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A review by rosannelortz
The Jupiter Myth by Lyndsey Davis
4.0
The Jupiter Myth, book 14 of the Marcus Didius Falco series, picks up right where A Body in the Bathhouse leaves off. Marcus and family leave the palace building site from the last case and head off to Londinium. When the exiled murdered from the last book winds up dead in one of Londinium’s taverns, Marcus discovers that the backwater banks of the Thamesis are capable of hiding as much villainy as the lurid streets of Rome. He unearths a protection racket that has been plaguing the town for some time, cleverly marking its “protected” businesses with lightning bolts and names associated with myths about the god Jupiter.
Petronius Longus joins the Didius family in Londinium, bringing Maia’s gaggle of children. He seems to have some special knowledge of his own about the protection racket and goes undercover to track down the mobsters. When the sad news arrives that two of Petro’s daughters have been carried off by the chicken pox, Maia’s scorn for Petro melts into pity–but Falco has grave doubts whether a romance between his favorite sister and his best friend would be to anyone’s benefit.
Lindsey Davis displays impressive information about the Roman footprint in Britain, culled from archaeological evidence. The Jupiter Myth paints an intriguing picture of what the ancient town of London might have looked like–as seen through the scornful eyes of a snobby city boy, born and bred in Rome.
Petronius Longus joins the Didius family in Londinium, bringing Maia’s gaggle of children. He seems to have some special knowledge of his own about the protection racket and goes undercover to track down the mobsters. When the sad news arrives that two of Petro’s daughters have been carried off by the chicken pox, Maia’s scorn for Petro melts into pity–but Falco has grave doubts whether a romance between his favorite sister and his best friend would be to anyone’s benefit.
Lindsey Davis displays impressive information about the Roman footprint in Britain, culled from archaeological evidence. The Jupiter Myth paints an intriguing picture of what the ancient town of London might have looked like–as seen through the scornful eyes of a snobby city boy, born and bred in Rome.