Flavia Albia's day-old marriage is in trouble - her new husband may be permanently disabled and they have no funds. So when Palace officials ask her to help expose a plotter in their midst she is obliged to accept their commission.
The plot could not be bigger. Ever since he died in AD 68 apparently by his own hand Rome has been haunted by reports that the Emperor Nero is in fact very much alive and about to return to claim his throne.
Two Nero pretenders have emerged in the East and met grisly fates. But now as the Emperor Domitian whose tyrannical paranoid reign grows ever more unpopular fights a war in faraway Dacia there emerges a far more sinister contender. What's more the rumour is that this false Nero is already in Rome. Plunged into the conspiracy Flavia must infiltrate the house of the Parthians who have smuggled in this new impostor negotiate with spies dodge the assassins sent by the Palace traitor and somehow cope with her stricken husband.
Can she succeed before the impostor is revealed? Or will Rome once more be plunged into civil war?sk.
Historical novelist Lindsey Davis is best known for her novels set in Ancient Rome, including the much-loved Marcus Didius Falco series, although she has also written about the English Civil War, including A Cruel Fate, a book for the Quick Reads literacy initiative. Her examination of the paranoid reign of the roman emperor Domitian began with Master and God, a standalone novel set in that dark period, leading to her new series about Flavia Albia. Her books are translated and five radio dramas are regularly rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4X. Her many awards include the Premio Colosseo (from the city of Rome) and the Crime Writers' Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. Most recently she was awarded the Ivanhoe Prize for lifetime achievement in historical fiction, given by the Spanish City of Ubeda. She has been the Chair of the UK Crimewriters' Association, Honorary President of the UK Classical Association, President of the Birmingham and Midlands Institute and is a Fellow of the UK Society of Authors. www.lindseydavis.co.uk Lindsey Davis - The Crime Writers' Association (thecwa.co.uk)
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis