From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Shadows in Bronze (Marcus Didius Falco, #2)

Lindsey Davis

Start date: September 15, 2022

Finish date: October 7, 2022

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: We recently read the first in the series.
[close] We recently read the first in the series.

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What Members Thought

Oct 10, 2022 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-romance, historical-crime-whodunnit

2.5★

Finally finished!

& after a page turning start this book really dragged for me, except when the wonderful Helena Justina was on the page.

The book did rescue itself with an ending that had both excitement & a bit of humour, but the story really needed a ruthless pruning to make a much tighter story.

I have more of Davis's books but I haven't decided if I will continue with the series.

https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess... ...more

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Aug 20, 2022 Susan in NC rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book, audiobook, tbr-with-gr-groups

4.5 stars - I am really enjoying this series, so glad the Reading the Detectives group prompted me to dive in. I enjoyed the first (The Silver Pigs), for the amazing research, the dry humor, quirky characters, but wasn’t sure I was “getting it”, as in the dialogue! Lindsey Davis seems to be on much surer ground in this second outing, and it is a grand adventure!

I admit, I was a little confused about the plot, as in what our hero, Falco, was supposed to be doing for the emperor Vespasian in Campa 4.5 stars - I am really enjoying this series, so glad the Reading the Detectives group prompted me to dive in. I enjoyed the first (The Silver Pigs), for the amazing research, the dry humor, quirky characters, but wasn’t sure I was “getting it”, as in the dialogue! Lindsey Davis seems to be on much surer ground in this second outing, and it is a grand adventure!

I admit, I was a little confused about the plot, as in what our hero, Falco, was supposed to be doing for the emperor Vespasian in Campania. This book opens immediately after the last - Falco has to dispose of the dead conspirator left in a warehouse at the end of the last book. It’s quite a nasty business, especially because he was his lady love’s uncle - he and his fellow senators were conspiring against Vespasian. Those conspirators who didn’t die scattered to far reaches of the Italian peninsula to await events, and avoid the wrath of Caesar.

In the interest of keeping his friends close and enemies closer, I gathered, Vespasian sends Falco as a messenger to some of the runaway senators hiding out near the Bay of Neapolis, to negotiate and bring them back into favor and the imperial fold. He is also hunting for a freedman, Barnabas, ostensibly to give him a legacy from one of the dead conspirators, the divorced husband of Helena Justina. But this freedman also appears to be a murderer, and now has it in for Falco…

Falco takes off for the south, using his best friend and his family as cover, just holiday makers heading for the coast. Falco is also using the British lead obtained in the last book’s investigation as a cover, acting as a salesman, going estate to estate trying to track down his lost senators and the wily Barnabas - and also runs into Helena Justina visiting family.

A lot going on! The amazing research, the characters, the humor - really is historical mystery writing at its finest. The author brings the beauty of summer in Campania alive - her descriptions of the grand estates overlooking the Bay of Neapolis, the fertile farms, and the vineyards on the slopes of Vesuvius are breathtaking. And so many humorous vignettes and incidents along the way! And heartbreaking scenes of loss and sadness. Such rich, exciting, immersive stories - I can’t wait to read the next in the series! I got the battered hardcover from my library (published 1990), but also used a credit for the Audible, read with charm and witty, dry humor by Simon Prebble. ...more

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Sep 22, 2022 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the second book in the Marcus Didius Falco series and I am enjoying becoming reacquainted with the characters. We begin in Rome, A.D. 71, and Falco is tasked with burying the body killed in the first novel. Now an imperial agent, he is then sent on various trips by Vespasian, to talk to those who may not be quite as loyal to the new man in charge. Of course, Davis is continuing the story from the first book, and so the plot - although convuluted - is really background to allow Falco to r ...more

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Sep 09, 2022 Jill rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: lindsey-davis

I really did struggle with this book. I think it is obvious that the author had written romance, and I'm afraid this book reaffirmed my why I prefer not to read it. I could see why Sayer's liked her writing as she had a long running of will she/won't she in her books. I did like the overall story, but not only, not understanding the politics of the time (my fault entirely), I had trouble with the huge cast list. Maybe if the names had been ones I was familiar with, I could have identified them b ...more

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Aug 11, 2018 Sandy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-grp, rread-2022, mystery-historical, rread-2018

Enjoying my second read of this series just as much as the first ... maybe more as I know these characters and their future.

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Jan 15, 2017 John Frankham rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-detective

The second in this 20 book series about Falco, a gopher for the Emperor Vespasian.

This, again, is a solid story, combining whodunnit elements with the author's love of showing the life of the Romans in the first century of the emperors. A continuation and conclusion of the story in book 1 concerning the theft and smuggling of silver ingots from Britain, the unmasking of the conspirators, and Falco's involvement with a senator's daughter.

Good - still 18 more to go. ...more

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Dec 23, 2022 Infosifter rated it really liked it

I read this in audio with my husband, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We did have an issue though which was that we read the first book in the series 3 or four years ago, and although we remembered the main character we didn't remember the plot of the first book and that's a real disadvantage with this one. While most mysteries in series tend to be episodic, I highly recommend that readers enjoy this immediately after reading the first book in order to fully understand what's going on. I love ...more

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