I always wait with bated breath for the next Falco novel, and this one does not disappoint. In it Falco and his brood are at the seaside for the summer, but not for R&R. Falco is trying to locate a missing scribe who happens to write the hottest gossip column in the daily news of that time. Bear in mind that these novels are set in 76AD - in ancient Rome. If you haven't read one of Ms. Davis' novels, I highly recommend that you do, and this one would not be a bad place to start. Then you'll want to read all the other previous 16 in the series. Ms. Davis is a delight and Falco is wonderful! The books are cheerful and humourous, but you also learn a lot about ancient Roman life. In this book we learn all about the privateers and pirates that plied the seas, and we read as Falco gets in one scrape after another. Pure delicious fun.

Set in AD 76. When the Roman private informer (the equivalent of today's PI) Falco takes his family for a holiday in a nearby port town, he is naturally not opposed to picking up a little paying work on the side. Intending merely to locate a missing gossip columnist, Falco finds himself amidst a group of murderous prirates.

The plot weaves through family matters and law enforcement, and provides a close look at ancient Roman life. Faloco's path runs through every corner of the city of Ostia, builing a detailed picture of this politically and economically important port.

Davis' research leads to an authentic portrayal of life and politics in the first century AD.

Our intrepid hero has the task of finding a missing gossip writer in the seaport town of Ostia. Of course, with Falco, nothing is ever as simple as it initially appears, and quite soon he finds himself up to his neck in various nefarious doings. In addition, he meets an uncle who is never spoken about by the rest of the family, and also learns some very interesting things about his father. This is a rollicking story, and it moves along quite rapidly. The Falco series is one of the best, and this book certainly lives up to the quality of the others.

What sort of story is this? It is not a study of character. Marcus Didius Falco is as feckless an "informer" as ever, his patrician wife still has the smarts in the family, his sister Maia is ever obnoxious, the growing kids have quarrels, and Petronius is here. So, this is a tale of a Roman extended family (very extended here), on a vacation of a sort. Most all the other series characters make appearences, if only to send them away. Each one is a well-differentiated and recognizable "character," indeed, but there's little character development (despite one big revelation). Not much back-story is given for this mob, although there's now a handy genealogy for the Didius clan and some helpful maps. So, this is not the place to start this amusing series.

This volume lacks much of mystery (well, there is the mystery cult of "mother" Cybele and her eunuch priests). Falco the sleuth is seeking a missing muckraker, but he doesn't make much progress for a great many pages. Instead he seems to fall into one tangential investigation after another (although, this being a novel, they must all tie in somehow, even if as red herrings--or should I say garum?*). Actually, the tangents ARE the story this time. Falco is at his best when his values are at stake, but the missing scandal monger is not really one of them. (Rome did have a daily newspaper, but it belonged to the Emperor and was posted only in the Forum.)

I really enjoyed Davis's descriptions of several Roman customs new to this series. There's the workings of the port city of Ostia where the Didii spend their time in this volume, numerous temple cults besides Cybele's, a grand Roman funeral at the cusp of the story, and everybody's favorites: Pirates--on shore, afloat, and somehow entangled in this story (ah, there's the mystery).

Davis is writing the most amusing, or cynical, or contemporary, series of Roman whodunnits. I think there are more funny asides here than usual. Her humor tends to drag it out a bit, or divert attention from the plot, or reduce the tension of Falco's quest. Falco's sceptical view of everything is the most "contemporary" aspect of Davis's writing (aside from the absence of the Ciceronian rhetorical flourishes seen in ancient writings). Davis is light on Latin words and terms, probably a good thing (in contrast to Colleen McCullough's very serious series that comes with a glossary).

I give it four stars because while it is not Davis at her best, and lacks suspense, the setting and plot are fresh. The pb cover art drops the previous "mosaic" image taken from the story in favor of an atmospheric city scene, which I think is an inappropriate Renaissance scene.

*For more on this piquant sauce, see the story in Steven Saylor's amusing collection, A Gladiator Dies Only Once (the title story is also most entertaining).