And, once she draws us into this world and makes us comfortable, she provides a rich historical context to a story that would otherwise be categorized as something that you would only pick up when you are so mentally exhausted that you need light entertainment.
Marcus Didius Falco is the consummate private eye, living a hand-to-mouth existence in ancient Rome. "Archeology even allows him the right kind of upstairs tenement office; the living quarters of ancient Rome were gimcrack places which we know from the Latin satirists were dangerously neglected by crooked landlords." His current client, a young woman/child, is leading him on a merry chase that ultimately involves murder, betrayal, silver pigs, and secrets in high places.
What are silver pigs, you ask? It turns out that they are ingots created in the process of refining silver. Since the Roman government had a monopoly on precious metals, the question of how a silver pig could come into the hands of a citizen leads Marcus Didius to Britain, a part of the Roman Empire in AD 70, where he pursues answers "disguised" as a slave in the silver mines. "If you ever want to go there, I advise you to avoid it. If you simply cannot avoid it, you will find the province of Britain out beyond civilization in the realms of the North Wind. If your mapskin has grown ragged at the edges, you will have lost it, in which case so much the better is all I can say."
Don't miss the introduction. We thought that it gave Ms. Davis credibility as a writer. "My research into the Rome of the Caesars was what then gave me the idea, partly as a joke of course, to set a typical private eye figure, like those of the modern genre, among the graceful porticoes and dangerous back lanes of the Golden City two thousand years ago." "I could see great scope for overturning clichés . . ."
This book is also wonderful (and greatly relaxing) to listen to. Christian Rodska does a great job of narrating, conveying the grittiness of Didius Falco and bringing life to the entire diverse cast of characters. If you commute from work and need time to "come down" after yet another challenging day, this is just the book to listen to.
That said, this book did not make our "can't go through life without reading it" five star category; we rate it a 3.5. Didius Falco has many other adventures in ancient Rome. I am not thinking that I will immediately read all of them, but I will keep a new one in reserve, both in hard copy and audio, for those times when I just want (need!) to relax.