Noir, Roman Style

Silver Pigs by Lindsay Davis

P.I. Marcus Falco works one of the toughest cities in the world- Rome, under the reign of Emperor Vespasian. That's right, he's not a Private Investigator, he's a Private Informer, which is basically the same thing, only instead of the dangerous streets of L.A. or New York, Falco is roaming the Aventine. Falco's not an ambitious man- he's happy enough with his shabby existence even though his landlord is threatening to kick him out and his family gave up on him long ago. All that changes one fateful day. There's a dame involved, of course, one Sosia Camilla to be precise. Sosia Camilla is young, beautiful, wealthy and innocent- everything that Falco is not. He rescues her from kidnappers and she's appropriately grateful (although maybe not as grateful as Falco would have liked).

When Sosia Camilla is murdered, Falco feels compelled to unravel the mystery. Her family, all patricians and senators, hire him to investigate the connection between Sosia Camilla's death and some illegal silver ingots (called pigs, hence the title) that Sosia evidently knew something about. Silver comes from Britain, so Falco leaves the comforts of the Empire behind to trace the illegal silver to its source. In Britain, he meets another dame- this one not the sweet and innocent type. Helena Justina is Sosia's cousin and a senator's daughter. She's a divorcee with a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue. Together, they might just stand a chance of discovering who's behind Sosia's death and the silver pigs.

This is the first of the Falco mysteries. There are nineteen to date. Lindsay Davis does a great job with both the noir-like narrative and the historical details. Rome comes alive in all its dirt and glory. Falco does too. He's crude, rude and secretly tender-hearted. He's also pretty smart and observant, as one would expect from a P.I. Politics play an important part in the story; Rome was a hotbed of intrigue in 70 A.D. With this first novel, Davis begins to introduce a large cast of background characters, from Falco's best friend on the local police force, to the Emperor Vespasian himself. Readers looking for a good mystery or a good historical will enjoy these books and anyone who was sad when HBO's Rome ended will find a bit here to cheer them up (Just don't expect events to get quite that torrid! Although its not hard to imagine Didius Falco and Titus Pullo sharing a drink in a seedy tavern on the Aventine.).