The Silver Pigs

August 1, 1989
The intriguing premise of a detective story set in Imperial Rome in 70 A.D. is unpredictably fulfilled by Davis's hero-gumshoe, M. Didius Falco, an iconoclastic young republican. Falco rescues the niece of a senator from a kidnapping attempt, is attracted by both her innocence and the secret she keeps regarding a silver ingot (the ``pig'' of the title) and then stricken when her corpse is found in a spice warehouse. Hired by her family to track down the reasons behind her death, Falco spends the winter in Britain working as a slave in a silver mine. Enduring vividly depicted hardship with customary sharp-witted pluck, he picks up the hints of a plan to overthrow Vespasian, the current emperor. He also meets the senator's divorced, sharp-tongued daughter, Helena Justina, and brings her back to Rome where they work with--and against--each other to bring the well-developed plot to its satisfying conclusion. Wisecracking in ancient idiom, Falco seems, nevertheless, a recognizably up-to-date young man, one whose honor, humor and humanity work him quickly into reader's affection. Davis's story, though couched in period detail, rewards as much for deft handling of plot and depth of characterization as for its historicity.

If you want to start at the beginning of Davis's ingenious detective series set in ancient Rome, this is your chance. In his first case, Marcus Didius Falco investigates a murder, becomes a slave in a British silver mine, and rescues a senator's feisty daughter, Helena Justina. Christian Rodska's performance keeps the pace at breakneck speed and the dialogue sharp and snappy. When Falco discovers a plot against the emperor, everything, including his relationship with Helena Justina, heats up. Rodska has fun with Falco's ironic attitude and handles Davis's realistic picture of ancient Rome admirably. While characters sound more British than Italian, thanks to Rodska's vocal expertise, people and situations are wholly believable. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine