Alexandria

'i Came Fully Equipped With The Old Prejudice That Anything To Do With Egypt Involved Corruption And Deceit.' Ad 77. Egypt Was The Destination Of Choice For Roman Tourists, Being Home To Not One But Two Wonders Of The Ancient World, A Centre Of Culture, And People With Exotic Habits. Unfortunately, When Marcus Didius Falco Pays A Visit He Discovers It's Also A Hotbed Of Schemers And Murderers. When The Head Librarian Dies In Suspicious Circumstances, The Roman Authorities Are Only Too Happy To Dump The Case On One Of The Empire's Most Celebrated Investigators - All Adding Up To A Typical Falco Family Vacation. For Marcus Didius Falco, agent to the Emperor Vespasian, Alexandria holds fascination and a hint of fear. Beautiful, historic and unruly, the great cosmopolitan city wears Roman rule lightly. While his wife, Helena Justina, wants to see the Lighthouse and the Pyramids, Falco has a mission at the Great Library. A death there brings him into conflict with the darker side of academic life. To solve the crime Falco will have to draw on his own doggedness and intuition, supported by Helena and her brother Aulus. Another death follows, this time at the royal zoo. Falco's original mission is overshadowed by the machinations of his Uncle Fulvius, who is living in Alexandria with his partner Cassius. Their involvement in local affairs already seems shady when they are joined by their crony, Falco's father, Geminus, a man well known for disreputable business practices. If the irrepressible Pa has had any hand in what has gone wrong at the Library, Falco knows he stands no chance Marcus Didius Falco, agent to the Emperor Vespasian, and his partner, Helena Justina, investigate a murder in Alexandria's famous library. As Falco experiences the darker side of academic life, another philosopher falls prey to the frantic competition for fame and fortune In A.D. 77, Marcus Didius Falco, agent to the Emperor Vespasian, investigates the mysterious death of the head librarian of the world-famous library of Alexandria, bringing him into immediate conflict with the darker side of academic life.