Marcus Didius Falco

The spirit of adventure calls Falco on a new spying mission to the untamed East in search of the Emperor Vespasian. He's picking up extra fees from his old friend Thalia the snake dancer as he searches for Sophrona, her lost water organist. With the Chief Spy Anacrites paying his fare, Falco knows anything can go wrong. A dangerous brush with the Brother, the sinister ruler of Nabataean Petra, sends Falco and his girlfriend Helena on a fast camel ride to Syria. Here they join a traveling theatre group, which keeps losing members in nonaccidental drownings. The bad acting and poor audiences are almost as bad as the desert and its scorpions-then as the killer hovers, Falco tries to write a play...

Petronius Longus, captain of the Aventine watch and Falco's oldest friend, has finally nailed one of Rome's top criminals. Under Roman law, citizens are not imprisoned but are allowed "time to depart" into exile outside the Empire. One dark and gloomy dawn, Petro and Falco put the evil Balbinus aboard a ship. But soon after, an outbreak of robbery and murder suggests a new criminal ring has moved into Balbinus's territory. Petro and Falco must descend into the underworld of Vespasian's Rome to investigate.

The 13th novel featuring Roman sleuth Marcus Didius Falco explores the fervor of home improvement that's sweeping the Roman Empire and Falco's own household, specifically the bath house--where a body turns up.

Davis' 14th novel in the Marcus Didius Falco series is a noir tale of gangsters, gladiators, and love. For Falco, a relaxed visit to Helena's relatives in Britain turns serious at the scene of a downtown murder.

Fresh from his trip to Britain, Marcus Didius Falco needs to re-establish his presence in Rome. A minor role in the trial of a senator entangles him in the machinations of two real life lawyers at the top of their trade. The senator is convicted, but then dies, apparently by suicide. It may have been a legal move to protect his heirs, but Falco is hired to prove it was murder. As Falco shows off his talents in the role of advocate, he exposes himself to a tangle of upper-class secrets and powerful elements in Roman law that may have consequences he hadn't quite bargained for.

Ancient Rome's organized crime syndicates have never been more dangerous or more conning than in this latest adventure featuring First Century sleuth Marcus Didius Falco.