Lindsey Davis is the author of 19 novels featuring Marcus Didius Falco (born AD41) as well as other works. The first Falco novel, The Silver Pigs, won the Authors' Club Best First Novel award in 1989; Davis has since won the Crimewriters' Association Dagger in the Library and Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, while Falco has won the Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective.The 19th Falco novel, Alexandria, has just been published in UK and will be out in the US this spring.
For the Guardian, Davis named her top 10 Roman books. One title on the list:
Read about another book on Davis' list.I, Claudius by Robert Graves
One for grown-ups, or two if you include Claudius the God. For the TV generation it's now almost impossible to read this without thinking of Derek Jacobi et al, but that's no hardship. There is no better way to get to grips with the complicated family tree of the early emperors, who are so vital to understanding how imperial Rome came about. And rarely has a male novelist created such a subtle female character as here in the devious Empress Livia. The modern chaps hardly do women at all – they could learn from Graves.
Read the Page 99 Test for the 18th Falco novel, Saturnalia.
--Marshal Zeringue
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