A Body in the Bathhouse

A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery, Book 13

By: Lindsey Davis

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

The 13th novel featuring sleuth Marcus Didius Falco explores the fervor of home improvement that's sweeping the Roman Empire and Falco's own household, specifically the bathhouse - where a body turns up.

Some things never change. With his new villa, Falco also gets a timeless headache: building contractors. After the departure of two shady plasterers, a rank odor in the bathhouse soon leads to the discovery of a corpse under the mosaic floor. Should Falco follow the culprits to remote Britannica? Despite the British weather (damp), the inhabitants (barbarians), and the wine (second-rate), Falco takes his whole family and goes. In veritas, Falco has another, secret reason for this exodus - his sister Maia has rejected the affection of a powerful Roman official, who vows brutal revenge. Now to protect those he loves, Falco must outrun an imperial enemy with a very long - and very deadly - reach.

©2016 Lindsey Davis (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Fabulous series

I love this entire series. Didius Falco , the variety of adventurous and the whole varied cast of characters are simply wonderful. A joy to read & hear

entertaining and intelligent

Lindsey Davis always provides an entertaining and intelligent narrative. Falco is the perfect hard-boiled detective with a heart of tarnished gold.

The wrong narrator makes even a Falco story boring

I read and thoroughly enjoyed this book when it first came out. A complex tale with lots of excitement. This Audible version simply doesn’t do it justice.

Though I have enjoyed Simon Prebble narrations of other authors in the past, this narration is just not up to the mark. It is unbelievably monotonous, pedestrian and frankly boring There are conventions for the pronunciation of Latin derived names and to hear “Atrobates” pronounced to rhyme with rebates or reprobates by chopping out the last syllable is incredibly jarring There are lots of other errors and inconsistencies of pronunciation. It is REALLY sad when these (rather than the story itself) kept me on the edge of my seat.

Falco and Ms. David deserve far better.

Loved it!

Great book. Loved the historical context and the Latin root words woven into the storyline.

Outstanding Storytelling

I love this series. The characters stick with you, you feel the organic progression of the Didius family, you can't wait to find out what happens next. The whole franchise is a page turner.