Ode to a Banker

Falco returns for the twelfth time and ventures into the greedy and vengeful world of money and publishing. When wealthy banker and publisher Chrysippus is found dead in his library, everyone is suspected--from his money-loving widow to Falco himself. The Roman sleuth must first prove his own innocence before he can set out into the crowded streets of Emperor Vespasian's metropolis to track down the killer. Eventually, Falco realizes that he must navigate his way through a maze of deceit, corruption, and sexual liasons in order to arrive at the truth. As he cleverly sorts through the evidence, another body is discovered, and Falco must quickly identify the culprit--or it may be his body they find next.

Marcus Didius Falco, Lindsey Davis's clever private informer, passes a hot Roman summer tracking down the killer of a Greek banker and publisher. Was the killer one of Aurelius Chrysippus's stable of writers, dissatisfied with the patron's lack of enthusiasm for his latest opus or resentful about the humiliating terms of his contract? Or was Chrysippus's bloody death connected to financial shenanigans at the Aurelian Bank? Commissioned to investigate the murder by his friend Petronius Longus, Falco finds himself in the middle of a case with clues that may lie in the fragments of a manuscript found at the murder scene--or maybe in the banking records someone seems willing to kill to keep secret. At the same time, Falco's sorting out a thorny family matter concerning his mother and his sister, both of whom seem inordinately fond of an imperial spy Falco has good reason to distrust. And if that's not enough, he's also being taken to the cleaners by the contractors his wife Helena Justina has engaged to renovate their new home.

As usual, Davis brings first century Rome to glorious life, and subtly drives home the striking parallels between ancient and contemporary business, politics, and family life. In the 12th book of in this increasingly popular series, she makes the most of every opportunity for satire and spins a lively yarn guaranteed to make the reader laugh out loud and clamor for more. Fortunately, there's a solid backlist to entertain readers encountering Falco for the first time (One Virgin Too Many, Two for the Lions). --Jane Adams