Venus in Copper

Marcus Didius Falco barely survives being bailed out of prison by his mother, only to be immediately hired by a group of wealthy freedmen to investigate a woman whose husbands have an unfortunate habit of dying and leaving her their fortunes. The case puts Falco up against a female contortionist, her unsettling snake, and the usual cast of rent racketeers and dangerous characters that populate first-century Rome, all while he tries to persuade Helena Justina to share his dubious housing arrangements.

Simon Prebble brings exactly the right sardonic warmth to Falco's first-person narration, capturing the character's combination of professional competence and personal chaos. Lindsey Davis's Roman procedurals balance comedy and genuine murder mystery with remarkable consistency, and Prebble's delivery matches that tone precisely. At just over ten hours, this third Falco entry is one of the series' most purely entertaining.