The Ides of April; A Flavia Albia Mystery

By Lindsey Davis

Falco: The Next Generation––Flavia Albia has taken up her father's profession. Only, now Rome is a more dangerous, mercurial place than it was back in dear old dad’s day . . .Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina. From her mother, she learned how to blend in at all levels of society; from her father, she learned the tricks of their mutual professional trade. But her wits and (frequently) sharp tongue are hers alone. Now, working as a private informer in Rome during the reign of Domitian, Flavia has taken over her father’s old ramshackle digs at Fountain Court in the Surbura district, where she plies her trade with energy, determination, and the usual Falco luck. Recently hired to help investigate a fatal accident, she finds herself stuck with a truly awful person for a client and facing a well-heeled, well-connected opponent. That is, until her client unexpectedly dies under what might be called “suspicious circumstances.” While this is not a huge loss for society, it is a loss for Flavia Albia’s pocket. Even worse, it’s just one of a series of similar deaths for which she now finds herself under suspicion. Before things go from abysmal to worse, Flavia must sort out what is happening, and who is responsible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Jun 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781250023698

Lindsey Davis

Lindsey Davis was born and raised in Birmingham, England. After taking an English degree at Oxford and working for the civil service for thirteen years, she “ran away to be a writer.” Her internationally bestselling novels featuring ancient Roman detective Marcus Didius Falco include Venus in Copper, The Iron Hand of Mars, Nemesis and Alexandria. She is also the author of Rebels and Traitors, set during the English Civil War. Davis is the recipient of the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, the highest accolade for crime writers, as well as the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award and the Authors' Club Best First Novel award.

Reviews for The Ides of April; A Flavia Albia Mystery

[AnneArundel Locker-Thaddeus · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This selection falsely claims to be the book, but it is indeed only the first several pages. What is up with that?

[Mandy · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

It's not the book, it's a PDF of the first few pages that sends you to a purchasing site. This is not what I'm paying for.

[clue_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book is set in Rome in 89AD. The author's first series was based on the experinces of Marcus Didius Falco, an investigtor. This book is the first in a second series based on the experiences of his adopted daughter, Flavia Albi, who as a young widow has taken up her father's line of work. When a client dies unexpectedly Flavia is asked by the client's son-in-law to investigate the death. Told in first person we get all the ire of Flavia as a woman plying a trade and as an outsider born in Britian. Having learned from her father, she is clever and knows the tricks of the trade. Her character is determined and reckless bordering on foolish. Those make her an intersting character though I think the recklessness sometimes overdone. The mystery itself is good enough and the setting adds to the interest. The one problem I have is that I don't like Flavia!

[vesper1931 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

89AD and Marcus Didius Falco's adopted daughter Flavia Albia is now an investigator. When she hears hints of a killer in the Aventine she decides to investiagte.
After reading all the Falco novels I was very interested in readng this new series and I did enjoy this well-written (of course) story. I thought the killer’s identity was obvious but didn't distract from the story, and I did like these new characters.

[puddintame-358807 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not a big fan of the Falco mysteries, although I read four or five, but I couldn't pass up the idea of a woman detective in Rome. This I simply found dreary. Flavia Alba is constantly reflecting on her former life (she was adopted as an abandoned or bereaved child), or her late husband who was apparently a great guy, although we never get to meet him. She works in a building that is dangerous derelict, because, hey, what's the prospect of dying in a building collapse compared to sentiment for the old place. There doesn't seem to be as much humor in it -- of course, she is a different person from Falco, but not as interesting. I'm clinically depressed, but I have nothing on this woman. Or perhaps being depressed, I just can't bear to read a depressing novel. Certainly anyone who is fond of Falco should give this a try.I think that John Maddox Ford's SPQR series is the standout among Roman mysteries. Set around the era of the collapse of the Roman Republic, I think it does far more to transport the reader to that era, with much less of a contemporary mindset compare to Falco or Steven Saylor's Gordianus.

[pmaurer_11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I hadn't listened to this author previously, and it took a little time to appreciate her style. I enjoyed the tale of a female investigator in Roman times, finding her way around the Roman justice system, as she tries to find an explanation of people suddenly dying after returning home from an event. I especially enjoyed the description of some of the customs of Roman society, and will read more of this author.

[ritaer_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The daughter of Roman informer works on her own. Becomes involved in serial murders with poisoned needle. Two men are vying for her attention and helping to solve the case. Contains interesting details of festival to Ceres held in April.

[tadad_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It lacks the interplay between the protagonists that made the Davis' first series, the Marcus Didius Falco books, so much fun. Flavia needs the equivalent of a Helena Justina (albeit probably with a gender change) in order to make this new series as much fun.

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not as much mayhem involved in this first Flavia Albia mystery as in a Falco mystery, and she's not as funny as her adoptive father. Still, it's a good book. It's nice to get glimpses of the old crowd. Even if Flavia Albia is a widow, her marriage was a happy one. One surprise caught me off guard, which was nice because I foolishly read the historical note at the end early on -- major spoiler there. Nice climax. Hated learning about the annual torture of foxes for a religious festival. We 21st century readers have a label for the murderer. The 1st century investigators have no such convenience.Flavia Albia's brother is a strange one, so Falco's misgivings in Nemesis were not entirely misplaced. I did enjoy our heroine's reaction to a fool who asked her a very insulting question even though she was properly ashamed afterward. Okay, I can see why the simplification of the background and the addition of the dagger, but was it really necessary to change the head on John Williams Godward's 'The Bouquet' (version one or two) that was used for the cover?

[mothwing-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ok crime story with ok twist, strong female characters and enjoyable romp through Rome. The one thing that I would have liked even more is to leave the Aventine behind this time and spend more time at other places. Still, the diverse host of characters (deaf people! mentally disabled people! black people! gay people! butch female people!) are enthralling, entertaining, and think this is worth a recommendation.

[helenoel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Flavia Albia, daughter of Falco is a worthy successor to her father in literary Rome. Witty, bright, but with a bit of vulnerability, she moves in a worls Falco fans will recognize, but with her own style. I hope we hear more from her.

[silvernfire · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At first, I was worried that this book would be a letdown. The Ides of April takes place twelve years after Davis' latest Falco novel, and the author is in the difficult position of needing to bring readers up to speed on the changes in Albia's life and in Rome itself while at the same time getting the plot going. The story was enjoyable enough, but kept pausing for an expository lump. (But then, I shouldn't be too critical of those lumps, because I did appreciate the help in getting oriented to this slightly different Rome.) Plus, Albia's narration sounded exactly like Falco's for the first third of the book or so,As the book went on, things improved. The explanations were abandoned when they were no longer needed. Albia's voice became her own as she had the opportunity to express more opinions. I was pleased to see she also came across as more mature and experienced than she was in the Falco books, which fits with being twelve years older. And although it was a bit frustrating to hear about Falco and Helena only in passing, I think Davis made the right decision to leave them out of this book. It's not the next book in the Falco series, no matter how easy it is to think of it that way.And no, the mystery isn't all that difficult to puzzle out. But then, I don't read the Falco books—or now the Albia books—for the mystery!

[passion4reading_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Flavia Albia is following in her father Falco’s footsteps and has become an informer in ancient Rome. At the outset of the novel, she is engaged to fight off a compensation claim relating to a little boy’s death, when she finds her employer unexpectedly deceased, and a relative suspecting foul play. Soon more suspicious deaths are uncovered, and it becomes clear that the magistrates and the vigiles are trying to keep a spate of mysterious murders a secret from the general public. With the help of Andronicus and Tiberius, an archivist and a runner working for the local aedile, as well as a sympathetic investigator, they set about catching the killer loose on the Aventine.This is Flavia Albia's first outing as the main character, and fans of Lindsey Davis's other creations, Marcus Didius Falco and his wife Helena Justina, will be eager to devour this first volume in what is promising to be a major new series, now that Falco and Helena have entered middle age and become more respectable, though I believe it will also appeal to readers who come to the series without prior introduction to Albia's family. It is an engaging, witty and irreverent romp through the streets of the Aventine in ancient Rome, which wears its historical knowledge lightly on its sleeve and has its tongue firmly placed in cheek, peppered with literary anachronisms. It is undemanding yet fun, in style comparable to Marilyn Todd's Claudia series, and I raced through the book in a matter of days, the pages turning as if by themselves. If I have one criticism, it is that the book suffers from a lack of credible alternative villains, and the mix-up over the identities is pretty transparent, yet Albia, an intelligent and astute woman, appears surprisingly dense in those respects, hence my rating it only four and a half stars.Ever since the appearance of Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina in The Silver Pigs at the beginning of the 1990s, I've had a soft spot for Lindsey Davis's books of historical murder mysteries set in ancient Rome, and to me she will always be one of the pioneers of that particular genre. Some readers might find the style too flippant and scoff that the characters certainly would not have used the expressions "tarts" and "swanks" 2000 years ago, but then it does make for a refreshing change compared to other "serious" historical literature. With the new series centred around a strong female character in the person of Albia,and the promise of several recurring characters and a will they/won't they romance, I'm already looking forward to the second volume.(This review was originally written as part of Amazon's Vine programme.)