A Dying Light in Corduba

The Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries, Book 8

By: Lindsey Davis

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

In this eighth mystery featuring hard-boiled Roman PI Marcus Didius Falco, Davis creates a chiaroscuro world of evil plots and dark humor as olive oil whets a villain's appetite for power and his taste for murder.

Surprisingly, nobody is poisoned at the Society of Olive Oil Producers banquet; the attempted murder of Rome's chief spy occurs immediately afterward. Suspicion falls, quick as the Italian night, on the dinner's sinuous dancer, a lady who has already left for Corduba, Spain. Naturally, Marcus Didius Falco, the Philip Marlowe of Roman detectives, is dispatched to follow her. But he has pledged to stay with Helena, his pregnant, patrician wife, until she gives birth.

Caught between Scylla and Charybdis, Falco makes what may be a fatal mistake: He brings Helena with him to a terra incognita of olives and intrigue, where a dies irae and a remorseless killer wait.

©1996 Lindsey Davis (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Incredible author. Perfect reader.

So happy they are re-recording these! Previous reader made Falco sound like a surly thug.

I'm looking forward to getting the entire series with a narrator who SOUNDS like Falco!

Just can't beat Davis' lighthearted mixture of murder, politics, and ancient history. Yum!

As always, a pleasure!

This book by Lindsey Davis is a wonderful mystery, full of twists and turns, historical accuracy, and a laugh out loud wit. I’ve both read and as well as listened to to audio version of the Marcus Didius Falco Series several times over the last 20 years. I always feel like I’m meeting up with an old friend again! And Simon Prebble’s narration is the perfect voice for Falco.

cheeky b'stard

tongue in cheek as ever, the intrepid detective and feisty wife duo please at every turn.

One of the best Falco books.

Intrigue, politics, international travel, spies galore! 007 has nothing on Falco. Marvellously written, weaving the internal politics of Roman civil servants with the many individual characters of the various players, plus Falco’s own growing family. All is intertwined.

Unpopular opinion.

Unpopular opinion, but I liked the old narrator better. The new narrator nearly put me to sleep.

Not one of my favorites - not improved by the narrator

Honestly, this story was never a top favorite though I’ve read the Falco series pretty much as it was published. There are interesting settings and situations and a twisting plot line. What really spoils it is the narration.

Plenty of people seem to like Simon Prebble’s Falco narrations. Indeed, I enjoy listening to him narrate OTHER stories but for Falco, he is just plain WRONG!
Falco came up from the mean streets of the Aventine, dragging himself up from very humble beginnings. He was working class and gained advancement through intelligence against the odds.
Falco has a huge sense of drama, irony and humor. He is telling the exciting stories of his youth. In short, he is an adventurer in every sense of the word!
Simon Prebble’s droning, monotonous narrations and his very standard English, middle class accent simply don’t do justice to the character or the story.

Added to this, there are numerous mispronunciations of words and horrible renderings of classical names. Every time I hear him mangle Anacrites, I shudder. I hate Ampi-theater with a passion - have you ever heard that a frog is an “Amp-ibian”? There are numerous others - way too many to list -and they distract from the story.

This potentially very interesting story could be much improved by proper narration. If the publishers could find a decent narrator who could provide life to the stories instead of smothering them, I would happily spend credits to replace the Falco books narrated by Simon Prebble