Shadows in Bronze
First edition
|
|
| Author | Lindsey Davis |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Marcus Didius Falco |
| Genre | Crime novel, historical mystery |
| Publisher | Century UK, Mysterious Press, US |
|
Publication date
|
1990 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 452 pp (Paperback) |
| ISBN | (Hardback) |
| OCLC | 44059065 |
| Preceded by | The Silver Pigs |
| Followed by | Venus in Copper |
Shadows in Bronze is a 1990 historical mystery crime novel by Lindsey Davis and the second book of the Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries series. Set in Rome, southern Italy, and the Bay of Neapolis during AD 71, just after the year of the four emperors, the novel stars Marcus Didius Falco, informer and imperial agent. The bronze of the title is a statue of a young Helena Justina, Falco's romantic interest.
The story begins in Rome during late spring, AD 71. Marcus Didius Falco and a group of the Praetorian Guard under the captaincy of Julius Frontinus are disposing of a decomposing corpse. Secrecy is paramount because he was the victim of a discreet execution, having been guilty of treason against the Emperor.
In his position as imperial agent, Falco is involved with the tidying of the conspiracy (The Silver Pigs) and the emptying of the traitor's house. Anacrites and Momus are also involved with this. When Falco and Anacrites arrive at the Palace to report to the Emperor, Falco runs into the Senator Decimus Camillus Verus and his daughter, Helena Justina. He then reports to the Emperor, who wishes to destroy any evidence that his son, Domitian, was involved with the scheme.
When a freedman bursts in to inform the Emperor that the Temple of Hercules Gaditanus is on fire, Anacrites is sent to the Transtiberina to find a freedman (Barnabas) who has been following Falco around, whilst Falco is sent to investigate the arson attack. There he discovers that Curtius Longinus, who had been summoned to Rome to account for his role in the plot, has been killed in the fire. He returns to the palace to be informed that Anacrites had been unable to locate Barnabas, the freedman immediately becoming suspect in the arson and death.
Falco is then sent to Magna Graecia in southern Italy in search of Aulus Curtius Gordianus, the brother of Curtius Longinus, who may also be in danger from Barnabas. Arriving in Crotone, Falco is almost immediately caught up in a brawl in the marketplace, being rescued by Laesus, a ship's captain, with whom Falco then shares a meal at the mansio.
...
Wikipedia