Book Review - Historical Crime: Lindsey Davis, Enemies at Home

I love the way reading crime takes me out of myself. But historical crime even takes me out of my familiar setting, the 21^st Century in Yorkshire. Imagine you could time travel and are transported back to ancient Rome. Imagine walking down the streets jostled by elegant Romans, attractive sex slaves fresh from the baths, oiled gladiators and other, more hairy people, from all over the Empire. The next best thing is reading Lindsey Davis. She brings the society of the time, the setting, the food, the mores and above all, the ‘improbitas’ (that’s immorality to you and me) to life.

For anyone who read and loved the Falco Series, Flavia Albia’s charm will not come as a surprise. For those unfamiliar with these crime novels set in ancient Rome, you have a treat awaiting you. Excellently researched with well-rounded characters full of spirit and colour, we are plunged into the heart of patrician Roman life. When a newly married couple are found murdered in their bedroom, the house slaves take refuge in a near-by temple hoping to escape certain death in the arena. This is where the investigator Flavia Albia steps in. Widowed young, she has taken over her father Marcus Didius Falco’s ‘informing’ business and her snooping leads her into dangerous situations, not just in her own seedy neighbourhood. Enter the hunky magistrate Manlius Faustus whose paths seem to intersect with hers, whether she engineers such a crossing or not. But Flavia is far too independent and feisty to need the help of the magistrate, however attractive, even when the stakes are high. The lives of all the house slaves depend on the successful conclusion of this dangerous investigation. Will Flavia succeed? (Indiana Brown)