Saturnalia - Tapa blanda

It is the Roman Holiday of Saturnalia. Marcus Didius Falco and Helena have returned from Greece, only to find that Helena's brother Justinus' marital problems have exploded.. Justinus' first love Veleda, a tribal leader and prophetess from Germania, has been brought to Rome and put under under house arrest pending a ritual sacrifice at her capturor's Triumph. Justinus is love struck once more and his wife, the tempramental Claudia, is enraged. Then Veleda escapes leaving behind a corpse, Justinus disappears too and it is up to Falco and the Chief Spy Anacrites to try to find the missing couple all against the backdrop of the orgiastic holiday period when literally anything goes...

Lindsey Davis has written nineteen novels, beginning with The Course of Honour, the love story of the Emperor Vespasian and Antonia Caenis. Her bestselling mystery series features laid-back First Century detective Marcus Didius Falco and his partner Helena Justina, plus friends, relations, pets and bitter enemy the Chief Spy. Her books are translated into many languages and serialised on BBC Radio 4. Past Chair of the Crimewriters' Association and a Vice President of the Classical Association, she has won the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Dagger in the Library, and a Sherlock award for Falco as Best Comic Detective. She was born in Birmingham but now lives in London.