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Title: Scandal Takes a Holiday

Subtitle: A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery

Author: Lindsey Davis

Narrator: Simon Prebble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-14-17

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 35 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Ancient Rome's organized crime syndicates have never been more dangerous or more cunning than in this latest adventure featuring first-century sleuth Marcus Didius Falco.

In the Italian town of Ostia outside Rome, Falco appears to be enjoying a relaxing holiday. But when Helena arrives carrying a batch of past issues of the Daily Gazette with the intention of catching up on the latest scandal, Falco is forced to admit his real reason for being there. Infamia, the pen name of the gossip columnist for the Daily Gazette, has gone missing, and his fellow scribes have employed Falco to bring him back from his drunken truancy.

Before long, Falco's inquiries lead him into the world of piracy and the discovery of criminal traditions long believed dead. Is this the path toward finding Infamia? Why would pirates have kidnapped him? And if they have, will he be found alive?

Members Reviews:

Mixed Feelings

Don't get me wrong, I liked the book. It was well written and well presented, unfortunately as I read it, I felt a little disappointed in it. The problem is that Falco comes across like a 'sad sack' (look it up if you never heard the expression before) and after a while it becomes depressing. All I could think of was poor Falco...his family messes with him, his friends mess with him, his employers mess with him, and everyone messes with him. When is this guy going to get a break? It was okay back in the first few books but you'd think people would start treating him better. After all, he did help save the Emperor's life in the first and second book. He's also been raised to the equestrian rank, but none of that matters. Everyone keeps treating him as an incompetent.

Still the book is good from a semi-historical perspective. The reader gets a look at life in Ostia and Portus and at the various power struggles that existed back in the good old Roman Empire. There's a few nice family moments in the story that help balance things out but not enough to suggest that Falco will ever be truly appreciated by anyone except Helen Justina.

Overall, it is a good book and if you are a fan of Falco, it is a must read, if only to meet his long lost Uncle Fulvius. As for Falco being anything other than the family kick toy, who knows. There are four books left in the Falco series. Eventually I'll read them. Maybe I'll be surprised.

Another good one

Well, I didn't give this 5 stars because it is likely to become a mainstay in English literature classes. In context, though, comparing it to the other Lindsey Davis books (I have read 19 of them so far) and the general competition, it is exactly what I am looking for. People who read these books are looking for certain things, and my rating is that this book does a fabulous job of fulfilling this need. I will presume that enough people have given a plot synopsis, and just say that I have always appreciated witty, interestingly plotted books. I don't like massive explicit violent books, but one where I like the characters and the plot keeps moving me on are great. These are familiar books, where roughly the same characters show up somewhere in the Roman Empire. Lots of descriptions of Roman architecture, religion, ritual, etc. In earlier books she makes it clear that she studies archeological records, and this is still obviously true with each new site.