2.5 stars ( )

Uno de los extremos del Imperio, Londinium está viviendo una etapa de esplendor. Posee ya un foro y un anfiteatro, el comercio está cobrando un gran empuje, la expectativas económicas son inmejorables..., un escenario idóneo para que florezca el crimen organizado. Y aun así, el investigador privado Marco Didio Falco ni se imagina que sus vacaciones a la capital britana se convertirán en una auténtica pesadilla. No tarda en tropezarse con el primer cadáver, y un asesinato le llevará a otro en una trama llena de enigmas e ironías del destino. Además de verse las caras a todo tipo de delincuentes (asesinos a sueldo, proxenetas, estafadores...), deberá enfrentarse a una turbulenta etapa de su pasado sentimental de la que creía no haber dejado pistas.

Continuing straight from the Body in the Bathhouse Falco and all his family are now in Londinium. Verovolcus, from the court of King Togidubnus is found dead and the investigation leads to gangsters and female gladiators including an old girlfriend of Falco. ( )

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2955381/#4286471 ( )

Marcus Didius is still in Britannia with his family and entourage. He hates Britannia, that damp, fogbound outpost of Empire, and is looking forward to going home when a body is found stuffed in a well behind a sleazy tavern. Our hero is back on the job, in pursuit of a sophisticated protection racket and bringing him face to face with familiar faces from his past in unfamiliar roles. And what's Petronius Longus up to?

I may have forgotten something but I believe this is the first in the Falco series with no action at all in Rome. I have to confess that I prefer the Roman settings and I did wonder at first if Lindsey Davis was coming under pressure to have more British settings, especially Londinium. Especially as this is am much more sombre episode than most in the series. But no; just as the previous story drew inspiration from the excavations of Fishbourne Palace, this one is based on recent revelations about Roman London. This brought me an especial delight because when I worked in the City in the 1980s the excavation of the amphitheatre in Guildhall Yard was going own across the road from my place of work in Basinghall Street and I followed it with great interest. The actual scene in the amphitheatre is a bit silly and out of keeping with the general tone of the book but it's great fun.

Needless to say, the overarching family saga progresses, and it's good to see Petro get his moment in the spotlight; it's almost his book more than Marcus's.
( )