Two for the Lions

Private informer Marcus Didius Falco is drawn into the investigation of the death of a lion used for executing criminals in the arena. He and Helena Justina wind up in the Roman provinces in North Africa, trying to unravel the mystery which also involves the murder of a gladiator. Lindsay Davis again describes the street life of ancient Rome in a very convincing manner, filled with detail. This time she talks a bit about gladiators and, to a greater extent, the bestiary who provided wild animals to the Roman arena. Excellent novel although I found the denouement more complicated than most.

Informer Marcus Didius Falco teams up with his old nemesis, former Chief Spy Anacrites, to audit Roman citizens for the census. While auditing a lanista, they are unsettled by the senseless death of a lion. Then a rival lanista’s top gladiator is found dead in suspicious circumstances. Falco can’t resist the lure of these connected mysteries. Once an investigator, always an investigator. Meanwhile, Helena’s youngest brother, who recently ran off with his brother’s fiancée, is on a quest in northern Africa. If he’s successful, he’ll make a fortune. Eventually, Falco’s investigation converges with his brother-in-law’s travels, and the family party faces even more danger than they anticipated.

This book continues the series show more pattern, in which Falco (and usually Helena) travel to one of the provinces in every other book. The previous book was mostly set in Rome, so it was time for them to travel. It’s a nice balance. I enjoy the large cast of secondary characters comprised of Falco’s family and associates in Rome, but I also enjoy learning about the Roman provinces and their cultures. show less

Falco has been somehow inveigled into working with Anacrites, and fleeing that disaster, into trying to get Helena's younger brother out of the unholy mess he has created for himself, running off with her older brother's fiance. They end up in Libya, chasing dreams of untold riches, supervised by the ascerbic Helena. Oh, yes, there's a murder - actually two murders, a lion and a gladiator - that Falco ends up solving with his customary panache.

The strengths of this series are the wonderful characters, and the richly realized setting. Davis makes it all come to life vividly, and it's always a joy to be along for the ride.

Commercial rivalry between importers of wild animals gets out of hand in the build-up to the opening of the Colosseum. The mystery to be solved is a bit lame but by now it hardly matters, what we really want to know about is the latest goings-on amongst Falco's family and friends.

Our intrepid detective M.Didius Falco is thrown into the murky world of the gladiator ring. There is the usually dry wit and wry commentary from our hero Falco and the ongoing character development which keeps this series fresh continues as we learn more about Falco's brother in law Quintus and his new business partner and ex arch enemy Anacrites.
As good, if not better than those previous in the series.

Ah, Falco- what's not to like? I thought this one had great character development on Justinus, and I'm also finding Anacrites and Falco playing off each other very enjoyable. I was a little disappointed not to see more of Petronius, but from what I gather, he’ll be back to make a splash again in a book or two. It’s nice, now that Falco and Helena are pretty well-developed characters, to see Davis shedding more light on some of the secondary people.

Number ten, and Falco has teamed up with, of all people, the chief spy, and is acting as a tax inspector. This didn't seem convincing, either in the historical context or in terms of personality, but you know it won't last. Includes a trip to Libya, and a really icky disposal of a character.