What We're Reading: Edward

Nemesis: a Marcus Didius Falco Mystery

by Lindsey Davis


In Nemesis, Falco suffers two heavy blows, the deaths of his father and his newly born son. He sets fire to their funeral pyre and gets on with his work. As the oldest surviving son, Falco is responsible for his father's estate. Family, friends, and business associates question Falco about the distribution of the estate. Meanwhile, one of his father's suppliers goes missing. Falco is loath to miss a chance at making a great deal of money with statues for a Roman monument. The missing supplier is traced to the swampy area South of Rome. The area is well known for its robbers. Attempts by local officials to clean up the area were thwarted by an unknown Roman official. Falco and his friends take a trip to the area. They are unable to take care of the robbers. Back in Rome, Falco tries to use the Imperial Roman bureaucracy to get to the bottom of the case. He is frustrated with his lack of progress.Is his nemesis, Anacrites, at the heart of this matter? Falco solves the problem is his usual unusual way.