The Silver Pigs: A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery: 1 (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries)

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Falco boards a ship, sailing for Britannia. Upon arrival, he is met by Sosia’s cousin and Decimus’s daughter, Helena Justina. They dislike each other immediately; Helena is a wealthy aristocrat; Falco makes assumptions about her based on her class. This story starts in a hot day at the Rome Forum, where Falco sights and then takes in hand a fleeing young woman from the senator class. Sosia Camillina is sixteen, radiantly innocent and someone has tried to kidnap her from the very sanctum of her home. Sosia has no idea why and discovering that is the long, often obfuscated trail that takes Falco and the reader throughout the beautifully researched and vividly recreated Rome 70-71 AD. It takes us traveling across the Roman empire through the provinces of Europe, and then to Britain where again, meticulous scholarship and interest in the period come through in the exciting tale of Falco uncovering the plot of the stolen silver pigs. There were two of them. Two ugly lumps of jail-fodder, jellybrained and broad as they were high, were pushing through the crowds towards her, just ten paces off. The little lass was obviously terrified.

Read this book in 2011, and its the 1st episode of the tremendous "Marcus Didius Falco" series, from the author, Lindsey Davis. urn:lcp:silverpigsmarcus00davi:epub:3704d3c3-f52c-4c7a-8506-78a955cbb35c Extramarc Brown University Library Foldoutcount 0 Identifier silverpigsmarcus00davi Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t3030448z Isbn 9780312357771 For me Rodska is the voice of Falco. He gives Falco the air of someone who knows his place. Has been there, done it all and expects it all to fall apart on him. His tone is easy on the ear but holds your attention. He changes tone and timbre in subtle ways when he voices different characters so that you realise the change but it is not jarring and doesn't deter from the story in any way.Rufrius Vitalis - Ex-Centurion of the Second Augustan Legion, living in retirement at Isca Dumnoniorum. I rarely think that an entertaining mystery merits five stars, but this one does. For many of us who would rather read historical mysteries than current true crime, the attraction is what an author can do to transport us to a different time and place and to make us understand (and/or feel) what it was like to breath and walk around in that remote land. Davis is a master at doing so with Imperial Rome. I always marvel at how well British authors can work with the Roman Empire as a setting, as there are quite a few books and series set in Ancient Rome, as I am also a huge fan of the Medicus series by Ruth Downie – I admit I have not read the works of Steven Saylor from the US but hope to begin shortly. Here Davis has begun a series about the first gumshoe, as Marcus Didius Falco has left the military and has gone into this line of work, as well as working as an informant when the need arises. The plot in this book takes us from Rome to Britain and the Silver mines located there. We have the attempted kidnapping of a 16-year old girl who becomes Falco’s client, along with murder and intrigue at the highest levels of Rome as well as a conspiracy to defraud the Roman government of quite a large amount of silver ingots (thus the title of the book the Silver Pigs as pigs is another word for ingot). It is quite a fun and fascinating book, one that moves along at a very fast pace and provides us with a good plot, a good mystery, a good hero (Falco) and a beguiling heroine. The dialogue is realistic and the history is spot in accurate. If the remaining 19 books are anything like this one, then it will be a wonderful series for one and all to read, especially for those who enjoy history and detective novels.

stars - I enjoyed Helena, Falco, his mother and Publius and several other characters in this Ancient Roman mystery, but I've never been much into the period and had a hard time getting into it - but I'd been hearing about the series for so long I wanted to give it a try. The dialog is first person, and reads a bit like Sam Spade in the Subura. You are never left wondering what Falco's opinion is, on any subject or person. As this is the first of many Falco novels, paying attention here is worth it; Davis seems unwilling to let any juicy bits stay on the floor, and applies the Five Second Rule to rescue them for later enjoyment. The two new friends get to know each other in Falco's sixth-floor walkup flat over Lenia's laundry, which is also Falco's office. Sosia tells him she was kidnapped out of her uncle's house for reasons unknown, but she had managed to wriggle free from their grasp. After talking things over with Falco's best friend and fellow ex-soldier, Petronius Longus, now a Patrol Captain of the Aventine Watch (police), Sosia stays at Falco's place for the night. He plans to bring her relatives to her in the morning, as they decide it is to dangerous for her to go out in public.Retrata a época romana sem ser exaustivo. Com todo o seu encanto e conflitos. Pode-se comparar aos romances de Steven Saylor que tem como protagonista o Gordiano, Descobridor... Mas ao contrário de Gordiano, Marco Falco é um sedutor e republicano. Os casos que resolve tem como clientes mulheres, que acaba por conquistar, e homens de baixa categoria. No entanto a sua sorte muda, e ele acaba se envolvendo num misterioso crime. Que envolve uma morte de uma jovem e um contrabando de lingotes de prata.