The Third Nero

 Somehow I managed to miss The Third Nero (#934) in Lindsey Davis' Flavia Albia mystery series, so it was nice to fill in the gap.

Flavia Albia has just married her aedile husband at a well-attended family wedding.  On the procession to the newlyweds' new home disaster strikes - literally.  Three of the guests are killed by a lightning bolt which skips across and hits Tiberius Manlius Faustus.  Carried home, the wedding night and subsequent entertainments by the married couple will not be happening.  Not that there aren't callers at Flavia's new home.  A spymaster from the palace shows up that evening to recruit her to question the widows of two executed governors.  What do they know of their husbands' political dabblings with a new pretender to Dormitian's throne posing as Nero?  He's the third one to show up in the Empire.  It's clear to some in the inner circles of intelligence at the palace that one of them must be supporting this latest incarnation.  Can Flavia figure out who that might be before Dormitian returns from campaigning abroad to Rome?

Well, it's money and with husband Tiberius in a precarious state of health, it wouldn't be a bad idea to earn some money while she can.  Besides, Flavia isn't given much choice in the matter.  What she turns up is rogue spies, love affairs gone wrong, a Parthian involvement and servant troubles (her own!).  It's an intriguing mix of political intrigue and domestic drama and, as always, Davis' trademark humor.