The Accusers

A little drier than Falco's usual adventures, this was nonetheless well done as it focused on the machinations of the Roman legal system pertaining to crime and inheritance law. Falco has matured and he and Helena seem to have settled into their life as parents. Absent is the previous history of excessive snarkiness from his family and the barbs previously directed at each other. Helena has embraced her role as detective's wife and plunges in to help. Falco's clients are, as usual, not very pleasant or trustworthy people, nor are the lawyers, clerks, vigiles and informers who are his routine contacts. There are multiple people accused of murdering a high ranking man who was previously found guilty of fraud, or was it suicide. Hmmmm. show more Marcus manages to get thumped about by the usual uglies, but payback in true Subura style is always pleasing to our Marcus Didius Falco. In the mix there's complications based on class, marriage and divorce law, inheritance, illegitimacy and the balance of the scale of justice depending on who you know or who you can bribe. Alas, our hero will have to surrender his position as keeper of the sacred geese. This is a very good addition to the series. show less

Back in Rome, an aedile's father is convicted of influence peddling and commits suicide to avoid the fine and thus keep the family solvent. But was it suicide? And what other secrets are the family hiding? Falco gets involved in legal skullduggery at the highest and most ruthless levels.

After a bit of a slow start, this turns out to be one of the best Falco stories. As our hero faces disaster the tension mounts so that the reader can hardly bear to continue reading, but not to continue would be even worse. Wonderful.

Marcus Didius Falco finds himself both investigating and handling the prosecution of a client involved with a family murder. Lindsay Davis delivers another complicated detective story steeped in the lore of life in ancient Rome. Not life among the nobles, but life at the grassroots as seen through the eyes of private informer Falco. Falco observes what's going on around him and passes it along with great humor. It's always a fascinating ride. Here the reader gets a look at the Roman system of law in which two well-to-do informers specialize in accusing others of wrong-doing leading to a reward upon conviction. Great stuff. Read it.

Not nearly as harrowing as some earlier episodes as Falco only gets the crap beat out of him once. Apparently having minions is useful for avoiding such things. I'm not sure I like Falco all domesticated and cozy though. I prefer his bachelor days of getting by on the skin of his teeth and bluffing his way through everything. This Falco seems tamer, dimmer and much more in control.

The mystery was good and the characters well drawn as usual. The shenanigans were believable as I've read a good deal of Roman history from this era.

I slogged my way through this. It's easy enough to read, and has plenty of wit in it, not to mention references to Roman practices that many of us may not know about. But I never got attached to any of the characters - they seemed wooden to me - or to the mystery. I just didn't care enough.

Marcus Didius Falco is an Informer. Today I suppose we'd call him an Informant, but apparently in those days this was an actual position. You did not hide what you were, even though it was a little shady, perhaps. Falco is presumably not too shady, but not above using an occasional incident to improve his situation. In this case he is asked to look into the apparent suicide of a disgraced senator. Little by little he starts to think maybe it isn't a show more suicide. But then who? The possible villains are legion, and one after another they are accused. There are a lot of accusations in here.

Just not my cup of tea. I think a classical scholar might enjoy this, as it brings to life the ancient Roman world. Sort of. show less

http://nhw.livejournal.com/161945.html

Hmm. I've very much enjoyed some of Davis' novels featuring Marcus Didius Falco, a detective of ancient Rome; this wasn't one of the best. The hero and his colleagues spend ages failing to interrogate the person who is fairly obviously the murderer, and by the end nothing really is resolved. I did wonder if the two chief villains, Paccius Africanus and Silius Italicus, might actually be real-life characters from our time-line who Davis was shoe-horning into a fictional plot; and alas, this indeed turns out to be the case (I even found an article where she brags about it). Oh well, as long as my mother-in-law keeps buying them I suspect I'll keep reading them, but this wasn't really as rewarding as I show more had hoped. show less

Falco's back in Rome, and enmeshed in the Roman legal system. There's a slight shift in perspective (to a case book format which Davis did not stick with) but Falco is still Falco, and in top form. The story is interesting, and the insights into the Roman legal system fascinating.