Silver Pigs: Lindsey Davis

Description of the book at MacMillan's website:

The Silver Pigs is the classic novel which introduced readers around the world to Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer with a knack for trouble, a tendency for bad luck, and a frequently incovenient drive for justice.    
     When Marcus Didius Falco encounters the young and very pretty Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately that there is something amiss. When she confesses that she is fleeing for her life, Falco offers to help her and, in doing so, he gets himself mixed up in a deadly plot involving stolen ingots, dangerous and dark political machinations, and, most hazardous of all, one Helena Justina, a brash, indominable senator's daughter connected to the very traitors that Falco has sworn to expose.

This series is a detective story in ancient Rome. Maybe this description put me off reading it for so long.  Ancient Rome isn't a time period I am particularly interested in and I cannot picture a PI in Rome. I have had my hardback edition for six years, and before that had a beat up paperback that sat unread for years.

Marcus Didius Falco describes himself as a "private informer." This story takes place when Vespasian Augustus is Emperor of Rome. Books like this just emphasize how little I know about history and geography, but they also help supplement my meager knowledge, and I appreciate that.

This book has a huge cast of characters, and I did have some difficulty keeping up with who was who. In the course of this case that Didius Falco gets involved in, he meets a patrician family in Rome,  and travels to Britain, where more of the family is living, to investigate. He has a large extended family of his own, at a much lower level. At least in the edition I read, there were maps and a Dramatis Personae at the beginning to help with names and places.

The book definitely gives the reader a picture of the classes in Rome and the dangers of living in Rome at the time. Although this is a story told with humor and wit (by Falco himself), it surprisingly had plenty of violence and death. There is corruption at every level, but that was not surprising. I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to. I have two more early books in the series and I will read those to see if Falco and his cases and travels continue to entertain me.

On the back cover of the edition I read (US first edition, hardback) there is a quote from Ellis Peters, author of the Brother Cadfael mystery series, who stated that she had never until that time given a quotation for any novel.

It has everything: mystery, pace, wit, fascinating scholarship, and above all, two protagonists for whom, by the end, I feel genuine affection, and want to meet again.

I offer some other looks at the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries. If you are like me and don't want to know much about the story before reading it, don't read these. On the other hand, the series has been going a loooong time and most people already know more about this series. (I didn't.)

This post at Ex Libris Reviews gives an overview of the series.

Another post at Ex Libris reviews discusses The Silver Pigs and the next two books.

At Historical Tapestry, a review of The Silver Pigs.

The author's site lists all the books of the series in order here and has comments on whether or not to read them in order. There is also a new series started in 2013, called the Albia series. The heroine is Falco’s adopted daughter, Flavia Albia.

NOTE: The edition of this book that I read shows the title as Silver Pigs. Yet at the author's site and the current publisher site, the title is The Silver Pigs. Don't know why it changed but there it is.

A TBR Pile Challenge for 2014

It’s that time of year for book bloggers when challenges are announced.  And Roof Beam Reader has announced that he is hosting the FIFTH ANNUAL “TBR Pile Challenge!” 

The Goal: To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months). 

There are specific rules and one of the differences in this challenge is that each of these 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2013 or later.

I have many books that sit on my TBR piles for many years and I don't know why I don't read them or give up on them. Clearly I do want to read those books but other new, "shiny" books get bought and read.

So I join in on this challenge to make a small dent in that part of my TBR pile.

There is more explanation of the rules and procedures at the sign-up post at the blog. One thing to keep in mind is the list must be completed and the challenge joined by January 15th, 2014.

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My 2014 TBR Pile Challenge List:
1. Lie in the Dark by Dan Fesperman (1999)  Vlado Petric series, set in Sarajevo
2. Slicky Boys by Martin Limon (1997)    George Sueño and Ernie Bascom series, set in Korea
3. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill (2004)    Dr. Siri Paiboun series, set in Laos
4. Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron (2003)    Sarah Tucker / Zoe Boehm series
5. The Ghosts Of Belfast by Stuart Neville (2009)  Jack Lennon series, set in Northern Ireland
6. Siren Of The Waters by Michael Genelin (2008)  Jana Matinova series, set in Bratislava, Slovakia
7. The Malcontenta by Barry Maitland (1995)    Kathy and Brock Mysteries
8. Loot by Aaron Elkins (1999)  standalone, art-related mystery
9. Garden of Beasts by Jeffrey Deaver  (2004)  standalone, set in Berlin of 1936
10. Death Is a Lonely Business (1985) by Ray Bradbury   Elmo Crumley series
11. The Jasmine Trade (2001) by Denise Hamilton   Eve Diamond series
12. Garnethill (1998) by Denise Mina    Garnethill series

Alternates:
The Last Enemy (2007) by Grace Brophy     Commissario Cenni Investigations, set in Italy
Diamond Solitaire (1992) by Peter Lovesey    Peter Diamond series

The Hanging Judge: Michael Ponsor

Summary from Goodreads:

When a drive-by shooting in Holyoke, Massachusetts, claims the lives of a Puerto Rican drug dealer and a nurse at a neighborhood clinic, the police arrest a black drug dealer. With no death penalty in Massachusetts, the US attorney shifts the double homicide out of state jurisdiction into federal court so that he can pursue the death penalty.

The book carries us through the commission of the crime, the arrest, the choice of a venue for the trial, jury selection, and the trial. We get the point of view of not only the attorneys and the family and friends of the accused and the victims, but also the judge. And on top of all of this we get a romance.

The fictional story is framed with the true story of two men in Massachusetts who were executed for a crime they did not commit. Dominic Daley, 34, and James Halligan, 27, were arrested in 1805 for the murder of Marcus Lyon and hanged in 1806.

A major theme is, of course, the death penalty. The book focuses more on how that element affects the trial and the people involved. The story also deals with how preconceptions mold how our view of people, how we judge based on their past history, and how our perceptions can be manipulated in court.

I liked getting the picture of the trial process, especially at this level (Federal court). I have not read many legal mysteries, so I don't have much to compare against. The story was somewhat predictable but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was nicely paced, had some surprises, and kept me interested. I had mixed feelings about the romance. At first I found it irritating, towards the end I felt like it served a purpose.

Although the judge is the only character developed in depth, we get a glimpse into the lives of the clerks who work with the judge, the attorneys on both sides, the victims, and the witnesses. Not all of the characters were appealing but they all felt human and realistic, not idealized or demonized.

This book was provided for review by Open Road Integrated Media via NetGalley.  You can learn more about the author at this page.

Mysteries in November and Pick of the Month

Only five mysteries read in November. Last year that would have been a typical month for me, but this year I had been averaging nine books a month, and most of them mysteries.

These are the crime fiction books I read in November:

Bones and Silence (1990) by Reginald Hill is the eleventh book in the Dalziel and Pascoe police procedural series.

Hard Currency (1992) by Stuart M. Kaminsky is the 9th book in a series featuring Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov, a police investigator in Moscow, and the team that he works with. When the series started, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was still in existence. This book, published in 1992, and the previous one, Death of a Russian Priest (reviewed here) address the changes in Russia following the dissolution of the USSR, and specifically how this affects this police team.

The Midas Murders (1996) is the second book in a long series of police procedural novels by Pieter Aspe. Aspe is a Belgian author and the books were originally published in Belgium. This is only the second novel in the series to be translated into English and published in the US and the UK.

The Last Clinic (2012) is a novel set in Jackson, Mississippi, the capital of the state. Police Detective Darla Cavanaugh has come to the Hinds County Sheriff's Department from the Philadelphia Police Department and is an outsider. She is investigating the murder of Reverend Jimmy Aldridge who was shot while protesting abortions in front of a health clinic. It is Gary Gusick's debut novel, and I think he has done quite well.

Instruments of Darkness (1995) by Robert Wilson is a thriller set in Benin, West Africa. This is a very dark novel about corruption and evil. Much as I enjoyed reading this novel, I don't often choose to read books of this type, with so much violence and hopelessness.

My favorite mystery this month is Hard Currency. I liked that it was set in both Cuba and Russia, at a very interesting time in the history of those countries.

Rostnikov and one of his staff, Inspector Elena Timofeyeva, go to Cuba to investigate a murder; Rostnikov has been told that it will be "convenient" if he finds that the Russian citizen accused of the murder to be guilty. The situation gets more complicated once they are in Cuba.

Meanwhile, there are two other investigations going on in Moscow, carried out by the remainder of Rostnikov's team: Emil Karpo, a very scary, very serious man nicknamed the Vampire; and Sasha Tkach, a younger member of the team. One case is related to the death of a visiting foreign minister from Kazakhstan. The other is a very difficult case involving a serial killer. At this time in Russian history, those in power do not want to admit the possibility that such a criminal exists in their country.

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. Bloggers link to summary posts for the month, and identify a crime fiction best read of the month. Check out the link here to see the other bloggers picks.

Instruments of Darkness: Robert Wilson

Excerpt from synopsis for the book at the author's website:

Bruce Medway, fixer and debt collector, operates along that stretch of West African coast they used to call The White Man's Grave. He spends his time drinking hard and getting steamy with his girlfriend Heike, a German aid worker. He always needs cash but finds he's bitten off more than he can chew when the formidable Madame Severnou, having given him a bedsheet full of money for a 7000 ton cargo of rice, comes back to collect. Warned off any notion of revenge by his client, Jack Obuasi, Bruce instead directs his energies into the search for missing British expat, Steven Kershaw.

This is my capsule review: I enjoyed this book but it is not in my favorite sub-genre. This book, part of a four books series,  is described by the author as 1990's West African noir. The author admires Chandler, and it shows in his style of writing. But this novel is very gritty, very violent.

The characters in this book seem to be divided into good and bad. Very little in between. Most of the characters are very bad people, either very evil or very crazy. There are a few "good" people among the protagonist's friends and acquaintances: his girlfriend Heike, his driver Moses, the policeman who works with him and becomes his ally.  Bruce Medway and the policeman, Bagado, are the characters with the most depth in this novel.

I read this book at this time primarily because of the setting. Medway lives in Benin, but some of the action also occurs in Togo, Nigeria and Ghana. Because of Robert Wilson's background (he has lived and worked in Africa), I believe the depiction of the area and the people to be accurate. This article, Crime Beat: Ayo Onatade on the African crime novels of Robert Wilson, also indicates that he has done a good job of describing the situation in this part of Africa.

This book is the type of thriller that requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. But most thrillers are like that and for the most part that is OK. The good guys escape from impossible situations, and go on living to save another day.

As soon as I finished this book, I was ready to jump into The Big Killing, the second book in the series. So, yes, it is a very readable book, and I do want to know what happens to the characters. But, from what I have read about that book, it is more of the same, thus I will have to wade through more violence and endure more corrupt characters. I cannot start the second book now. I have other reading commitments for 2013, but I do hope to get to it in 2014.

I have read one other book by Robert Wilson. It was The Company of Strangers (my review here), a spy thriller, and it was one of my favorite reads of 2012. That novel is a spy thriller, one of Wilson's two standalone novels, published in 2001. The story is set in Lisbon initially, then moves to East Berlin and England. It covers the years from 1944 through the early 1990s.

Wilson has written two other series, and I plan to read both. The Javier Falcon series is set in Spain; a new series, featuring Charlie Boxer, is set in London.

Planning for the 2014 Sci-Fi Experience

For several years, Carl V. at Stainless Steel Droppings has hosted a science fiction non-challenge in January and February. Last year I joined in for the first time, and added some science fiction to my reading.

This year Carl is making a change. He is beginning the The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience on December 1st, 2013 and it will go through January 31st, 2014. For this event, readers are encouraged to:

a) Continue their love affair with science fiction
b) Return to science fiction after an absence, or
c) Experience for the first time just how exhilarating science fiction can be.

There are no rules really... There are no numbers of things you are required to read or view. This is not a challenge, just an opportunity to experience the wonder of science fiction.

If you are interested, please consider signing up. Check here for more information. There will be a review site where you can post any SF book, television, film or game reviews for things you experience during the months of December and January.

I don't know if I will start my sci-fi reading before the end of 2013, because I have a few challenges I want to finish in December. And I want to read some Christmas books. But I will read at least one sci-fi book in January. I have several I want to read in 2014 so if I don't fit them into this event, I will spread them out through the rest of 2014.

Last year I read Old Man's War by John Scalzi (my review here). In January, I plan to read the second book in that series, The Ghost Brigades.

I also have two science fiction / crime fiction books that I want to read: The Naked Sun (1956) by Isaac Asimov and The Demolished Man (1951) by Alfred Bester.