On a hot summer day in Rome, informer Marcus Didius Falco has twin tragedies strike him almost simultaneously. His son dies just hours after being born and when he takes his baby to be buried on his father's property, he learns his father has also died.[return][return]Nominated as the pricipal heir to his father's estate, he decides to try and clear up some of the business his father had left behind. Paying off a debt gives him some clues into the death of a man found mutilated in a mausoleum. This takes him and his family down into the violent ex-slave family, where brutality, violence and murder are the norm. It brings back terrible memories for his sister, and his wife feels vunerable whilst trying to recover from the deather of the son. Meanwhile, one side effect of his father's death is trying to come to terms with the fact that he is now well off, despite the potential threat from the circus dancer's unborn child, who may be his future brother and so inherit half of the estate. ( )

Némesis se abre con dos líneas argumentales muy distintas que acaban por confluir, en un arranque que ya da el tono de lo que será la novela. Por un lado, Helena, la esposa de Falco, acaba de perder a un hijo en el parto, y esto la aboca a una amarga depresión, pero, paralelamente, muere también el padre de Falco, célebre por sus chanchullos y su vida disipada, quien deja abiertas muchas dudas acerca de dónde irá a parar su fortuna y bienes, y anuncia una disputa familiar. En una decisión bastante insólita, y durante unas honras fúnebres que Davis se ocupa de relatar manteniéndose muy fiel a los conocimientos históricos sobre el tema, Falco decide que abuelo y nieto compartan la ceremonia, fusionando simbólicamente de este modo la tragedia y la comedia. Tampoco faltan otros cadáveres en esta entrega de la serie, ni las jovencitas a punto de descarriarse, ni los informantes de la peor estofa, ni los chanchullos más deshonestos y rastreros que imaginarse pueda. Ni siquiera una familia de psicópatas o asesinos en serie a los que nadie parece atreverse a levantarles la voz. Quizás Némesis contiene además alguna de las escenas más duras y violentas jamás escritas hasta ahora por Lindsey Davis, y sin duda también algunos de los diálogos más frescos y chispeantes que hayan salido de su pluma. Y el resultado es la mejor novela de este ciclo.

I was a bit rabid about getting my hands on this. But my socks are still on. The book started off well but the ending, while lucid, was less than satisfying. It may be time to reread the series, that would be a good holiday season project. ( )

In 77AD, Falco is suffering from two family deaths.
A murder comes as a welcome relief to him. A statue maker who was a supplier to his father Geminus has disappeared. He discovers a family of freedmen, the Claudii who live south of Rome in the Pontine Marshes, are terrorizing the area. Then another body is found

( )

Excellent finale... it is somehow sad to come to the end of the series, but knowing that there is a new series that will be picking up from here is a good thing. ( )