The Third Nero

Description

Flavia Albia's day-old marriage is in trouble - her new husband may be permanently disabled and they have no funds. So when Palace officials ask her to help expose a plotter in their midst she is obliged to accept their commission. The plot could not be bigger. Ever since he died in AD 68, apparently by his own hand, Rome has been haunted by reports that the Emperor Nero is in fact very much alive and about to return to claim his throne. Two Nero pretenders have emerged in the East and met grisly fates. But now, as the Emperor Domitian, whose tyrannical, paranoid reign grows ever more unpopular, fights a war in faraway Dacia, there emerges a far more sinister contender. What's more the rumour is that this false Nero is already in Rome. Plunged into the conspiracy, Flavia must infiltrate the house of the Parthians who have smuggled in this new impostor, negotiate with spies, dodge the assassins sent by the Palace traitor, and somehow cope with her stricken husband. Can she succeed before the impostor is revealed? Or will Rome once more be plunged into civil war?

Historical novelist Lindsey Davis is best known for her novels set in Ancient Rome, including the much-loved Marcus Didius Falco series, although she has also written about the English Civil War, including in 2014 A Cruel Fate, a book for the Quick Reads literacy initiative. Her examination of the paranoid reign of the roman emperor Domitian began with Master and God, a standalone novel, leading to her new series about Flavia Albia, set in that dark period. Her books are translated and have been dramatized on BBC Radio 4. Her many awards include the Premio Colosseo (from the city of Rome) and the Crime Writers' Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. Most recently she was the inaugural winner of the Barcino (Barcelona) International Historical Novel Prize.

Praise for THE IDES OF APRIL: Davis was primus and still has no pares ... The auguries promise a long, successful series. - Telegraph Sadly, after 20 novels, Lindsey Davis is no longer chronicling the adventures of Marcus Didius Falco, her private eye in Ancient Rome. But fear not. With the Ides of April, she has only stepped down a generation. Enter the feisty, savvy and attractive Flavia Albia ... Davis continues her wonderful portrayal of the city and its inhabitants, and the delightful Flavia Alba adds an important element - the complicated status of working women. - The Times This is a welcome return to the familiar territory of ancient Rome. - Literary Review Lindsey Davis's many fans will have been made anxious by the news that she is embarking on a news series with a new sleuth. They need not worry. Marcus Didius Falco's adopted daughter, Flavia Albia, is a wonderful creation, rendered with a surprising tenderness ... Just as closely researched and yet light-hearted as the Falco novels, The Ides of April is more touching. - Bookoxygen