The Ides of April (Flavia Albia Mystery, #1) (Flavia Albia)

by Lindsey Davis

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Book cover for The Ides of April

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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.

  • ISBN10 1250023696
  • ISBN13 9781250023698
  • Publish Date 11 June 2013 (first published 11 April 2013)
  • Publish Status Out of Print
  • Out of Print 17 June 2021
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Minotaur Books
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 341
  • Language English