"Rome: September, 96 AD. When the body of Sextus Verpa, a notorious senatorial informer and libertine, is found stabbed to death in his bedroom, suspicion falls on his household slaves--a potential death sentence for all. The cruel emperor, Domitian, orders Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus--known to history as Pliny the Younger--to investigate. However, the Ludi Romani (the Roman Games) have just begun, and for the next fifteen days the law courts...

"In Rome, 89 A.D., poisonings, murders, and a bloody gang war of retribution breaks out during the festival of Saturnalia, and when her husband, Tiberius, becomes a target, it's time for Flavia Albia to take matters into her own hands -- in Lindsey Davis's next historical mystery, A Comedy of Terrors. Flavia Albia, daughter and successor of private informer Marcus Didius Falco is twiddling her thumbs with no clients during the December festival of...

"Flavia Albia, daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, has taken over her father's business as a private informer. She only has two hard and fast rules - avoid political cases and family cases because nothing good comes of either of them. Unfortunately, since Albia isn't good at avoiding either, it's really more of a guideline. So when her Aunt Junia demands Albia track down a couple of deadbeats who owe her money, it's an offer Albia can't refuse. It turns...

"In first century Rome, a murder victim found in the Tiber leads to a brutal gang war and Flavia Albia to a confrontation with her long-hated nemesis, with all that she loves in the balance. First century Rome is plagued by all the evils the have beset major cities since time immemorial: crime, corruption, squalor, and worst of all, tourists. When a barge full of those entitled creatures arrives in Rome, they hit all the touristy hot-spots (the Amphitheatre,...