Rating: 
Summary: A Hedonistically Great Read
Review: "Everyone always knows already that the dead man was a serial seducer who lied to political colleagues, ran up hefty debts at a brothel, deliberately farted in the Basilica, and was known by an obscene name behind his back."That quote numbers among many irreverent comments in THE ACCUSERS. If you have yet to meet Marcus Didius Falco and his wife, Helena Justina, you have a big treat in store. Lindsey Davis has created a first-rate pair of sleuths defending justice in the debauched Rome of the First Century. They have an outlook on life such that problems can be taken in stride, but pleasures are to be savored: "It was not often I had the beautiful pleasure of extortion from a relative. Life was good for an hour." In 75 A.D. accusers reaped a hefty fee for successful prosecution of individuals they chose to bring charges against. Therefore, fabricating a story, especially about a particularly unpopular citizen, could --- and often did --- bring high rewards. Pursuit of the truth didn't enter into the equation. One character quips, "Trials are not decided by evidence but arguments." Except for the blatant monetary incentive, it sounds much like the courts of today. Boasting clean togas, Falco and his associates pick up a case in the murders court. Their client isn't the first one to be accused of killing Gnaeus Rubirius Metellus. But someone seems to have tried to put it over as a suicide, which just doesn't wash with the accusers. Here's the rub: If Metellus did himself in, then his family would be forgiven the debt owed to the accusers from a prior corruption case. So proving he was murdered becomes a matter of money for the two inscrutable prosecutors. The ancient Romans demonstrate their decadence, greed, depravity and self-indulgence --- but, due to Falco and his team, also their humanity. Each day, Falco assembles his associates and divvies up the investigative tasks. There are many interviews to be conducted, lots of evidence to gather, truth to be sorted from lies. Their own client, the dead man's son, is not forthcoming, refusing to offer any explanation that might exonerate him. Obviously harboring a secret, he remains tight-lipped while Falco and his boys meticulously grill witnesses and chase leads. Meanwhile, Helena Justina quietly hunts for clues with her own technique, which involves using her feminine wiles and devious ways. At the end of the day, they all compare notes over family dinner with their two daughters and their dog Nux. Even the mothers-in-law get into the act. Despite a few bumps in the road, they ferret out the answers. Just the cast of principal characters, described in a witty two-page list at the beginning of the book, sets the humor of the book --- and serves the double purpose of helping you keep track of the couple dozen players with multiple long names. Full of murder, mayhem and riotous corruption, THE ACCUSERS is a hedonistically great read. --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
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Summary: Falco and the lawyers
Review: After skewering various professions in her previous Falco novels, Ms. Davis has finally gotten around to getting even with lawyers! As a lawyer myself I laughed uproariously at some of the antics of these "gentlemen of the bar". Even though this work takes place almost two thousand years ago, I easily recognized some of the legal types in it as folks I can encounter almost every day in court. The work reminds me of the Rumpole books, although there is more emphasis on the investigation aspect of the case than the legal side. It's very well-written, as I've come to expect of this series, and full of red herrings and twists and turns for the reader. I hope that Falco makes a very long career in Rome, and that we, his faithful readers, get to read all about that career!
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Summary: YEAH ANOTHER FALCO!
Review: AS USUAL MS. DAVIS COMBINES REALITY AND HUMOR TO MAKE HER BOY FALCO THE LOVEABLE SLIMY INFORMER/DETECTIVE HE IS. WITH CHARACTERISTIC HUMOR/FACTS/SARCASM/SURREALISM SHE WRITES ANOTHER AWESOME PLOT TO ADD TO ANOTHER AWESOME SERIES. KUDOS TO LINDSEY. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. EVERY FALCO IS A TREAT. I DO HOPE SHE IS THINKING OF DOING A POSSIBLE SERIES ON HER BOY PETRONIUS LONGIUS. AT LEAST HAVE HIM MARRY FALCO'S SISTER AND BRING HIS DAUGHTER BACK TO ROME. NOW THAT WOULD BE A COOL PLOT. HOWEVER, I GATHERED FROM INFERENCES THROUGHOUT THIS ONE, THAT SHE WAS TOYING WITH HER NEXT PLOT AND GIVING US A GLIMPSE OF WHAT IT COULD BE. I GUESS I CAN SAY I FELT REALLY SORRY FOR THAT NEGRO WHATEVER DUDE. I HOPE SHE WRITES MORE ON HIM.
Rating:
Summary: Superior Roman legal thriller
Review: Back in Rome after an extended stay in Roman Britain, informer Marcus Didius Falco and his young brother-in-laws attempt to restart his business tracking down information, assisting in lawsuits, and generally taking advantage of the state of Roman society. Falco gets involved in a case almost by accident--a lawsuit followed by a botched suicide leads to multiple accusations of murder. And all of a sudden, the dead man's son is looking to Falco as his only defender. To get the young man off the charge of murdering his own father, Falco needs a better alternative and one is readily at hand. His client's mother hated the dead man, is busy accusing her son, and has motive, opportunity, and knowledge of poisons. Falco becomes emeshed in a murder case that he brings against the woman. But if he's wrong, or fails to prove his case, he doesn't just lose. The injured parties will come after him and his meager assets. And his opponents are two of the sharpest lawyers first century Rome has to offer. Author Lindsey Davis combines action, history, and courtroom tactics into a compelling and fascinating story. Falco is a bit of a film-noir type hard-edged private eye but he's forced to take the stand in this case and also to decide where his ethics lie. Davis's depictions of 1st Century Imperial Rome are crystal-clear and accurate (as far as my History minor lets me remember) but her research never intrudes into the story. THE ACCUSERS is a welcome addition to a fine series. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Falco tangles with the courts
Review: Falco and friends are back in Rome. The partnership seems to be settling down into a defined pattern, as Falco slowly evolves from solo detective/agent into a respectible middle-class businessman and husband.
The novel is really more of a legal drama than the usual Falco detective adventure. In many ways, it is the story of a couple of high-roller lawyers who are fleecing an unlucky Senator and his family, and decide to use Falco as a sacrificial goat. Falco is out of his depth, and he knows it. But unfortunately for him, he's never been one to just stand by when someone else is being abused.
Fortunately, there is no sign of the forced tension between Falco and Petro and Falco and Helena that marred The Jupiter Myth. The characters once more appear to be their natural selves.
This was a good book, but it didn't quite have the sparkle that the best Falco books have had. The missing element was the offbeat wild card characters that usually make these books so fun. There were no exotic snake charmers or troops of actors or such. Even Falco's relatives were fairly dull and conventional.
I think Davis is still trying to find her way to writing about the new, respectible Falco. The character had to develop, but the problem is that now that he has developed she's not sure what to do with him.
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Summary: Alas, No More Sacred Geese & Chickens?
Review: Falco gets involved in court cases centered on a family secret so potentially devastating that it could cause Falco to lose his own hard-earned status. Helena's family members are active in resolving these cases, so it appears that we readers will have the pleasure of seeing more of them in future books in the series.
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Summary: Another Great Mystery of Ancient Rome!
Review: I seldom read fiction but I make exceptions for some science fiction and very rarely mysteries (my wife is an avid mystery reader and so I get my pick). In these genres I only read works by authors whom I consider to be good writers and that fit my interests in history and science. I realize that this may sound a bit high-handed and arrogant, but I only have a limited amount of time for recreational reading and so have to pick and choose. Lindsey Davis is one of those authors that always fits my standards. Anything written by her is sure to be a good read and is always thought provoking.
In her recent book (2003) "The Accusers" she has not disappointed me. Her knowledge of the culture of ancient Rome of Vespasian's time is astounding, at least as far as I can tell. The informer Marcus Didius Falco, his indomitable patrician wife Helena Justina, their various relatives, associates and enemies round out a group worthy of a Russian novel.
In "The Accusers" a Roman citizen, beset with legal problems, apparently commits suicide at the urging of his wife and possible collusion of his daughter (suicide would cut back on the liability of the family and save the family fortune, which in another twist has been left not to the man's wife, but to his daughter-in-law!) As it becomes evident that the death was murder, his son Negrinus becomes an easy target of those would profit by the murder. Falco and Associates (Falco's wife and her two brothers are the staff) take on the defense of Negrinus (also known as "Birdy"), who they realize is hiding something. As one might suspect, that secret is the key to the death of the father. By the time you read a few pages you are hooked and want to read more.
For me this is the best of mystery writing. I recommend it heartily.
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Summary: Roman Romp
Review: In THE ACCUSERS Rubirius Metellus, a Roman senator who had recently been convicted of corruption, is dead. But did he commit honorable suicide or was he murdered? Marcus Didius Falco has to find out. There are all kinds of twists and turns in this Roman romp of a mystery before all the answers are revealed.
A friend recommended I read the Falco mysteries, but I resisted for a long time, because frankly too many books and so little time. But I'm really glad I did. This is my second Falco; I read the first one, THE SILVER PIGS. I plan on reading all of the ones in-between that one and this latest. Lindsey Davis's writing style is lively, rapid-fire wit. Falco, her creation, is the perfect Roman everyman. He speaks with a world-weary humor but this, of course, covers up his still idealistic soul. An informer cannot afford anything like idealism. And his relatives! Ay! Sometimes they are trying on Falco's nerves, but they wonderfully fun individuals and Falco's interaction with them is hilarious. I think we all have relatives like this.
The Falco mysteries set in the Rome of the Emperor Vespasian, in my experience, have been a Roman holiday.
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Summary: Intrigue in ancient Rome
Review: Lindsey Davis' imaginatively conceived "The Accusers" is an historical fiction set in 75 A.D. Rome following the exploits of her protagonist Marcus Didius Falco. Falco is employed as an informer, the Roman equivalent of a modern day detective. Of equestrian rank, a middle class sature, Falco has been gone from Rome for 6 months and has returned seeking work. He has been summoned by Silius Italicus, a rich and storied informer to perform some investigating.
Italicus had presided over a trial involving senator Rubirius Metellus. Metellus had been convicted of corruption in meting out patronage. The penalty for this conviction was a million and a quarter serterces of which Silius Italicus was to garner the lion's share. Unfortunately for Italicus, Metellus' apparently planned suicide served to protect the family finances and deprive Silius Italicus of his considerable fee. Falco was to investigate the circumstances of the questionable suicide, trying to prove murder instead.
Falco was ably aided by his clear thinking wife, Helena Justina, daughter of a Roman senator and her younger brothers Justinus and Aelianus. Together they formed a formidible team that plodded through all the nuances of Roman law and Metellus family machinations to unravel the circumstances behind Metellus' death.
Davis creates an impressive representation of Roman life complete with maps and genealogic trees. The story however has too many dull moments which serves drag its pace.
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Summary: Law and Order meets I, Claudius
Review: One might think that the 15th installment of a historical crime franchise might be getting tired. Not so for Lindsey Davis and The Accusers. While others in the genre (most notable Ellis Peters) simply re-hash the same plots over and over again, Davis finds new ground with each novel. In fact, she frequently switches around, playing with sub-genre conventions. So, The Accusers, though the 15th in the Falco series, is the first in-depth look at the Roman legal system; like "Law and Order" meets "I, Claudius". This novel is much more enjoyable than the last several in the series, perhaps because we are out of barbaric Spain and Britian, and back home in Rome. On the surface, one might think the main pleasures are for the Classical or Roman history enthusiasts. However, the main joys in the Falco series is the witty, playful dialog between Falco and his wife, Helena. So much so, that much of the book has the feel of a classic Audrey Hepburn film than a stodgy detective story.
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