Scan barcode
A review by rosannelortz
A Dying Light in Corduba by Lindsey Davis
3.0
A Dying Light in Corduba saw our hero, Marcus Didius Falco, set off on a mission to Spain with a very pregnant Helena Justina in tow. Racketeers are forming a cartel to control the export and prices of olive oil. With a commodity that important to Roman society (think how important electric lighting is to us today!), the stakes are high and men are ready to kill for control. Marcus finds a close-knit and close-lipped society of provincials in Baetica, Spain. Everyone knows something about the incipient cartel, but no one wants to peach on their neighbors. The plot thickens when Marcus discovers that a second spy has been sent to shadow his own mission–but which dancer is she? And is she friend or foe?
The convoluted banquet scene at the beginning of A Dying Light in Corduba made it one of my least favorite in the Falco canon, but the pace picked up and the story clarified itself by the end. And honestly, how could you skip any one of these novels without missing out on major events in the main characters’ lives. Can Marcus crack the case before Helena Justina’s water breaks, or will he be stuck delivering the baby himself in the wilds of Hispania?
The convoluted banquet scene at the beginning of A Dying Light in Corduba made it one of my least favorite in the Falco canon, but the pace picked up and the story clarified itself by the end. And honestly, how could you skip any one of these novels without missing out on major events in the main characters’ lives. Can Marcus crack the case before Helena Justina’s water breaks, or will he be stuck delivering the baby himself in the wilds of Hispania?