The Graveyard of the Hesperides, by Lindsey Davies
Hodder & Stoughton (2016), Paperback, 416 pages
I’m probably beginning to sound like a broken record on the topic of this series, but for the fourth time in this series, I once again failed to warm to Davies’ rebooted saga involving Flavia Albia instead of her disreputable adopted father Falco. I can never put my finger on it, the writing is as clever as ever, snappy, witty, but somehow Flavia Albia just does not resonate with me. In this iteration, Albia and her soon to be husband Tiberius Manlius are drawn into the case of a bar which in the course of being renovated has been found to be concealing six skeletons, whose identity is a mystery. The couple must solve the murder so the renovations can proceed, while at the same time trying to prevent their wedding becoming a family-related disaster. There is the usual delving into the sleazy Roman underworld, which Davies has made very much her own. Entertaining, funny and original, it’s all of that, but for me it just can’t compare to the Falco series, maybe it is lacking Falco’s peculiar mix of sleaze and honesty, I don’t know. It’s a great book, as all of Davies’ books, she is a true original in an overcrowded genre, but for me, something is lacking, I’m sorry.
7/10