Description:
Marcus Didius Falco is about to get involved in a nasty noir crime, involving gangsters, gladiators, and romance.
For Falco, a relaxed visit to his wife Helena's relatives in Britain suddenly turns serious. He and his family are staying in London when Falco is summoned to the scene of a murder. The victim, Verovolcus, was a renegade with ties to Roman crime magnates operating in London, but he was also close to King Togidubnus. So when he is discovered dead, stuffed headfirst down a well, a tricky diplomatic situation develops that Falco must defuse.
His investigation leads him into the seedy underbelly of London. There is a newly built amphitheater in town, one with female gladiators, but Falco soon realizes that the initially troublesome gladiators--including one from his own bachelor past--may just give him the edge he needs to solve Verovolcus' murder as the gangsters are pursued back to the Italian town of Ostia for a final showdown.
Brief description:
Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile's Golden Voices, he has received thirty-seven Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.
Review Quotes:
"Against this richly textured backdrop is played out a story of low-down greed and grubby deals, of backhanders and protection rackets, that pulls the trick of feeling modern, exciting, and plausible."
-- "Sunday Times (London)"