Enemies at Home

The Flavia Albia Mysteries, Book 2

By: Lindsey Davis

Narrated by: Lucy Brown

"There are rules for private informers accepting a new case. Never take on clients who cannot pay you. Never do favors for friends. Don't work with relatives. If, like me, you are a woman, keep clear of men you find attractive."

"Will I never learn?"

In ancient Rome, the number of slaves was far greater than that of free citizens. As a result, often the people Romans feared most were the "enemies at home," the slaves under their own roofs. Because of this, Roman law decreed that if the head of a household was murdered at home, and the culprit wasn't quickly discovered, his slaves - all of them, guilty or not - were presumed responsible and were put to death...without exception.

When a couple is found dead in their own bedroom and their house burglarized, some of their household slaves know what is about to happen to them. They flee to the Temple of Ceres, which by tradition is respected as a haven for refugees. This is where Flavia Albia comes in. The authorities, under pressure from all sides, need a solution. Albia, a private informer like her father, Marcus Didius Falco, is asked to solve the murders.

©2015 Blackstone Audio Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audio

This book...

...unlike Ides of April, goes a long way to solidifying Flavia Albia's position in the Falco mythos, which, as anyone who does a Google search can see, is of some importance.

Its also nice to see characters from the original series, like Helena Justina--to say nothing of a few others-make brief appearances or be referred to-and for the same reason: to those who have followed the Falco series, this is a matter of some importance.

As good as any Falco story, maybe better

I have seen many reviews critical of the post Falco stories, and can find no justification for it. The three I’ve read so far are just as compelling as human interactions and detective fiction. Again, keep up the good work!!!

Wonderful book, wonderful performance

Lucy Brown rises to the task of capturing the humorous spirit of the author’s main characters. The story is intricate and full of varied personalities. Lucy handles them all well

Improving

After reading the first I was disappointed by the lack of humor and verve of the Falcons series. This is building into a nice series.

good book

while I l found this well written and plotted found it a bit long.

Unconvinced

I’m not sure how I feel about this character.
Stay tuned. I finished and am moving to the next book.
Unfortunately many characters are totally forgettable.
The familiar ones are nice to visit again.

I really tried to like this

Enemies at Home was a big disappointment to me. I would put it in the genre of boring faux historical fiction. It quickly became the book that plays when I want to fall asleep.