A suspicious death and subsequent murder send Flavia
Albia down a twisted path to expose corruption and betrayal
in Lindsey Davis’s next historical mystery.
First century Rome is not the quiet, orderly city that it
pretends to be and in this environment, a very clever
private informer can thrive. Flavia Albia, daughter of
Marcus Didius Falco, is a chip off the old block. She's
taken over his father's old profession, and, like him, she
occasionally lets her love of a good puzzle get in the way
of her common sense. Such is the case when one such puzzle
is brought to her by the very hostile ex-wife of Albia's new
husband.
It seems that over on the Quirinal Hill, a naive young girl,
one Clodia Volumnia, has died, and there's a suggestion that
she was poisoned by a love potion. The local witch, Pandora,
would have been the one to supply such a potion. Looking
into the matter, Albia soon learns that Pandora carries on a
trade in herbal beauty products while keeping hidden her
much more dangerous connections.
Albia soon discovers the young girl was a handful and her
so-called friends were not as friendly as they should have
been. The supposedly sweet air of the Quirinal hides the
smells of loose morality, casual betrayal, and even gangland
conflict. When a friend of her own is murdered, things
become serious and Albia is determined to expose as much of
this local sickness as she can—beginning with the truth
about the death of little Clodia.
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