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| Author | Lindsey Davis |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Marcus Didius Falco |
| Genre | Crime |
| Publisher | Arrow Books, Mysterious Press |
| Publication date | 2001 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 pp (Hardback edition) |
| ISBN | 0712678549 |
| Preceded by | Ode to a Banker |
| Followed by | The Jupiter Myth |
A Body in the Bath House is a crime novel by Lindsey Davis.
Plot introduction
Set in Rome and Britannia in AD 75, A Body in the Bath House stars Marcus Didius Falco, Informer and Imperial Agent. It is the thirteenth in her Falco series.
Explanation of the novel's title
The title is a reference to the discovery of a corpse hidden beneath the floor of a bath house and a muder which takes place in another.
Plot summary
When Marcus Didius Falco discovers a corpse hidden under the floor of his new bath house he starts to track down the men responsible - Glaucus and Cotta. He also receives a commission from the Emperor Vespasian. A building project for the British Chieftain Togidubnus is running late and over-budget. Suspecting that the men he seeks have fled to Britain Falco accepts the mission and travels there with his wife, two baby daughters, their nurse and his two brothers-in-law Aelianus and Justinus.
Falco arrives at Fishbourne and starts by investigating corrupt practices. However events quickly take a turn for the worse when the Chief Architect is found murdered in the bath-house of the British King. Falco takes over the project and investigates the killings.
Characters in "A Body in the Bath House"
In Rome
- A. Camillus Aelianus - Older brother of Helena
- Anacrites - Chief Spy
- Camilla Hyspale - Nursemaid to Julia and Favonia
- Geminus - Father of Falco, Auctioneer
- Glaucus and Cotta - Bath House Contractors
- Favonia - Daughter of Falco and Helena
- Helena Justina - Wife of Falco, and daughter of the Senator Decimus Camillus Verus
- Julia - Daughter of Falco and Helena
- Lucius Petronius Longus - Friend of Falco and Vigiles Officer
- Maia Favonia - Falco's widowed sister
- Marcus Didius Falco - Informer and Imperial Agent.
- Perella - Dancer and Spy
- Q. Camillus Justinus - Younger brother of Helena
- Vespasian - Emperor of Rome
In Britain
- Alexas - Doctor
- Blandus - Painter
- Cyprianus - Clerk of Works
- Gaius - Clerk
- Lupus - Overseas labour force supervisor
- Magnus - Surveyor
- Mandumerus - Local labour force supervisor
- Marcellinus - Retired Architect
- Milchato - Marble Mason
- Philocles - Mosaicist
- Plancus - Assistant Architect
- Pomponius - Project Manager
- Rectus - Draining Engineer
- Sextius - Mechanical statue-seller
- Strephon - Assistant Architect
- T. Claudius Togidunus - Great King of the Britons
- Timagenes - Gardener
- Verovolcus - Briton working for Togidubnus
- Virginia - Barmaid
Major themes
- Investigation into corruption at the building of a palace of an influential Roman ally.
- The obsessive pursuit of Maia by Anacrites.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
- Set in Rome and Britannia, in AD 75, during the reign of Emperor Vespasian.
- Fishbourne Roman Palace, in the village of Fishbourne in West Sussex, is one of the most important archaeological sites in England.
- Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus (or Togidubnus) was a 1st century king of the Regnenses in early Roman Britain.
Release details
- 2001, UK, Century Hardback ISBN 0712 68039 X
- 2002, UK, Arrow, Paperback ISBN 0099298309
- UK, Chivers/BBC AudioBooks, read by Christian Rodska, Cassettes ISBN 07540 97692 CD audios ISBN 14056 70487
- UK, Isis, Large Print ISBN 0-7531-6612-7
- 2002, US, Mysterious Press, Hardback ISBN 0892967714
- US, Mysterious Press, Paperback ISBN 0-446-69170-4