wanted to tell her readers about the aqueducts that supplied Rome’s water. Falco and his partners in the investigation are obsessed with figuring out how and where the murderer commits his crimes, with no interest in the motive behind the crimes. Falco and Petronius must search among the crowds attending Rome’s festivals, yet there is very little description of what takes place at the festival. We only get descriptions of the crowds coming and going. I wish that Davis had put as much effort into the mystery plot as she did in her research into Rome’s water supply. show less

I always listen to Didius Falco books, but this one seemed to take longer than usual. Still, a good story, even though I agreed with Falco that he was barking up the wrong tree at the end. The comic twist was fairly predictable but still fun.

It’s 73 A.D. and a serial killer is loose in Rome. Since he deposits parts of his victims in the Roman aqueduct system, he garners more than a little interest from the citizens. Our hero, Falco, and his friend Petronius are hired to find the killer, leading to a manhunt not only in Rome but in the nearby countryside. As usual, Ms. Davis’s research is deep and exposition informative. If you want to learn some intricate details about the Roman water system, this is the place. And as in the eight previous Falco novels, Davis maintains a light tone with Falco’s domestic woes to balance the darkness of the murder mystery. It’s been a while since I read the previous installments, but I have to think that this is one of the better show more books in the series. show less

Just a slight spoiler: the "three hands" of the title is not a metaphor, they're actual decomposing body parts in the City's water system.
This is another good one from Davis -- not the best in the series, but right in line with the quality stuff you'd expect.

Falco comes up against a serial killer. Good, well-paced thriller with lots of re-appearances of characters from earlier books. I'm not sure I like what's happening to Petronius though. His character seems quite different from the way he started out in the earlier books.

Roman informer and dry wit personified, Marcus Didius Falco investigates the mystery of body parts left in the city's water supply. I found the mystery and seeking out of the criminal quite slow going. However, the character development in this one was great. We learn a lot about Falco's friend Petronius Longus and also a few snippets about Falco's nemesis Anacrites. All in all, good fun even though it's not a compulsive page turner.

The Roman aqueducts are being polluted by body parts. A serial killer is kidnapping and dismembering women during the holidays. It's up to Falco and Petro to locate the killer before it's too late and another woman is kidnapped and murdered.