If you're a fan of Lindsey Davis' popular Marcus Didius Falco Roman mystery series, you've already met Flavia Albia, the heroine of her latest Roman mystery: The Ides of April (#510). Even though Flavia was adopted by Falco and his patrician wife Helena while on an investigation in Roman Londinium, she's a chip off the old Falco block. In fact, now that Marcus Didius has taken over his Pa's old antiques and auction business, Flavia has taken up where he left off as an inquiry agent, even moving into the old family digs in Fountain Court. Flavia is no dewy innocent bud, though; she's been around the block a time or two. At twenty eight, she's been a widow for ten years and is used to coping on her own. As a woman, though, she rarely gets the really profitable jobs.
Case in point, she's been hired by the family of a toddler killed in a hit and run accident to seek damages against the wealthy construction company owner. She knows she'll inevitably lose the case and along with it, the fee (Win or nothing!) but after all, a child has been killed and she does have a conscience. As she pursues the case she encounters a number of unexpected and unexplained deaths. She can't help but be suspicious when the authorities try to prevent her from investigating these seemingly unconnected cases. Now Flavia's gotten her teeth into something worth investigating, as long as it doesn't prove to be the death of her...
Flavia is as cheeky a character as her adoptive father and the mystery just as good here with its multiple red herrings, humor and - could it be? - hint of future romance. Falco has always been one of my favorite gumshoes, but after reading The Ides of April, all I can say is Ave, Flavia!
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