A review by rosannelortz
Time to Depart by Lindsey Davis

4.0

In Time to Depart, Marcus must assist his longtime friend Petronius in ridding the city of Rome of some of its organized crime. Balbinus Pius, the Al Capone of the A. D. 70′s has just been sentenced to death, and in accordance with the old Roman custom, given time to depart the empire if he wishes to avoid his execution (since living outside the empire was, in the opinion of the old Roman statesmen, an even worse fate than death). With Balbinus Pius gone, a new wave of crime riddles the city, and it is up to Marcus and the vigiles (Roman policemen) to discover the name of the new crime boss in town. On the home front, Helena discovers that she is expecting a child, and Marcus must deal with the unpleasant task of breaking the news to her senatorial family. Time to Depart is mobster noir at its finest; it just happens to be set in ancient Rome , not 1920s Chicago.