The Silver Pigs: Marcus Didius Falco, Book 1 (Dramatised) [Audio Download]

This is the first of a series of detective stories set in Vespasian's Roman Empire and featuring the informer Marcus Didius Falco.

I tried this historical detective story because I had enjoyed Ellis Peter's "Brother Cadfael" detective stories. They were excellent but this is brilliant, as is the rest of the series.

Funny, exciting, and based on a painstaking effort to re-create the world of 70 AD.

By chance, Falco rescues a 16-year old girl called Sosia Camillina from a gang of thugs. She turns out to be the illegitimate niece of a senator, who suspects that an illegal trade is going on in silver pigs (ingots) from a godforsaken remote corner of the empire - Britain. To Falco's disgust he has to return to this barbaric spot where he had once served with the legions ...

The events of this story vary from the tragic to the hilarious, and are often completely unexpected. It includes a mystery and the start of a charming ongoing love story.

If you have met and enjoyed the Cadfael series, this is even better.

It isn't absolutely essential to read these stories in sequence, as the mysteries Falco is trying to solve are all self-contained stories and each can stand on its own. Having said that, there is considerable ongoing development of characters and relationships and I think reading them in the right order does improve the experience.

The full Falco series, in chronological order, consists at the moment of:

The Silver Pigs
Shadows in Bronze
Venus in Copper
The Iron Hand of Mars
Poseidon's Gold
Last Act in Palmyra
Time to Depart
A Dying Light in Corduba
Three Hands in the Fountain
Two for the Lions
One Virgin Too Many
Ode to a Banker
A Body in the Bath house
The Jupiter Myth
The Accusers
Scandal taks a Holiday
See Delphi and Die
Saturnalia
Alexandria
Nemesis

I have read and can warmly recommend all of these.

Lindsey Davis has also written a historical novel set in the same timeframe called "The Course of Honor" which is about the love affair between Vespasian and his mistress Caenis. The author has taken the two sentences from Suetonius which are all we know of Caenis, and from them she has conjured the vital image of a woman beautiful in both form and personality and a charming love story.

This first 'Falco' novel from Lindsey Davis has a more sombre quality than her subsequent novels but with no less humour and attention to characterisation. This remains my favourite of the series, partly because it defines the relationships between the principal characters. It also tells the events that form the haunting memories of some of Davies' later novels. Like any good read it expands beyond the confines of the pages and grabs the imagination. The smells of the ancient Roman empire, both fragrant and foul, infuse the pages.

Based in ancient Rome in the time of the emperor Vespasian, The Silver Pigs finds itself deep in the intrigue and deception of the roman administrators, right to the top. In his search for the truth it takes Falco, (the main character), to near death in the distant, and freezing, (the Romans didn't have underwear), province of Britannia. Of course, he saves the day but only by weaving his way through the rich and twisting tapestry of everyday life as a roman citizen.
The book is based on a strong plot and a very likable character, but is highly detailed about roman politics and everyday roman life. Anyone can read and enjoy this, you don't have to know anything about ancient Rome but it will appeal more to those who like the roman period. The best thing about the book is that it is the first in a string of Falco novels (thirteen so far, I have them all), so once you are hooked you can follow your hero all over the roman empire as he eaks out an existence doing his bit for Rome and tries to inch his way up the greasy pole to a better life.
I would give this book 10/10, one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read.