The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis

The Silver Pigs (Marcus Didius Falco #1) by Lindsey Davis
Publication date: October 3rd 2006
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Format: Paperback
Buy it here: Amazon, The Book Depository

Goodreads Description

Discover one of the world's favourite detectives, as his first case leads him into conspiracy, murder and adventure ...In 1989 THE SILVER PIGS introduced the world to laid-back first-century detective Marcus Didius Falco, his partner Helena Justina, his law and order pal Petronius, and his indomitable Mother - who became some of the most celebrated characters in historical fiction. Now reissued in a special new edition to celebrate publication of Falco's twentieth investigation, THE SILVER PIGS sees Falco cynically eyeing up the new Roman emperor, Vespasian. Our hero, a private informer, rescues a young girl in trouble and is catapulted into a dangerous game involving stolen imperial ingots, a dark political plot and, most hazardous of all, a senator's daughter connected to the traitors Falco has sworn to expose.

I'd like to start off this review by saying that I had very high expectations for this book. As a student who has just finished her minor in Classical Studies, I have a huge love for all things Ancient Roman and Greek. I had heard people compare the protagonist, Falco, to Sherlock Holmes and after a few minutes of reading I could see exactly where the comparisons were coming from. Falco is an eccentric private investigator who lives in 70AD Rome. Slightly earlier than the 1800s I'll admit, but the similarities are definitely there. This is not a bad thing, of course - but I had a constant feeling I had 'read this before'.

Falco chases after a girl running for her life across the streets of Rome, and upon meeting her he gets caught up in a conspiracy in the trading of silver ingots (hence, Silver Pigs). After getting to know a little more about the girl (Sosia Camillina) a mystery begins to unravel which leads to the girl's death and Falco being employed by her Uncle who happens to be a Senator to find out who murdered his niece. He embarks on a journey to Britain with Helena Justina who is the senator's daughter and the girl's cousin. From there they begin to solve the puzzle of the Silver Pigs together.

I really wanted to love this book. On the face of it, it seemed like the perfect read for me. Ancient Rome, a Sherlock Holmes-like investigator and a mystery. But I'm afraid this book fell a bit flat for me.

Davis is quite heavy on the adjectives and I'd have liked to have read more 'show, not tell'. The writing slightly spoiled this book for me. Some of the characters didn't seem very realistic (Caesar, for example) and I found myself struggling to read through some tedious parts of the book. On the plus side, Davis knows how to write comically - Falco has many genuinely funny moments.

I rapidly flung the long ends of my toga round us both.
"My own theory is, warming up women was what the founding fathers had in mind when they invented this..."

I was pleased to learn that I had not guessed the ending correctly.

Falco - The protagonist. He's a lovable character and if Davis had created Falco differently, I probably wouldn't have finished this book. He's slightly misogynistic, but get real - this book is based in 70AD Rome. I would have found this book much less realistic if the men weren't misogynistic. However, Falco does have a certain amount of respect for women - for his mother and Helena Justina in particular. 

Helena Justina - I liked her. She's more of a complex character than Falco. Is she a realistic portrayal of a 1st Century AD Roman woman? As we don't have much of a voice from the women of Imperial Rome in historical sources, I don't know. I found her to be quite modern, in a sense. Throughout the 2nd half of the book, I was rooting for the relationship that was beginning to unfold between her and Falco. It was all very sweet. I was totally shipping them! But I assume, as there are a whopping 20 books in this series, other women may come into the picture. I'd like to think I'm wrong.

This is a decent book, but I won't be continuing the series.