Two of my favorite mystery series have heroines named Flavia, and the most recent additions to both series are currently sitting on my shelf from the library! What could be better than that? In The Graveyard of the Hesperides (#602) by Lindsey Davis, Flavia Albia has picked up where her adopted father, Marcus Didius Falco left off when he turned his business as an informer in imperial Rome over to Flavia. She's had a number of cases under her belt now, and has literally met her match in Tiberius Manlius Faustus. He's currently serving as an aedile while trying to get his building and remodeling business launched. While he takes over the renovation of a bar in a seedy neighborhood, Flavia is desperately trying to stop their families from throwing them an over-the-top wedding without much luck.
It's a relief for her to have the excuse to go off to the building site until they catch one of Manlius Faustus' employees trying to sneak a basket of bones past him and Flavia to the rubbish tip. It's just what Flavia needed to get her mind off the looming wedding - a new case. She only has five days to solve it before the ceremony, though. To make matters worse, the one body they thought they were dealing with (the bar maid, who else?) turns into six. How could such a horrendous deed possibly have gone unnoticed for ten years? And what does the new owner of the bar know that he isn't telling?
Ms. Davis skillfully weaves a good mystery with arcana from ancient Roman wedding practises, interfering families, gangsters, prostitutes and a most unexpected commodity with a liberal dash of humor. A worthy addition to the series.
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