The Jupiter Myth: Marcus Didius Falco, Book 14 (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

This is the 14th in the Falco series. This series just gets better and better. Lindsey Davies writes well structured books infused with humour and good characterisation.

Falco is now in London in AD75. Supposedly on a family visit while returning to Rome but, as you'd expect, trouble is never far behind. This time in the shape of a prototype Mafia organisation arriving in Britain to bring Roman extortion to the barbarian masses.

By now, if you've read the rest of the series, you will be familiar with Falco, Helena, Petronius, Maia and the other regular characters. Once again their characters are developed further and we learn more about them.

If you haven't read any of the series then I recommend that you start at the beginning and work your way through. Every work stands on its own individually but you will miss the development of the characters and feel that you have missed out on something.

The only disapointment is that we have to wait 12 months for the next episode...

Lindsey Davis is now well into double figures with her Falco novels. They say that most people have a good book inside them, but to be able to write consistently good novels with innovative plots is a gift.

I believe it was a conscious effort on the part of Lindsey Davis to take Falco out of his normal surrounding and freshen her storylines up with a visit to Roman London.

Of course no sooner has Marcus Didius Falco and his wife Helena, who's breeding and background should put her far out of the reach of a rascal like Falco hit the streets of Londinium than a body is found stuffed down the well of a wine bar.

The unfortunate victim is a henchman of King Togidubnus an important ally of Rome.

Falco needs to pull out all the stops to find the murderer and placate the powers that be, but many things are about to happen before the mystery can be solved.

Keep it up Lindsey.

Couple of firsts here for Davis. Initially a direct continuance from `A Body in the Bathhouse' where the culprit who Marcus had exiled to Gaul, turns up in Londinium as the murdered party, secondly Marcus has a more personal reason for investigating the case. A step away from his usual informing, though it is given an official air by Hilarius and Frontinus, the Roman Britain procurator and governor, respectively. What Davis also does, is impose an even tighter deadline for Marcus to carry out his sleuthing, than in the preceding novel.
After the somewhat muddied effort in `Bathhouse', the Jupiter Myth is a better offering from Davis (however, I still believe Marcus is at his very best when operating in the familiar surroundings of Rome). It is, however, very slow after opening with Verovolcus' body headfirst in the Shower of Gold's well. By the end, it is ironic that this murder was more a catalyst for the remaining action, rather than particularly relevant. In fact, more effort is given to Marcus' search for Petro who inexplicably takes off over the first hundred-plus pages than any cohesive effort at establishing motive and suspects. Indeed, Petronius' behaviour doesn't match with the character Davis has so painstakingly created over the series. His rough treatment of Marcus, ordering him to stay out of it before he gets killed is blatantly ignored in the immediate as the pair begin to openly meet. I am still not entirely sure what the purpose of the scene was.
Other than mutterings about a widespread protection racket and liberal descriptions of Londinium after Boudicca's revolt the book then stumbles through until we meet Marcus' old flame - the new gladiatrix Amzonia, more personally known as Chloris. It is at the point the entire novel is rescued as Davis' writing lifts, the action becomes precise, fast-flowing and Marcus becomes the fast-witted informer we all love.
We leap from a battle in Londinium's wooden ampitheatre (Helena even gets involved with a pack of dogs), to ballistae at warehouses, legionary fights at locales to the breathless end with Petro's saving and Maia's somewhat exasperated final action.
So, a tale of two parts. On the first part you could see a continuance of `A Body in the Bathhouse' in that it was beoming more and more evident that Falco doesn't travel very well. However, in the second part, Davis rescues it with the final hours from Maia's `capture' to the breaking of the racketeering gang. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, this time, Rome follows Falco to Britain and thus the easy familiarity is readily established. By the end of the novel Falco is back to his sleuthing best with plenty of action thrown in making this latest installment a delight to read. However, his insistence on going `home' to Rome, gives hope that the whole of next Falco installment will be back to its very best.