The Silver Pigs

Marcus Didius Falco is a down-on-his-luck informer in Flavian Rome who becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving stolen silver ingots and a trail that leads to Britain, the Empire's most recently conquered and deeply unhappy province. Lindsey Davis's debut novel for the Falco series established the template for historical mysteries told from the perspective of a working-class protagonist navigating imperial Rome's corrupt hierarchy with wit and stubbornness. It also introduces the lawyer Helena Justina, whose relationship with Falco becomes the series' emotional backbone.

Christian Rodska's narration gives Falco his essential quality: the voice of a man sharp enough to see exactly how the system works and too principled to fully participate in it. His delivery of Davis's dense period detail is assured, and the wry humor that runs through the novel comes through cleanly in audio. At just over nine hours, The Silver Pigs is a satisfying introduction to one of historical crime fiction's finest series.