Lindsey Davis Books

`The first concern of an author is to do down his colleagues.'In the long, hot Roman summer of AD 74, Falco, private informer and spare-time poet, gives a reading for his family and friends. A visit to the Chrysippus scriptorium implicates Falco in a gruesome literary murder, so when commissioned to investigate, Falco is forced to accept.

The next book in the thrilling Flavia Albia series, by acclaimed author Lindsey Davis.

Four novella-length stories written to illuminate her unparalleled output of the last 30 years.

'Lindsey Davis has seen off all her competitors to become the unassailable market leader in the 'crime in Ancient Rome' genre . . . Davis's squalid, vibrant Rome is as pleasurable as ever' - Guardian 'For fans of crime fiction set in the ancient world, this one is not to be missed' - Booklist Private investigator Flavia Albia is always drawn to an intriguing puzzle - even if it is put to her by her new husband's hostile ex-wife. On the Quirinal Hill, a young girl named Clodia has died, apparently poisoned with a love potion. Only one person could have supplied such a thing: a local witch who goes by the name of Pandora, whose trade in herbal beauty products is hiding something far more sinister. The supposedly sweet air of the Quirinal is masking the stench of loose morality, casual betrayal and even gangland conflict and, when a friend of her own is murdered, Albia determines to expose as much of this local sickness as she can - beginning with the truth about Clodia's death. **************** Praise for Lindsey Davis and the Flavia Albia series 'Davis's prose is a lively joy, and Flavia's Rome is sinister and gloriously real' The Times on Sunday 'Davis's books crackle with wit and knowledge . . . She has the happy knack of making the reader feel entirely immersed in Rome'

Saturnalia is the eighteenth book in Lindsey Davis' bestselling Falco series. It is the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. The days are short, the nights are for wild parties. A general has captured a famous enemy of Rome, and brings her home to adorn his Triumph as a ritual sacrifice. The logistics go wrong; she acquires a mystery illness -- then a young man is horrendously murdered and she escapes from house arrest. Marcus Didius Falco is pitted against his old rival, the Chief Spy Anacrites, in a race to find the fugitive before her presence angers the public and makes the government look stupid. Falco has other priorities, for Helena's brother Justinus has also vanished, perhaps fatefully involved once more with the great lost love of his youth. Against the riotous backdrop of the season of misrule, the search seems impossible and only Falco seems to notice that some dark agency is bringing death to the city streets.

Balbinus Pius, the most notorious gangster in Emperor Vespasian's Rome, has been convicted of a capital crime at last. A quirk of Roman law, however, allows citizens condemned to death "time to depart" and find exile outside the empire. Now as every hoodlum in Rome scrambles to take over Balbinus' operations, private eye Marcus Didius Falco has to deal with an unprecedented wave of crime--and the sneaking suspicion that Balbinus' exile may not really be so permanent after all.

In the sacred grove of Julius Caesar, something deadly stirs in the undergrowth—a serial killer, who haunted the gardens for years, has claimed another victim—in Lindsey Davis’s next historical mystery, The Grove of the Caesars. At the feet of her adoptive father, renowned private informer Marcus Didius Falco, Flavia Albia learned a number of important rules. First and foremost—always keep one's distance from the palace, nothing good comes from that direction. But right behind it—murder is the business of the Vigiles, best to leave them to it. Having broken the first rule more often than she'd like, it's no surprise to anyone when she finds herself breaking the second one. The public gardens named after the Caesars is a place nice girls are warned away from and when a series of bodies are uncovered, it seems that a serial killer has been haunting the grove for years. The case is assigned to one Julius Karus, a cohort of the Vigiles, but Albia is convinced that nothing will come of his efforts. Out of sympathy for the dead women and their grieving relatives, Albia decides to work with the vile Karus and bring the serial killer to justice.

In the high summer of 77 AD, Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco is beset by personal problems. Newly bereaved and facing unexpected upheavals in his life, it is a relief for him to consider someone else's misfortunes. A middle-aged couple who supplied statues to his father, Geminus, have disappeared in mysterious circumstances.

An unpaid bar bill leads Flavia Albia to her most bitter and complex case yet. Decades earlier Appius Tranquillus Surus wrote his will: it freed his slaves and bequeathed his businesses to them. He left an orchard to the Prisci, a family he was friendly with, on the condition that his freedmen could still take its harvest. The convoluted arrangement has led to a feud between the two families, each of which has its own internal strife. Endless claims and counterclaims lead to violence and even death. Lawyers have given up in exasperation as the case limps on. The original will has disappeared, along with a falsified codicil - and might there be another one? But is there a solution? Two youngsters from each side of the divide, Gaius Venuleius and Cosca Sabatina, have fallen in love, which could unite the feuding families. There is only one problem: were Sabatina's grandmother and father really liberated in the Surus will? If not, the stigma of slavery will stop the marriage and the dispute will rage on forever. Reconciliation seems impossible, but Albia will try. Her investigation must cut through decades of secrets, arguments, lies and violence to reach a startling truth

The brilliant new novel in the must-read, laugh-out-loud Flavia Albia series.

A frightened child approaches Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco, story that a relation wants to kill her - and neither does he. Beset by his own family troubles, by his new responsibilities as Procurator of the Sacred Poultry, and by the continuing search for a new partner, he turns been selected as the new Vestal Virgin, and when she disappears Falco is officially asked to investigate. Finding Gaia is then a race terrifying exploit yet ...

As the girl came running up the steps, I decided she was wearing far too many clothes...So, in 1989, readers were introduced to Marcus Didius Falco, the Roman informer, as he stood on the steps of the Temple of Saturn, looking out across the Forum: the heart of his world.

We first met Flavia Albia, Falco's feisty adopted daughter, in 'The Ides of April'. Albia is a remarkable woman in what is very much a man's world: young, widowed and fiercely independent, she lives alone on the Aventine Hill in Rome and makes a good living as a hired investigator. An outsider in more ways than one, Albia has unique insight into life in ancient Rome, and she puts it to good use going places no man could go, and asking questions no man could ask.

This first in a series of anthologies sponsored by the British Crime Writers Association features 22 short stories with urban themes. The editor notes that he was looking for stories that offered imaginative takes on the familiar idea of big-city cr

When Falco and Helena hear that a young girl and a newly married woman have been murdered at Olympia, they step in to investigate.

For Marcus Didius Falco, agent to the Emperor Vespasian, Alexandria holds fascination and a hint of fear. Beautiful, historic and famously unruly, the great cosmopolitan city wears Roman rule lightly. While his wife, Helena Justina, wants to see the Lighthouse and the Pyramids, Falco has a mission at the Great Library that soon turns out to involve much more than stock-taking its innumerable scrolls.

Life is sweet for Flavia Albia and her soon-to-be husband Faustus. But his new job as a building contractor runs into a problem: At the Garden of the Hesperides a barmaid went missing years before; now the workmen start unearthing her bones. Albia takes on the task of finding out what happened. Five more skeletons are discovered. Despite the fact that nobody seems to know or care who died, violent attempts are made to stop her enquiries. Soon Albia is exploring the world of Roman streetlife, where bars are brothels, workers lead brutal lives, foreigners are muscling in on the gambling syndicates, and extortion is commonplace. What's more there's little time to solve the mystery before the wedding day when Albia is expected to show Rome that her affair with Manlius is a much more than a casual fling. The gods, however, have other ideas...

First-century Roman sleuth Marcus Didius Falco seeks a serial killer who keeps leaving the body parts of his murdered victims in the city's water system after festivals

`To find a drowned man head-first down a well was slightly unusual, exciting maybe.'For Falco, a relaxed visit to Helena's relatives in Britain turns serious at the scene of a downtown murder.

Inimitable sleuth Marcus Didius Falco is back with a vengeance. On one night, a man is killed and Rome's Chief of Spies left for dead. This leaves no one except Falco to conduct the investigation. Soon he is plunged into the fiercely competitive world of olive oil production. Political intrigue, an exotic Spanish dancer and impending fatherhood all add to Falco's troubles.

Ancient Rome's most turbulent period is recreated in this story of the Emperor Vespasian and his mistress, Antonia Caenis, a freed slave. As their forbidden romance blossoms, she is embroiled in political intrigue, while he embarks on a glorious career.

The 20th book in the bestselling Falco detective series. In the high summer of 77AD, Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco is beset by personal problems. Newly bereaved and facing unexpected upheavals in his life, it is a relief for him to consider someone else's misfortunes. A middle-aged couple who supplied statues to his father, Geminus, have disappeared in mysterious circumstances. They had an old feud with a bunch of notorious freedmen, the Claudii, who live rough in the pestilential Pontine Marshes, terrorising the neighbourhood. When a mutilated corpse turns up near Rome, Falco and his vigiles friend Petronius investigate, even though it means travelling in the dread marshes. But just as they are making progress, the Chief Spy, Anacrites, snatches their case away from them. As his rivalry with Falco escalates, he makes false overtures of friendship, but fails to cover up the fact that the violent Claudii have acquired corrupt protection at the highest level. Making further enquiries after they have been warned off can only be dangerous -- but when did that stop Falco and Petronius? Egged on by the slippery bureaucrats who hate Anacrites, the dogged friends dig deeper while a psychotic killer keeps taking more victims, and the shocking truth creeps closer and closer to home. From the Hardcover edition.

From the creator of Falco comes Falco: the new generation, featuring her unforgettable heroine Flavia Albia in her third novel.

In Rome, ruled by the erratic Emperor Domitian, Flavia Albia is dragged into the worst sort of investigation—a politically charged murder—in Lindsey Davis’s next historical mystery, A Capitol Death. A man falls to his death from the Tarpeian Rock, which overlooks the Forum in the Capitoline Hill in Ancient Rome. While it looks like a suicide, one witness swears that she saw it happen and that he was pushed. Normally, this would attract very little official notice but this man happened to be in charge of organizing the Imperial Triumphs demanded by the emperor. The Emperor Domitian, autocratic and erratic, has decided that he deserves two Triumphs for his so-called military victories. The Triumphs are both controversial and difficult to stage because of the not-so-victorious circumstances that left them without treasure or captives to be paraded through the streets. Normally, the investigation would be under the auspices of her new(ish) husband but, worried about his stamina following a long recovery, private informer Flavia Albia, daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, steps in. What a mistake that turns out to be. The deceased proves to have been none-too-popular, with far too many others with much to gain from his death. With the date of the Triumphs fast approaching, Flavia Albia must unravel a truly complex case of murder before danger shows up on her own doorstep.

'Davis's prose is a lively joy, and Flavia's Rome is sinister and gloriously real' The Times on Saturday Flavia Albia's day-old marriage is in trouble - her new husband may be permanently disabled and they have no funds. So when Palace officials ask her to expose a traitor in their midst she is ready for the task. Ever since the Emperor Nero committed suicide in AD 68, Rome has been haunted by reports that he is actually alive and ready to reclaim his throne. Two Nero pretenders have emerged from the East and met grisly fates. But now a new pretender has been smuggled into Rome by the traitor. Flavia must negotiate with spies, dodge assassins and reveal this third Nero before he can make his move. Will she act in time or will Rome once more be plunged into civil war?

Marcus Didius Falco is an Roman Imperial agent in 71 AD. and he is being sent to tame the Celtic hordes

"Delectably funny...A novel that gives new meaning to the term 'classic detective fiction.'" THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD In 70 A.D. in ancient Rome, no one is a saint. Or so thinks Marcus Didius Falco, a private investigator first introduced in the award-winning SILVER PIGS, who's trying to prevent a murder before it happens. When every man a woman marries dies, Falco knows there's smoke and fire--and he'll stop at nothing to untangle the Gordion knot that proves it.

Another Falco detective story, set in Rome AD 73. Distracted by the apparent murder of a star man-eating lion, Falco uncovers a bitter rivalry between the gladiators' trainers. When one also ends up dead, Falco is forced to investigate.

In the wealthy town of Ostia, Marus Didius Flaco appears to tbe enjoying a relaxing holiday. But when his girlfriend Helena arrives carrying a batch of old copies of the Daily Gazette, Falco is forced to admit to Petronius his real reasons for being there. (Back cover)

The next witty, must-read book in the Flavia Albia series.

Marcus Didius Falco takes to the streets of Ancient Rome once more, this time as a private investigator for the Emperor Vespasian himself. He is put on the trail of a villain who means to depose the Emperor.

AD75, and in Britain King Togidubnus of the Atrebates is running up huge bills for his fine new residence (known to us as Fishbourne Palace). Suspecting corruption, the frugal Emperor Vespasian demands an investigation and Falco - with his own pressing reasons to leave Rome - accepts the task.

Rome, AD 72. Marcus Falco returns from a six-month mission to the German legions. But trouble awaits him - his apartment has been wrecked and someone is demanding money from him. Worse is to come when that person is killed, and Falco is the prime suspect.

In first century Rome, Flavia Albia takes on an easy case that soon proves to be anything but as, at every turn, bodies—old and new—dog her path. Flavia Albia, daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, has taken over her father's business as a private informer. She only has two hard and fast rules - avoid political cases and family cases because nothing good comes of either of them. Unfortunately, since Albia isn't good at avoiding either, it's really more of a guideline. So when her Aunt Junia demands Albia track down a couple of deadbeats who owe her money, it's an offer Albia can't refuse. It turns out to be a relatively easy job, requiring only some half-hearted blackmail, and it leads to some new work - tracking down some essential paperwork for the debtor family. But nothing is truly easy in Rome - if Albia doesn't find the paperwork that proves that family's ancestor was a properly freed slave, the family could lose everything. The more she digs, the more skeletons she finds in their closet, until murder in the past leads to murder in the present. Now, it's serious, even deadly, and Albia has precious little time to uncover the truth.

The sixth novel featuring Marcus Didius Falco. Falco and his girlfriend Helena find themselves attached to a travelling comedy troupe who are touring through Syria. Falco finds himself entangled in another murder case - a second-rate playwright is murdered, leaving the comedy troupe without a bard.

Kingfisher Knowledge is a groundbreaking series for readers hungry for information on today's hot topics. Lively, engaging text, packed with information, accompanies stunning photographs that enhance each chapter. Amazing, state-of-the-art digital artwork guides readers into the fascinating heart of the subject. This learning adventure does not stop there - information panels throughout lead the reader to further discovery. Each chapter offers website links, book lists, places to visit and career information. Life in Ancient Rome transports the reader on an amazing journey through the world built and run by the Romans, from its legendary origins and the growth of the republic to the height of empire, and from the human details of everyday life in Rome to the violent spectacles of battles and gladiatorial combat. Organized historically, it gives a clear sense of the major developments in this long and changing period, and is full of dynamic stories of interesting characters, important battles and great events. It also sheds new and intriguing light on familiar themes of life in roads and baths, luxurious living and slavery, the Forum and temples, and much more. The final chapter charts the decline of the Roman empire and looks at its far-reaching legacy.

Revised edition featuring an interactive table of contents, cross-referencing, links to external websites, downloadable resources, and optimized content for Kindle e-readers. This historical writers’ guide aims to equip aspiring writers with the essential skills for crafting historical novels and short stories. It also serves experienced writers looking to refine their craft or transition to historical fiction. The step-by-step format includes practical activities that encourage experimentation with techniques necessary for creating authentic and engaging historical narratives. Organized into seven main headings, each chapter focuses on a specific writing skill or tool, allowing for independent use to address particular challenges or reinforce concepts introduced. The guide aims to provide the necessary tools for writing in various historical subgenres, including historical crime fiction. Contributions from notable historical fiction writers offer insights that both complement and challenge the activities, providing a diverse perspective on the craft. The activities stem from innovative workshops led by Myfanwy Cook, a published author with numerous accolades. She emphasizes that mastering writing is akin to an apprenticeship, requiring practical skills, imagination, and a commitment to the craft. This guide seeks to fill gaps in knowledge and inspire aspiring writers by enhancing their confidence and skills in historical fi

Having returned from his trip to Londinium, Falco takes up employment with Africanus and Italicus, preparing an affidavit for the trial of a senator. The prosecution is successful but a month later the senator is dead, apparently by suicide.

Winner of the Best First Novel award from the Authors' Club, and debut of the Didius Falco mystery series.It is A.D. 70, when Roman P.I. Marcus Didius Falco runs into comely Sosia Camillina on the steps of the Forum. It seems she's being chased by a few unsavories for a stockpile of silver pigs--silver ingots--but Falco wants more information. What he gets is a whiff of treason and a one-way ticket to his own funeral pyre...."It has mystery, pace, wit, fascinating scholarship, and above all, two protagonists for whom, by the end, I feel genuine affection, and want to meet again."Ellis Peters

Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of a famous investigating family. In defiance of tradition, she lives alone on the colourful Aventine Hill, and battles out a solo career in a male-dominated world. As a woman and an outsider, Albia has special insight into the best, and worst, of life in ancient Rome. A female client dies in mysterious circumstances. Albia investigates and discovers there have been many other strange deaths all over the city, yet she is warned off by the authorities. The vigils are incompetent. The local magistrate is otherwise engaged, organising the Games of Ceres, notorious for its ancient fox-burning ritual. Even Albia herself is preoccupied with a new love affair: Andronicus, an attractive archivist, offers all that a love-starved young widow can want, even though she knows better than to take him home to meet the parents... As the festival progresses, her neighbourhood descends into mayhem and becomes the heartless killer's territory. While Albia and her allies search for him, he stalks them through familiar byways and brings murder ever closer to home. The Ides of April is vintage Lindsey Davis, offering wit, intrigue, action and a brilliant new heroine who promises to be as celebrated as Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina, her fictional predecessors.

From "New York Times" bestselling novelist Lindsey Davis comes an epic novel of first-century Rome and the Emperor Domitian, known to all of the Roman world as "Master and God""" Set in the reign of the Emperor Domitian in first-century Rome, "Master and God" is Lindsey Davis's meticulously researched epic novel of the life and times surrounding the last of the Flavian dynasty of emperors. Gaius Vinius is a reluctant Praetorian Guard--the Emperor's personal guard--and a man with a disastrous marriage history. Flavia Lucilla is also in the imperial court and she is responsible not only for having created the ridiculous hairstyle worn by the imperial ladies but for also making toupees for the balding and increasingly paranoid emperor. The two of them are brought together in an unlikely manner--a devastating fire in Rome--which then leads to a lifelong friendship.Together they watch Domitian's once talented rule unravel into madness and cruelty, until the people closest to him conspire to delete him from history. As an imperial bodyguard, Vinius then faces a tough decision. "Master and God" is a compelling novel of the Roman Empire--from the height of power to the depths of madness--told from the perspective of two courtiers and unlikely friends who together are the witnesses to history.

Set against the terrible struggle of the English Civil War and the dark plots of the Commonwealth, Rebels and Traitors tells of soldiers, adventurers, aristocrats and kings, tradesmen, politicians, radicals and scavengers - and the hopes and dreams that carried them through one of the most turbulent eras of English history. Men who never imagined fighting a war gladly risk their lives; women strive to keep families and businesses together through years of deprivation; innocents are caught up in bloodshed and terror. After years of struggle Gideon Jukes and Juliana Lovell, on opposite sides of the Parliamentarian/Royalist divide, are brought together by fate on one of the significant dates of the struggles and its aftermath. After adversity and loss, their mutual attraction may one day bring the comfort and companionship for which they both have yearned through a disastrous war. But a dark shadow lurks over them and even in peace the past is not far behind. Rebels and Traitors is an absolute epic masterpiece, poignant and convincing characterisation and razor-sharp historical realism.

Parece que por fin la vida del investigador Marco Didio Falco va a entrar en una época de desahogo económico e incluso de prosperidad pues se ha puesto al servicio del emperador Vespasiano como agente tributario con amplios poderes y un sueldo nada desdeñable. Sin embargo, la muerte de una gran estrella del mundo del espectáculo da un vuelco a todos sus planes y pone al descubierto el sórdido mundo de las envidias y las rivalidades entre los entrenadores y los ajentes de gladiadores. Cuando también un aclamado gladiador aparece muerto, Falco no tendrá más remedio que iniciar una investigación que le obligará a emprender un viaje a África acompañado de su esposa Helena y de su pequeña hija Julia.

Gore Vidal (Nueva York, 1925) es sin duda uno de los escritores más importantes de la segunda mitad del siglo xx. Polémico periodista, guionista cinematográfico de raro talento, novelista de obras tan inclasificables como Williwaw o La Institución Smithsoniana y ensayista mordaz –como pone de manifiesto en Patria e Imperio, por ejemplo–, quizá su faceta más conocida sea la de autor de impresionantes frescos históricos, entre los que destacan Juliano el Apóstata, reación, En busca del rey, Lincoln, Imperio, Hollywood o Washington D.C., que le han convertido en un punto de referencia obligado para cualquier aficionado a la novela histórica.

Todo hace pensar que Marco Didio Falco disfruta de unas merecidas y relajadas vacaciones en compañía de su mujer. Sin embargo, muy pronto se revelará su verdadera misión en la deslumbrante ciudad de Ostia. ‘Infamia’, el periodista famoso por su columna de chismes y cotilleos en la ‘Gaceta Diaria’, ha desaparecido, y sus superiores han encargado a Falco la tarea de averiguar su paradero y rescatarlo de una supuesta caída en la vagancia y la bebida. Falco sospecha que la desaparición se debe a motivos más oscuros y, en efecto, sus indagaciones lo conducen a un mundo de piratería y de prácticas criminales que creía muerto. Pero ¿es ese el camino para encontrar a Infamia? ¿Por qué habrían de secuestrarlo los piratas? Y, en ese caso, ¿será posible hallarlo con vida?

V hlavní roli Marcus Didius Falco První tři příběhy z řady vtipných antických detektivek, v nichž ožívá každodenní Řím kolem roku 70, z počátku vlády císaře Vespasiana. Marcus Didius Falco je soukromý informátor a pracuje na nebezpečných případech. Nejdříve z pověření záhadných, vysoce postavených klientů putuje Falco proti své vůli do Británie, kde zažije kruté strádání při otrocké práci ve stříbrných dolech. Poté dostane pověření pátrat po spiklencích proti císaři a vyjednávat s nimi. Nakonec řeší případ v soukromých službách zbohatlické snobské rodiny propuštěnců.

Vzrušujúci ľúbostný príbeh medzi otrokyňou a budúcim cisárom z obdobia zlatého veku Rímskej ríše.