Venus in Copper: A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery, Book 3

-This third installment of the Marcus Didius Falco series continues in its excellence.-We first come across Falco in prison, put there by Anacrities, the chief spy of Vespasian, for showing up Anacrities and uncovering a plot against the Empire in the previous book. The claim against Falco was that, in order to go undercover and discover who was planning to overthrow Vespasian, Falco made use of metal ingots owned by the Empire, which he turned into pipe so that he could travel as an unsuspected plumbing supply merchant, and he used the money from the sales of the pipe to support himself during that time. Because the price of the ingots was not returned to the government, Anacrities took the opportunity to arrest Falco. Falco’s mother pays his bail and gets him out, and he ends up being approached by a servant of a wealthy household for his services to be hired.-There are 3 former slaves who have united and have come across a way to make great amounts of money. Two are married, and the wives have reached out to Falco to investigate a woman who is engaged to the single partner, Novus. The woman, Severina Zotica, has been married twice before, and each time, her husband very quickly had died, leaving her with their money. The two women have called on Falco to investigate Severina before the marriage takes place, to possibly prove that she had a hand in at least one of those deaths, so that the marriage to Novus can be stopped. Novus, though, after a dinner that he and his partners have had in their home, suddenly dies by poison.-Luckily for Falco, in the last book, a horse owned by Falco and on which he placed bets, won. In a meeting between Falco, Anacrities and Titus, the son of Vespasian, Falco now had the money to cover what was due for the ingots and Titus ordered the charges dropped. But how this came about and its aftermath, is a funny and involved episode in itself.-Falco now has Helena Justina, the Senator’s daughter, as his girlfriend, and she is sticking with him, even in Falco’s apartment which is far below the standards of what she’s grown up in. But because of Falco’s windfall, Falco manages to locate and pay for another apartment, which is nicer, so that he can ask Helena to live with him.-The investigation continues, and suspects keep changing. The two women who hired Falco now dismiss him, and he gets hired by none other that Severina, who was his original suspect, to now investigate the two women. Another death follows, that of the cook in the Novus household. Falco gets deeper into the case, and uncovers rot that no one else dreamed of and almost gets killed in the process. As usual, the writing is very enjoyable and Falco has a way about him that, even in more deadly situations, is always very funny.

I am a big fan of Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco detective stories. He is an Informer (private detective) who periodically gets assignments from the Emperor Vespasian (around 70 BC). These are great fun, light hearted, and give you a real feel for what it must have been to live in Rome during the Roman Empire. His problems center around the fact that he is in a sleezy business, in love with and marries a Senator's daughter and has to come up from his Plebian status to be worthy of her. On top of that he has to contend with all his crazy family members.Currently (2010), Lindsey Davis has written 20 Falco mysteries. Like all story series it helps to know the preceding stories (The Silver Pigs and Shadows in Bronze) to completely understand the Venus in Copper.The BBC Birmingham has done the first 4 stories and the voices chosen are well suited to the characters. The plot encompases a number of murders and lots of blind alleys he finds himself in as he tries to unravel the mystery. The side story involves the Emperor's son Titus lusting over Falco's sweetheart, the Senators daughter. All in all it is a fun way to spend 3 hours.

In this third book of the Falco series, our erstwhile "informer" is hired to suss out the intentions of one recently engaged gold-digger whose previous two marriages ended in disaster for her betrothed. But, before Falco can piece the lady's plan together, her fiancee is killed, the gold-digger's suspectedness is questioned, and a sophisticated lady comes to reside -- for good -- in Falco's new high-society apartment.Davis continues to delight with the Falco series. Humor once again pervades the narration but is much subtler and wittier than ever. The story, too, is more subtle in its development and much more appealing to a mass market audience, not just fans of the genre.Well written and worth reading.

I really love this series...the depth of the characters & the story keep you guessing. Marcus always figures out the mess he is presented with. This book had lots of twists & turns & kept me guessing through most of it....a truly great read.

Pretty good - fresh ideas - love Roman historical fiction.Hero a wee bit too modern for my tastes - but I wouldn't want the author to change at all ! Have since purchased 3 more in this series !Ave Roma ! ;)

This novel will keep any enthusiastic readers guessing where the plot will end as it twists and turns through the pilot, while keeping the reader enthralled.

This is a nice follow-on book from Silver Pigs. Falco takes on a number of interesting new challenges, including tracking down Helena's ex-husband who has gone ferral.Some nice imagry of different parts of Italy in the late 1st century and some nice social commentary.

My daughter, a history major, turned me on to this series. It is so much fun to read. I almost (almost) feel like I'm walking around the empire in these books. Everything I know about life in Rome (I'm no expert, but I've read quite a bit on the side) gels with these books. I'm looking forward to reading every one of them.

Read this book in 2011, and its the 3rd volume of the tremendous Marcus Didius Falco series.This book is set in the year AD 71, and Falco is finally released from prison, and to make it worse for him, he's bailed out by his mother.After thinking thigs can't go worse, he's hired by a group of nouveau riche ex-slaves to investigate the cases of husbands dying accidentally.What he will be against is a formidable female opponent who's a fierce contortionist, her extra-friendly snake and rent racketeers, while at the same time trying to lure the bright and beautiful Helena Justina to live with him at Fountain Court.What is to follow is a thrilling murder mystery in which Falco will need to explore every angle of this case, and with the invaluable help from Helena Justina this can't go wrong, so in the end after eliminating all obstacles he'll be able to solve this case of murders in his own notorious fashion.Highly recommended, for this is a superb addition to this wonderful series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Formidable Venus Mystery"!

Rome AD 71 and, when we catch-up with Falco, he is languishing in prison. However, this is the third in the series and Davis moves away from the lead ingots storyline and we see Falco taking on a private case. This is a really entertaining mystery, as Falco is hired by a group of nouveau riche, ex-slaves, who live and work together. One of their number, Hortensius Novus, is betrothed to the beautiful Severina Zotica. The problem being that she has had three previous husbands, who all died in unusual circumstances.Falco sets out to investigate her motives and, in this book, he and Helena become a couple. I dislike series where there is a constant on-off again relationship, so it is good that they settle down fairly quickly although there are definite bumps in the road. The author cleverly merges the past and the contemporary, to make this a fun read, and one of the most enjoyable historical mystery series there is. Very enjoyable and I look forward to continuing my re-read of the series next year.

It's all change for Falco in his third outing, Venus In Copper. For a start he is in jail talking to a rat, imprisoned without trial by a jealous Anacrites, Vespasian's chief spy (to know why you have to read the preceding novel, Shadows In Bronze). Due to this mishap and unpaid wages when he finally gets out he decides to stop working for the government and stick to the private sector. He also moves house in the hope of getting Helena, his upper class girlfriend, to move in with him. He is not long out of jail when he is approached by two rich and vulgar freedwomen to stop a marriage. They, their husbands and a third man, Novus Hortensius, are in business together and Novus is intending to marry another freed slave, Severina Zorica, who has already lost three husbands in mysterious circumstances. Then Novus is poisoned. As it is before the wedding it rules out Severina, the black widow and the hunt is on for motive and means.I enjoyed Venus In Copper. Ms Davis has a wealth of knowledge on everyday life in Ancient Rome which she passes on easily and with a light touch. It's fascinating to see the same sharp business practices we know today in use so many years ago but human nature never changes, just the setting so why should I be surprised? The plot is engrossing with a clever denouement, maybe a bit OTT but it suits the setting and had me gripped. The piece de resistance in Ms Davis's writing, however, is her protagonist, Marcus Didius Falco. He is a romantic and an idealist although he doesn't recognise these traits in himself, preferring to arm himself with a tough guy exterior and a very funny cynicism. He might not grasp immediately what is going on but dogged persistence in the face of violence, lies and lack of clues always lead him to the solution.Venus In Bronze is a very funny novel (the turbot scene had me in stitches) but this is in addition to a good mystery, some sharp observations on human nature and amazing historical detail so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.

Lindsey Davies is an excellent writer and I just loved her first two books in the Falco series. This one is taking me a bit of time getting into but I am sure it will get better. I couldn't put the first two books down - it is very good and amusing reading and Lindsey conjures up a picture of her characters so you can imagine Falco, or Helena or any of her characters. She writes in an easy going manner interspersed with interesting historical facts without getting "high brow" so it is a pleasure to read. Shame there are only 10 in the series I think ! I think I will be suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

I didn't think this was one of the best Falco novels, seemed to get somewhat lost in the very convoluted storyline and the fact that it was set in 1st Century Rome seemed a bit tacked on. Which is very unusual for a Falco story. All the usual suspects but again some of them seemed more bit part players than they have become in other stories. Mind you in fairness to Ms Davis I am reading these (again) out of sequence so it all might be my fault. Mind you even at his worst stories about Falco are way better than the contrived drivel that Alba features in!