Davis, Lindsey. Ode to a banker.(A Marcus Didius Falco Marcus Didius Falco is the endearing central character and narrator in a series of novels by Lindsey Davis. Using the conceits of modern detective stories (with Falco as the private investigator, roughly translated into the classical world as a 'private informer'), Ms. Mystery). Warner, Mysterious Press. 372p. map. c2001. 0-446-67906-2. $12.95. SA Number 13 in the Marcus Didius Falco series, set in the Rome of Vespasian, A.D. 74, finds our intrepid hero/private informer Informer Battus revealed theft by Mercury; turned to touchstone. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Walsh Classical, 47] Cenci, Count Francesco old libertine ravishes his daughter Beatrice. [Br. Lit. up to his Falernian in--poetry? Yes, Falco gives a public reading of his satirical verses to great applause, drawing the attention of a publisher who is soon murdered. Falco investigates. The usual characters aid him--his wife, the patrician Helena Justina; his overbearing mother; his antique-dealing, much despised father: his best friend Petronius Longus, an honest, hard-drinking cop; his favorite sister, Maia, a widow whose alcoholic husband has been eaten by a lion in the arena (for the gory details, read Two for the Lions Two for the Lions is a crime novel by Lindsey Davis. Plot introduction Set in Rome and Tripolitania between December AD 73 and May AD 74, Two for the Lions stars Marcus Didius Falco, Informer and Imperial Agent. It is the tenth in her Falco series. ); Aelianus, a feckless feck·less adj. 1. Lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective. 2. Careless and irresponsible. [Scots feck, effect (alteration of effect) + -less. brother-in-law; and Anacrites, an old enemy and the Emperor's Chief Spy. Davis weaves into the mystery story the usual brilliant dialogue, witty observations on Roman life, satire on politics and the world of publishing, sex, love, and building contractors. Davis's books have been widely praised for their humor, scholarship, satire, characterization, and suspense. They're all that and more. I can't say that Ode to a Banker Ode to a Banker is a crime novel by Lindsey Davis. Plot introduction Set in Rome between July and August AD 74, Ode to a Banker stars Marcus Didius Falco, Informer and Imperial Agent. is the best yet, because each is wonderful. Janet Julian, former English Teacher, Grafton H.S., Grafton, MA |
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