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Ode to a Banker |
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 Ode to a Banker byLindsey Davis Random House UK (Century) 305 pages, July 2000 ISBN 0712680349 Reviewed by our UK Editor Rachel A Hyde Read our review of One Virgin Too Many Here are Falco and company back for another stroll through 1st century Rome. This time, our hero has decided that there is more to life than being an informer, and is giving a private reading of his verse. But he attracts the attention of one Aurelius Chrysippus, a Greek with a publishing house and a bank. Naturally, Falco wants to investigate more fully what is exactly entailed in being part of Chrysippus’ stable of writers (after Helena Justina has suggested it anyway). The last thing he expects to find is the man’s dead body. With everybody on holiday for the summer, Petronius Longus drafts Falco as a temporary member of the Vigiles and the fun begins. Anacrites lusts after Falco’s mother and his widowed sister Maia, Falco’s father has a personal tragedy and his dog is pregnant - business as usual in fact, for Falco and his dotty, dysfunctional family. This is a fairly leisurely-paced whodunit, full of Davis usual satirical humor, this time is aimed largely at the publishing industry and banks. Personally, I felt that it could have done with a bit more action to keep the story rolling along, and perhaps a new long-term character or two to add a bit of new blood. However, most of the characters are well drawn, and anybody who has been reading the series since The Silver Pigs will feel that they know the characters personally by this twelfth addition. As usual, Davis’ onus is on how similar Ancient Rome was to modern times, with its baths and banks and badinage. In doing so, she sometimes glosses over the dissimilarities, which creates a vast gulf between them and us. Chrysippus owns many slaves, and when he is murdered at home, they would naturally be called upon to give evidence. The only way a slave’s evidence would have been accepted in court was if it had been extracted under torture. As the Vigiles have been portrayed, they do not come across as likely to do anything of the kind. Vespasian’s Rome was a far more settled place that it had been under previous more turbulent emperors, but it was never this cozy. This apart, the many fans of this series will be entertained by Falco’s latest exploits and misadventures. |
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