Three of Lindsey Davis's most entertaining novels featuring Roman sleuth Marcus Didius Falco in one volume: 'Last Act In Palmyra', 'Time To Depart' and 'A Dying Light In Corduba'.
'Last Act In Palmyra'
AD 72: Marcus Didius Falco leaves Rome on his most dangerous mission yet.
A commission to find a missing water organ player and an Imperial order to spy out the Lands of the East send Falco and his aristocratic girlfriend, Helena Justina, across the sea to Petra. But the rose-red city turns out not to be so rosy after the couple discover a murdered Roman playwright and they flee with the man's erstwhile employers, a group of travelling actors.
Falco, naturally, feels obliged not only to take up his stylus to fill the dead man's role in the company, but also to investigate the murder. Soon another murder, several accidents and the dangers of the desert are making him wish he's stayed at home.
'Time To Depart'
Petronius Longus, captain of the Aventine watch and Flaco's oldest friend, has finally nailed one of Rome's top criminals. Under Roman law citizens are not imprisoned but allowed 'time to depart' into exile outside the Empire. One dark and gloomy dawn Petro and Falco put the evil Balbinus aboard ship.
But soon after, an outbreak of robbery and murder suggest a new criminal ring has moved into Balbinus' territory. Petro and Falco must descend into the underworld of Vespasian's Rome to investigate . . .
'A Dying Light In Corduba'
Nobody was poisoned at the dinner for the Society of Olive Oil Producers of Baetica, though in retrospect this was quite a surprise . . .
Inimitable sleuth Marcus Didius Falco is back with a vengeance. On one night, a man is killed and Rome's Chief of Spies left for dead. Naturally there is no one except Falco to conduct the investigation. Soon he is plunged into the fiercely competitive world of olive oil production. Political intrigue, an exotic Spanish dancer and impending fatherhood, all add to Falco's troubles.
