Voices of Rome: Four Stories of Ancient Rome

Lindsey Davis has received the Crime Writer's Association Lifetime Achievement Award for her two immortal series of detective novels featuring Marcus Didius Falco and his adopted daughter, Flavia Albia. Here, for the first time in book form, are four novella-length stories written to illuminate her unparalleled output of the last 30 years. The Bride from Bithynia, The Spook Who Spoke Again, Vesuvius by Night, and Invitation to Die are four stories that allow Davis's characters to take personal roles in tense situations, with moving results. They face villainy, tragedy, accident, confusion, and fear, but each story is told with the wry humor and underpinned by human wisdom, courage, and love.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 04 April 2024
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Lindsey Davis has been awarded the Crime Writer's Association Lifetime Achievement Award for her two immortal series of detective novels featuring Marcus Didius Falco and his adopted daughter, Flavia Albia. She is widely regarded as the finest living novelist of Ancient Rome. Here, for the first time in book form, are four novella-length stories written to illuminate her unparalleled output of the last 30 years.

The Bride from Bithynia tells the story of Aelia Camilla, who travels 1000 miles to Britain to marry Gaius Flavius, a Roman officer. However, their relationship faces challenges, and the province erupts in the Boudican Revolt. Now, it is up to Aelia to save herself from the conflagration.

The Spook Who Spoke Again. Marcus Didius Alexander Postumus is an odd boy who has known two families. That of Marcus Didius himself and his actual birth mother, Thalia the Snake Dancer. Things begin to unravel quickly when he decides to emulate his adopted father and investigate a death in Thalia's troupe of exotic performers.

Vesuvius by Night. Two men share a room but seldom meet. Nonius is a pimp and part-time thief who operates at night, Larius is a fresco painter who dreams of artistic greatness by day. When the volcano erupts, one will begin looting hastily abandoned villas, while the other will do anything he can to save himself and his family.

Invitation to Die. When the Emperor Domitian invites the entire senatorial class to a banquet to honour the recent war dead, many believe he intends to take revenge on his enemies. When the Camillus brothers enter the black-painted hall where the feast is being held and see their names engraved on monumental stones, they fear they will not survive the night.

These four pivotal events, fact and fiction, are interwoven in four stories that allow Davis's much-loved characters to come to life once again. The Bride from Bithynia, The Spook Who Spoke Again, Vesuvius by Night, and Invitation to Die are a testament to Lindsey Davis's talent as a storyteller and her ability to create compelling narratives that transport readers to the ancient world.

Weight: 272g
Dimension: 130 x 197 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399721370