Recently read: Two for the Lions

[viktor_haag]

Finally finished "Two for the Lions" by Lindsey Davis (it's been on my pile since early summer), the tenth book in the series of Roman mysteries starring Marcus Didius Falco and his smart and capable companion Helena Justina. While I didn't think this was a bad entry in the series (all the books so far have been enjoyable), I don't think it was up to the better standards of some of the previous works (it's not up to the quality of "Three Hands in the Fountain", the ninth book, for example).

Still, I think the series has legs; the plots remain interesting, the characters are well-drawn and compelling, and there remains a fair amount of variety to the evolving setting that Davis is painting (for example, every book builds its mystery around one or two central historical curiosities about the Roman way of life, but Davis is quite thorough and careful to depict these details an weave them into her stories).

If you like light, historical mysteries that are easy to read and yet not completely forgettable puffery, then I highly recommend Davis. In tone, the Falco mysteries seem very similar to Moonlighting or Remington Steele, oddly enough. If you liked the light touch and humour combined with good mysteries that formed the better part of those television series, then these books are a good candidate for you.

Comments

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

I have Davis fatigue - I faithfully read her first seven or eight and I've been a bit off them ever since. Recommendations on the more recent ones worth reading would be appreciated.

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

I quite liked "Last Act in Palmyra" and "A Dying Light in Corduba", and "Three Hands in the Fountain". However, I have been faithfully reading her books in publishing order, so I haven't got to many past what you've already looked at. I think books 7 through 10 are on the whole much weaker than the first five or six (i.e. up to the end of "Last Act in Palmyra", which I thought was a poor mystery, but an interesting travelogue).

I will continue to report on the follow-on books as I read them, but part of the way by which I avoid Davis fatigue is to avoid reading too many of them at a clip. For example, I went right off MC Beaton by reading just too many Hamish Macbeth books at once, and eventually being really unhappy with the samey-ness they eventually fell prey to (somewhere around Death of a Dentist, I think).

[brianrogers.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the review. Previously this year I read a murder mystery set in Rome (so forgettable that the title escapes me) by a different author; I like the idea of the setting, but te mystery was one of those slogs where the hero has to wait until all but one of te suspects are dead before he figures out which one is the killer.

I shall have to see if our library has any of Ms. Davis' work.