The Silver Pigs

Marcus Didius Falco, Book 1

By: Lindsey Davis

Narrated by: Christian Rodska

Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

One fine day, A.D. 70, Sosia Camillina quite literally runs into Marcus Didius Falco on the steps of the Forum. It seems Sosia is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after a quick and dirty rescue, P.I. Falco wants to know why.

Falco finds out that Sosia, the niece of a highly placed senator, holds the secret to a stockpile of silver pigs, ingots intended for no good use. Hoping for future favors from Sosia's powerful uncle, Falco embarks on an intricate case of smuggling, murder, and treason that reaches into the palace itself. And if he does not tread lightly, the treacherous puzzle of the silver pigs could buy him a one-way ticket to his own funeral pyre.

©1989 Lindsey Davis (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Great fun!

A mystery in Roman times! This was a fantastic listen, with a lively narration that brought the characters to life. If you like the Amelia Peabody egyptian mysteries, I reckon you'd like this series too.

Waiting for "shadows in bronze"

Loved this book, it is a fictional story but the background and detail are as spot on as I could hope for. Audible had an abridged and dramatized version for a while and, fortunately, pulled it- Good books deserve to be presented in full. I hope audible is currently recording an unabridged version of the next book and plans on offering the whole set. As an end note: Davis does not leave you hanging at the end of silver pigs, the book stands by itself very well.

Great listen!

A well constructed mystery with lots of interesting twists. Looking forward to the next one. Highly recommended!

Story crept up and grabbed my interest

After an uninspired start, that story gradually engaged and caught my interest. At first the style felt like the clichéd private investigator story given the cheap facade of an ancient setting. However all the characters grew richer and more interesting as the story went by, and the historical aspects were handled deftly. I found myself compelled to listen every spare moment I had.

What isn't predictable is implausible

What disappointed you about The Silver Pigs?

I listened to this based on others' recommendations, but was highly disappointed. The main character, Falco, often acts with great disdain toward Senators and even Emperors in ways that are entirely unbelievable. We are meant to believe that our hero has some kind of yearnings for the old Republic - which has by this time not existed for nearly 100 years - and continually insults everyone of higher rank he sees, in an age where the mere hint of such a thing would have a man of low rank crucified. In addition to constant insults, we are told he turns down a gold ring that's more than he could earn in 50 lifetimes just over the principle that it came from an Emperor's son. This is interwoven between two clumsy love stories: our hero first falls for a woman he has met twice, and her subsequent murder is supposed to be what drives him to great lengths to find her murderer; later, much ink is wasted with dialog between Falco and another woman interspersed with our hero's comments about how they aren't getting along (when they clearly are, so it's confusing). It often feels like the author desperately wants us to believe X is happening, but it showing Y instead, and oh, it ends up it was Y all along, but the author needed to throw some twists in to make it all interesting. It's strange. Many details about basic Roman life are omitted distorted, or wrong. Ideas about how the different classes dressed or talked to each other are off. Details about how a man with little income comported himself and what he could afford (really? he hires chairs to be carried around like a Senator?) are unbelievable and poorly researched. Information about the realities of a divorced woman of the upper classes is untenable, including the idea that she would divorce because her husband didn't love her (it would have been odd for a woman of her rank to marry for anything but a familial alliance). It's just poorly done.If you want good, Roman-era historical fiction mysteries, I suggest the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts. Details are spot on, writing style is fantastic, and you haven't worked out who the killer is in the first chapter.

Has The Silver Pigs turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

What three words best describe Christian Rodska’s performance?

When he doesn't sound angry, he sounds out of breath, like he's just run up the steps to the curia.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No.

Truly Terrible Narrator Trashes Tasty Tome

Any additional comments?

Shameful. Rodska's nasal, whiny, high-pitched, grating voice makes Falco sound like a near-hysterical, particularly aggravating child, thoroughly spoiling an entertaining, engaging adventure tale. This, the first book in the compelling Marcus Didius Falco series, introduces some of the best-developed characters in historical fiction, then cleverly maneuvers them in and out of dire straits, all the while maintaining the smooth arc of an absorbing plot line. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes humorous, always smart, perceptive and satisfying. Deplorably, Audible is removing the Falco books narrated by the brilliant Simon Prebble and replacing them with the repellent Rodska-narrated versions. PLEASE bring back the Prebble-narrated versions, and PLEASE make available for purchase more Prebble-narrated books in the series.

Not my cup of Roman tea

I generally enjoy novels--mysteries or not--set in the classical world, and am a huge fan of the Roman sleuths created by Steven Saylor, John Maddox Roberts, and Ruth Downie. But for some reason I really dislike the characters in this series, and the attempts at what I guess could be called "wry wit" don't resonate with me.

I read "Silver Pigs" when it first came out--and I believe this first book in the series predates the three series I do like--and I didn't care for it then. Decided to try the audio version because it was on sale and because I like Christian Rodska (if you haven't heard him "channel" Winston Churchill in the latter's WWII histories, you're missing something). Rodska's Cockney version of hero and narrator Didius Falco is well conceived and sort of fun. But I just don't like this book. Still not sure why, and it doesn't mean you won't.