The Graveyard of the Hesperides

Description

Life is sweet for Flavia Albia and her soon-to-be husband Faustus. But his new job as a building contractor runs into a problem: At the Garden of the Hesperides a barmaid went missing years before; now the workmen start unearthing her bones. Albia takes on the task of finding out what happened. Five more skeletons are discovered. Despite the fact that nobody seems to know or care who died, violent attempts are made to stop her enquiries. Soon Albia is exploring the world of Roman streetlife, where bars are brothels, workers lead brutal lives, foreigners are muscling in on the gambling syndicates, and extortion is commonplace. What's more there's little time to solve the mystery before the wedding day when Albia is expected to show Rome that her affair with Manlius is a much more than a casual fling. The gods, however, have other ideas...

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