Pandora's Boy

By: Lindsey Davis

Narrated by: Jane Collingwood

From the creator of Falco comes Falco: the new generation, featuring her unforgettable heroine Flavia Albia in her sixth novel.

Flavia Albia is a private investigator, always drawn to an intriguing puzzle - even if it is put to her by her new husband's hostile ex-wife. On the Quirinal Hill, Clodia Volumnia, a very young girl with stars in her eyes, has died, amid suggestions that she was poisoned by a love-potion. It will have been supplied by a local witch, who goes by the name of Pandora, though Albia learns that Pandora carries on a trade in herbal beauty products while hiding much more dangerous connections. Pandora's beloved grandson, a trainee hack lawyer, is one of the dead girl's empty-headed friends; can this be relevant?

As she homes in on the truth, Albia has to contend with the occult, organised crime, an unusual fertility symbol, and celebrity dining. She discovers the young girl was a handful; her father mediates in disputes, yet has divorced his grief-stricken wife and is now suing his own mother-in-law; Clodia's so-called friends were none too friendly. 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, Albia determines to expose as much of this local sickness as she can - beginning with the truth about the death of little Clodia.

'Davis's prose is a lively joy, and Flavia's Rome is sinister and gloriously real.' The Times on Sunday

(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2018 Lindsey Davis

Critic reviews

Lindsey Davis has seen off all her competitors, notably US author Steven Saylor, to become the unassailable market leader in the 'crime in Ancient Rome' genre. Her books featuring the Roman sleuth Falco marry persuasive historical elements and compelling storytelling. In PANDORA'S BOY, the spotlight falls on Falco's strong-minded daughter Flavia. Davis's squalid, vibrant Rome is as pleasurable as ever.

For fans of crime fiction set in the ancient world, this one is not to be missed

The quite brilliant Lindsey Davis never fails with her witty mysteries set in first century Rome. From the dreadful 'Chelsea set' of rich young things, busy drinking their parents' money, to rip-off restaurants offering the gullible 'fresh oysters' from Britain; the artful street vendor selling lettuce as an aphrodisiac backed by the legend of a phallic Egyptian god; to pompous lawyers, backstreet bars and posh villas, first century Rome is there in its glorious and sinister reality. I guarantee if you are new to her work, by the time you've reached the final surprising denouement, you'll want to read more of it.

Praise for Lindsey Davis and the Flavia Albia series

Davis's prose is a lively joy, and Flavia's Rome is sinister and gloriously real.

Davis's books crackle with wit and knowledge. She has the happy knack of making the reader feel entirely immersed in Rome.

This excellent Roman mystery, enriched by Davis's characteristic wit and thorough understanding of the period, takes a darker turn as Flavia delves into Rome's poorest streets, rife with prostitution, exploitation, thuggery and murder.

Fading interest för Albia

Listening to Lindsey Davis or for that matter Donna Leone is to me a question of combining a good who done it read with getting the flavor and the living experience of ancient Rome (or today's Venice). By creating her other hero Albia, Lindsay is now somehow reusing the story of Falco and getting a female informer where she can comment on the world of men from a female perspective. In this book, though, she somehow has performed below par, measured against her considerable talents. The who done it story was too thin and becoming apparent much to early (something usually not happening to me). When the description of Rome somehow becomes more like a readout of historical maps without a sense of place and presence half the value of the read gets lost. Furthermore, when the cultural description of ancient Rome deviates from historical facts and increasingly becomes a commentary of modern mores, especially between genders, I get irritated. I am sure Flavia Albia would be astonished by a Roman world where she more or less could work in her line of trade, in the manner she is doing. So it becomes a boring, uninspiring and unrealistic read. I will now take a pause from Flavia Albia, maybe Rome is now fading away.