Reviewed By: Ruth Jordan - RAM
A Body in the Bathhouse
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Lindsey Davis
Class/Genre: Mystery Historical Private Investigator
Series: Falco # 13
Sept 2002, Mysterious Press, 304 pages/$24.95
Have you always thought that the worst thing that could happen to you in DIY is to have Trading Spaces Doug or Hilda redo your favorite room?
Wrong!! Just ask Marcus Falco, Lindsey Davis’s detecting agent. Set in ancient Rome the Falco books are to a book always a treat. A BODY IN THE BATHHOUSE is no exception. There’s an odor under the new mosaic tile that cannot be ignored and sure enough it’s a dead body. The floor contractors are missing, the body is very dead, the Emperor wants Nick to go to Londenium, and a thwarted suitor has trashed sister Maia’s home.
What’s there for a detecting agent to do but go off to London to find those contractors, take care of the Emperor’s request and solve the problem of that nasty paramour.
Falco packs up the family and off to ancient Britannia we go. Along the way we’re treated to many insights of the ancient building game. It hasn’t changed much ove the centuries. Architects and builders were trying to one up each other even then, budget and actual cost never did add up to the same amount and too many city officials always had their finger in the pie.
With Falco though there is also a body count and farcical misdirection along the way to a satisfactory conclusion. Grab a plate of grapes and a goblet of vino and enjoy a bit of veritas Davis style.
Ruth Jordan - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Ruth Jordan - RAM
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