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Lunch » Tags » Books » Reviews » A Dying Light in Corduba (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries)

A Dying Light in Corduba (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries)

1 rating: 3.0

A book by Lindsey Davis

In this latest addition to a durable series, Marcus Didius Falco travels to the distant province of Baetica, pregnant girlfriend in tow, to investigate a possible olive oil cartel. The emphasis in this historical mystery is as much on historical as mystery, … see full wiki

Tags: Books, Cafe Libri

Author: Lindsey Davis

Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

Publisher: Mysterious Pr

1 review about A Dying Light in Corduba (Marcus Didius...

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Davis' recasts Chandler's Los Angelas as Ancient Rome

Feb 11, 1998

by Bill_Peschel
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

The eight book of the series about Marcus Didius Falco sends the Roman informer to Spain, where some major olive oil producers are suspected of plotting a cartel to raise the praise of their highly valued commodity. Author Lindsey Davis dedicates this book to the late writer Edith Pargeter, who as Ellis Peters created the Brother Cadfael series. Davis has been compared as the next Peters, but that is about as fair as calling Dorothy Sayers another Agatha Christie. Both are good writers, but their novels work in different ways. Davis' novels travel a wider piece of ground than the monk's abbey, and her stories are far more varied. Also, what sets Falco apart from his hard-boiled rivals is that he shows great sense about power politics behind the Roman Empire. He may be fooled at times, but he's no fool and rightfully suspicious of everyone's motives, and he toes that line without falling into the despair of cynicism where one concludes that since men and women are capable of venial behavior, then all men and women are venal. He is also capably aided by his high-born wife, Helena Justica, who is also a model of good sense. Their relationship is comfortably complex, and this series is a wonderful ground-zero introduction into life and death during the Roman Empire.

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