Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Rome, AD 70:  Marcus Didius Falco is an informer for the Emperor, which is a somewhat precarious occupation given that Vespasian loathes informers.  Actually, what he does is more what modern audiences would recognize as being a private eye. But more about that later.

While making his way through the streets of the city, he sees a very pretty, very young, very obviously patrician woman being followed by two toughs who are just as obviously up to no good.  Falco makes a snap decision to save her even though she hasn’t asked to be saved, and takes her to what passes for his office—the six floors up in a building in one of Rome’s slums.  Not only is the potential client not impressed, she tries to give him the slip.  It turns out she’s been kidnapped; but why, and by whom are just the start of the mystery.  If Falco weren’t the curious sort, he could have just returned her, collected a reward, and gotten drunk (again). But he is the curious sort, and that is going to land him in a heap of trouble involving embezzlement, stolen silver, conspiracies, and murder.

These books had been on my TBR list for quite some time.  I confess I was a bit hesitant because I thought they might be Ponderous Tomes, requiring total attention.  I was delighted to find that Falco is a quick talking, wise-cracking character albeit with his own moral code, and very much reminded me of some of the classic private eye characters like Archie Goodwin or Sam Spade. 

Davis makes good use of her supporting cast, some of whom will be regulars in the series. 

I also learned some fascinating facts about ancient Rome, such as that Emperor Vespasian imposed a tax on urine—urine being the secret ingredient to get those Roman togas so impressively white, and so a commodity of some value.  Davis makes ancient Rome come vividly to life, from what people wore and what they ate to political machinations of the times, and does so in a most entertaining way.

I was hooked from the start of this book and by the end I was eager to follow Falco on to his next adventure.

   1. The Silver Pigs
   2. Shadows in Bronze
   3. Venus in Copper
   4. The Iron Hand of Mars
   5. Poseidon's Gold
   6. Last Act in Palmyra
   7. Time to Depart
   8. A Dying Light in Corduba
   9. Three Hands in the Fountain
   10. Two for the Lions
   11. One Virgin Too Many
   12. Ode to a Banker
   13. A Body in the Bath House
   14. The Jupiter Myth
   15. The Accusers
   16. Scandal Takes a Holiday
   17. See Delphi and Die
   18. Saturnalia
   19. Alexandria
   20. Nemesis