Eine Jungfrau zu viel (original 1999; udgave 2004)

Once more we delve into the murkier side of 1st-century Rome with Marcus Didius Falco. The joy of reading Lindsey Davis's historical whodunnits is that she uses her extensive and deep research into the world of Vespasian's Rome – the period we know most about everyday Roman life because it's the decade before Vesuvius left a valuable snapshot – to bring the Roman Empire and its traditions alive. In a way that leaves a lesser role for the actual crime and its investigation, but that shouldn't be taken to mean this isn't a real nail-biter to the very end.

Falco and his immediate family Helena Justina, baby Julia Junilla and disreputable dog Nux are back in Rome, summoned by Vespasian to receive imperial thanks for his work on the Census (tax enforcement in other words). Falco is raised by a grateful Empire to the Equestrian rank he has long sought, though the fiscally-prudent emperor has declined to furnish the entry fee, simply awarding him a priestly sinecure as Procurator of the Sacred Geese and Sacrificial Chickens. It sounds like a good joke but Vespasian is no fool, and it leads Falco into the world of religious cults: the Vestal Virgins, the Arval Brotherhood and a strangely dysfunctional and secretive priestly family, in search of a missing six-year-old and the deranged killer of an Arval Brother. Naturally, everything is intertwined. But once the killer has been identified, will the little girl be found safely?

One of the very best of the series so far.


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Once more we delve into the murkier side of 1st-century Rome with Marcus Didius Falco. The joy of reading Lindsey Davis's historical whodunnits is that she uses her extensive and deep research into the world of Vespasian's Rome – the period we know most about everyday Roman life because it's the decade before Vesuvius left a valuable snapshot – to bring the Roman Empire and its traditions alive. In a way that leaves a lesser role for the actual crime and its investigation, but that shouldn't be taken to mean this isn't a real nail-biter to the very end.

Falco and his immediate family Helena Justina, baby Julia Junilla and disreputable dog Nux are back in Rome, summoned by Vespasian to receive imperial thanks for his work on the Census (tax enforcement in other words). Falco is raised by a grateful Empire to the Equestrian rank he has long sought, though the fiscally-prudent emperor has declined to furnish the entry fee, simply awarding him a priestly sinecure as Procurator of the Sacred Geese and Sacrificial Chickens. It sounds like a good joke but Vespasian is no fool, and it leads Falco into the world of religious cults: the Vestal Virgins, the Arval Brotherhood and a strangely dysfunctional and secretive priestly family, in search of a missing six-year-old and the deranged killer of an Arval Brother. Naturally, everything is intertwined. But once the killer has been identified, will the little girl be found safely?

One of the very best of the series so far.


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Set in AD 74 during Vespasian's reign, this cozy mystery is set in Rome. Returning from Northern Africa, Falco finds himself in charge of the royal geese, and drawn into a murder case involving the Vestal Virgins. Davies does a lot of research for her historical-fiction; and in this case the world of religious cults is brought to the fore. Though you could read this as a stand-alone; it's really a true serial novel - meaning that it flows from the previous novel; and the expectation is that the next novel, 'Ode to a Banker', will pick up where this one left off. ( )

This mystery kept me guessing right up to the end. Interesting information about ancient Roman cults, including the duties of the Vestal Virgins.

Marcus Didius Falco finds himself drawn into the search for a six-year-old who will be made a Vestal Virgin, guarding the ancient traditions of Rome including the eternal flame. But, after telling Falco someone is going to kill her, the girl disappears. A complicated investigation with numerous trails follow in this entertaining story from Lindsay Davis. To say she brings ancient Rome alive is to do her a disservice. The detail she brings to her stories continually amazes me. Highly recommended. ( )