Witty, wisecracking Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco is back (after the best-selling Alexandria), and his story just got darker: this book opens with the death of Falco's newborn son and Falco's father. Sure, Pa was a reprobate, and he left Falco a hefty inheritance. But with that inheritance comes the headache of managing it, which means (among other things) sorting out a contract regarding 111 statues Pa was jobbing for the new amphitheater. Inconveniently, the art dealer from whom Pa purchased the statues has vanished, as has his wife; seems they'd had words with the Claudii, a notorious family of freed slaves living beyond the law in the fly-infested Pontine Marshes. Meanwhile, Falco's buddy Petronius Longus is investigating a nasty murder, which sends them both into the marshlands, where they are one-upped by the Claudii and then removed from the case. Who's protecting the Claudii back in Rome, and why are Chief Spy Anacrites's two ugly bodyguards dogging Falco?
VERDICT Another well-plotted Falco mystery, more emotionally complex than others, but it may unsettle some fans; yes, it's darker, and our boys push the envelope in their search for justice. Still important for lovers of historical mystery.
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