Poseidon's Gold

October 3, 1994
Davis (The Iron Hand of Mars) introduces a bright new figure in the brisk fifth novel in her series starring Marcus Didius Falco, free-lance ``informer'' in Rome during the first century A.D. Falco's dad, Geminus, who abandoned his family when Falco was a youngster, becomes his estranged son's unwelcome partner in an effort to relieve the family of a serious debt incurred by Falco's brother Festus, who died while serving in the army. Before his death, Festus had masterminded a scheme to sell a statue of Poseidon by the famed Phidias, involving fellow soldiers in a syndicate to buy the statue from its Greek owners. After the Poseidon was apparently lost at sea, a rude centurion shows up to insist that the syndicate be reimbursed. He and Falco fight in public, and later, when the soldier is stabbed to death, Falco is prime suspect. The intricate plot places Falco's highborn lover, Helena Justina, in jeopardy as she is also charged in the murder. To clear himself and Helena, Falco is forced to team up with his art-auctioneer father, a most appealing rogue, and come to grips with myths and facts of his family's personal history. Davis offers a vividly realized Imperial Rome-noisy, dense and dangerous.

Informer (private detective) Marcus Didius Falco returns to Rome from a mission overseas only to find himself facing a number of problems caused by his late brother, Festus. Falco approaches the problems in his inimitable way as he finds himself having to clear his name. The cast handles this fast-paced adventure set in ancient Rome with ease. Anton Lesser captures the wry humor and dry wit of Falco, and Anna Madeley plays the part of his long-suffering partner, Helena, with style. Listeners familiar with the novel will appreciate that tight abridgment has been necessary to reduce the plot for this two-hour, fifteen-minute performance. However, what is lost in plot is more than adequately compensated for by the high-quality narration. K.J.P. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine