Fatal Legacy

Flavia Albia is faced with her most bitter and complex case yet when an unpaid bar bill leads her to investigate a will that freed slaves and bequeathed businesses to them. The convoluted arrangement has led to a feud between the two families, each with its own internal strife. Two youngsters from each side of the divide, Gaius Venuleius and Cosca Sabatina, have fallen in love, but the stigma of slavery will stop the marriage unless Albia can uncover the truth.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 416 pages
Publication date: 12 October 2023
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Flavia Albia is faced with her most bitter and complex case yet when an unpaid bar bill leads her to investigate a will written by Appius Tranquillus Surus decades earlier. The will freed Surus' slaves and bequeathed his businesses to them, leaving an orchard to the Prisci family on the condition that his freedmen could still take its harvest. However, this convoluted arrangement has led to a feud between the two families, each with its own internal strife. Endless claims and counterclaims have resulted in violence and even death, and lawyers have given up in exasperation as the case limps on. The original will has disappeared, along with a falsified codicil, and there is speculation that another one might exist.

But is there a solution? Two youngsters from each side of the divide, Gaius Venuleius and Cosca Sabatina, have fallen in love, which could unite the feuding families. However, there is one problem: were Sabatina's grandmother and father really liberated in the Surus will? If not, the stigma of slavery will prevent the marriage, and the dispute will rage on forever. Reconciliation seems impossible, but Albia will try.

Her investigation must cut through decades of secrets, arguments, lies, and violence to reach a startling truth. Praise for Lindsey Davis and the Flavia Albia series:

"It positively crackles with knowledge of the city and its people, mixed with social comment, ingenious and bloody plots, and sharp observational skills leavened by more than a smattering of genuine and sometimes earthy humor." - Crime Review

"Fiendishly twisted mystery." - Mail on Sunday

"Great fun, shot through with sharp observations." - SHOTS

"In this witty novel by the mistress of Roman crime, the reader is transported behind the scenes of a Triumph into a fascinating world of actors, costumiers, and animal trainers, all united." - Crime Review

Weight: 290g
Dimension: 129 x 197 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529354775