I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.
The ancient Roman private investigator Flavia Albia is back in the eleventh novel in this mystery series by Lindsey Davis. The latest novel is Fatal Legacy. Although the story can stand alone, the relationships will make the most sense if you start from book one.
This book opens simply enough with a small debt collection. Two customers (seemingly an adulterous couple) leave the bar/eatery owned by Albia’s aunt without paying their bill. The aunt is furious and sends Albia out to identify them and collect – not a difficult task for the investigator. However, when Albia locates the family involved, she is asked by the matriarch to search for something else, proof that her younger brother is not a slave. They are a family of freedmen businesspeople. The matriarch’s niece wants to marry a handsome young citizen. The young man’s family, aware of their background, wants to be absolutely sure there is no lingering taint of slavery attached to the potential bride’s father. Unfortunately, the freeing of the slaves took place over forty years ago, the will is missing, and witnesses are gone, presumed dead.
As Albia searches for documents that may not exist, she becomes entangled in a knot of family feuds, lawsuits, and lies. She enlists the help of her own extended adoptive family and a host of acquaintances as she sorts out the mess. This case does not involve the same level of danger as her usual pursuits, but rather lays out a head-spinning multi-generational family brawl.
Albia uses her trademark irony and good sense to ferret out the truth. Her own clever husband is increasingly sidelined in the series now that they are happily married and he has retired from public life. In this novel, he is essentially a nonentity. While Albia insists that they are both committed to the marriage, it wouldn’t surprise this reader if he is eventually phased out. While his involvement is missed, Albia is competent enough to carry on alone.
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