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The Ides of April

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The Ides of April

By: Lindsey Davis
Narrated by: Lucy Brown
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About this listen

 Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of a famous investigating family. In defiance of tradition, she lives alone on the colourful Aventine Hill, and battles out a solo career in a male-dominated world. As a woman and an outsider, Albia has special insight into the best, and worst, of life in ancient Rome.


A female client dies in mysterious circumstances. Albia investigates and discovers there have been many other strange deaths all over the city, yet she is warned off by the authorities. The vigils are incompetent. The local magistrate is otherwise engaged, organising the Games of Ceres, notorious for its ancient fox-burning ritual. Even Albia herself is preoccupied with a new love affair: Andronicus, an attractive archivist, offers all that a love-starved young widow can want, even though she knows better than to take him home to meet the parents...


As the festival progresses, her neighbourhood descends into mayhem and becomes the heartless killer's territory. While Albia and her allies search for him, he stalks them through familiar byways and brings murder ever closer to home.


The Ides of April is vintage Lindsey Davis, offering wit, intrigue, action and a brilliant new heroine who promises to be as celebrated as Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina, her fictional predecessors.


(P)2013 Hodder & Stoughton©2013 Lindsey Davis Crime Fiction Historical Mystery Fiction Crime Heartfelt

Critic reviews

Praise for MASTER AND GOD:

'The narrative is rapid and the story well told with much sharp-edged detail. You can open this book and step right into a convincing yet extraordinary past.'
'Davis's descriptions of Rome are vivid and lively...this is a great yarn'
'While this book is a departure from her usual Falco novels, the trademark charm, piercing intelligence and ready wit are as abundant as ever... dramatic and enthralling, all the more so for being full of historical fact. The characters are intriguing and three-dimensional, and the whole is told with a humour and insight which means the reader will find the book impossible to put down.'
All stars
Most relevant

Would you try another book written by Lindsey Davis or narrated by Lucy Brown?

I would - to both. Davis writes lightly, and subverts history in an amusing way. I was always interested in the way she might have handled Dominitician's rule. Lucy Brown reads well, but still not quite convinced this is the adopted daughter by Romans (noble and ignoble) of a British survivor of the Boudicean revolts.

What did you like best about this story?

I've been highly amused by and enjoyed Lindsey Davis' book in the past. Very tongue in cheek. Obviously a different primary character, and only minor references to the family. It takes a little listening to become interested, partially because of the character, and partially because I don't think that Ms Davis has quite worked out where she wants to go with the character.

What about Lucy Brown’s performance did you like?

She reads well, clear, easy to listen to, and for an audio book (I use them in the car or train that is very important).

Could you see The Ides of April being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

I think this would be difficult. To get the best out of it you ned the history - it's not a one off (either the books or the history).

Any additional comments?

Worth listening to, but you might abandon it early. A mistake (having persevered and not returned it - I might have done - after just the first few chapters). I don't regret it, the book got better and as of most of her books, amusing side takes on how we might imagine the Romans did and thought. BTW - I got the real romance pretty early :-)

An interesting, if flawed move on from Falxo

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really enjoyed this story. I read a number the Lindsey Davis's other books and this one matched up well. the author is great at capturing the atmoasphere of ancient Rome and the mystery although a little predictable was very enjoyable. great naration from Lucy Brown.

the Ides of April

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Initially I thought I was going to be disappointed by Flavia Alba, but I was won over as the story progressed. I felt I got to know her and the author has given her an authentic voice: she is not just a female Falco. Although the story goes on a bit too long in my opinion and it's pretty easy to work out who is the murderer, I really enjoyed how the relationship between Flavia und the Aedile developed and look forward to reading more. I love Lindsey Davis' humour and the odd anachronism ( the full Roman breakfast). I thought the narrator was very good and rendered a range of voices in a non-annoying way. Recommended for Falco fans and anyone interested in an irreverant but well-researched and very believable depiction of ancient Rome.

A worthy successor to Falco

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After the first chapter I was thinking that this was a weird mix, Detective/Roman/Woman.
But as I continued the strange combination of ancient Rome and a female Philip Marlowe began to grow on me.
A real pleasant surprise, I will be getting the next one.

Surprised!

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This is a good story, moves along at a pace. I had worked out 'whodunnit' early on though. And I think I have been spoiled into expecting the quality of an Anton Lesser performance. Having said that, I did enjoy listening and I would consider buying the next book in the series.

Not as good as the dramatised Falco series

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