Lindsey Davis discovers a Comedy of Terrors during Roman Saturnalia as Flavia Alba's husband, the aedile, is tracking suspicious intimidation activities among the merchants of Saturnalia goods. Flavia is integrating to very young nephews into her household, their pet sheep is slaughtered by the criminals, and Flavia is pursuing her own cases. Whodunit? Can the solve the cases without more bloodshed? Will Domitian take notice and start executing potential malefactors? Great historical mystery read.

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me through NetGalley. This book was just absolutely wonderful. It was just so easy to get lost in and I just couldn’t put it down. I just lost myself within this amazing story. I most definitely will read more by this author.

I've read all the books in this series and the series that came before it. This book was difficult though. It just didn't hold my attention well. There wasn't enough story here for the length of the book. It felt like it was padded to get to full length. Disappointing.

The title is what led me to check this book out, even though I rarely read historical novels of any kind anymore, but the premise sounded quite interesting and I'm always up for something new. Unfortunately, I just could not get into the book. Part of it I will blame on myself since I haven't read any of the books in the series, but the writing just couldn't keep me engaged. I'm not sure it if was the fact that there is truly so much going on in the book and so many characters to keep up with? Or that it took quite a bit of time to get to the actual mystery? Or that so much of the book was about Saturnalia ~ which isn't a bad thing ~ that it kind of got in the way of everything else instead of making it more interesting for me?

I do hate that I didn't love this book, but I'm not giving up on the series. I will be doing my due diligence and going back to the start to meet Flavia properly because I honestly liked her quite a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lindsey Davis has long been one of my favourite mystery writers, and the latest episode in the Albia series is no disappointment. Given that I love the holiday season, I was thrilled to see Saturnalia as the setting- it worked perfectly. There are also several easter eggs for anyone who has read Davis' other books, including an appearance from Didius Falco. It is a chaotic mystery, but I think that only adds to its charm!

I am a a great fan of Lindsey Davis’s witty Marcus Didius Falco historical mysteries, set in ancient Rome, and characterized by much wise-cracking. A few years ago I discovered her equally witty Flavia Albia series, in which Falco’s adopted daughter takes over the family detective business.

"A Comedy of Terrors," set in Rome in 89 A.D., takes place the week before Saturnalia, a rowdy winter holiday which involved heavy drinking, mayhem and rioting, and role-playing among slaves and masters. It gives Flavia Albia a perfect over-the-top opportunity for comic musings. Flavia Albia loathes Saturnalia, and is also irritated by the schadenfreude of friends who think she won’t be able to continue freelance work as an investigator now that she and her husband Tiberius have adopted two orphaned nephews .

Resigned to the horror of the holidays, she escorts the two boys for holiday shopping in an iffy neighborhood said to sell the best sigilla (statues). And what does she find instead? The corpse of the vendor covered with blood . “Oh, pigshit. And you try telling a three-year-old and a five-year-old who have been promised horrible figurines that they can’t have them.”

Well, this turns out to be a Saturnalia prank, not a murder, so one does understand why Flavia Albia hates Saturnalia. But unfortunately her husband is investigating a new gang which is taking over the nut trade – yes, nuts! – and murdering vendors who won’t sell their moldy poisonous product – which has actually killed some of the consumers.

Flavia Albia, always a savvy snoop, surmises there is a connection between the nuts gang and a new client, the battered wife of a dubious loan shark from whom she wants to escape – and this connection puts Flavia Albia and her family in danger. Their sheep, a family pet, is stolen and its head left at the gate. This is the kind of hooligan in the nut trade. There are many twists and turns to the plot, but the main reason to read it is Davis’s humor. Flavia Albia always has something witty to say even while catching criminals.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

As this one kicked off, I was at first bemused that it seemed to focus on the domestic hijinks going on in the household of Tiberius Manlius and Flavia Albia. In the short time of their marriage, they have collected quite the motley assortment of staff and family. Somehow the household manages to lurch forward in a fairly straight line but one can never be sure what will happen next. Then finally! a murder occurs and Albia can’t keep herself from nosing into it especially as her husband and the Fourth Cohort vigiles investigator appear to be more interested in nasty nuts that have been making people in the Aventine sick.

There is a fair amount of telling as Flavia Albia fills the reader in on various things about Rome and the wonderful Roman holiday fast approaching – Saturnalia when Rome explodes in a week of gift giving, family seeing, grudge inducing, party hardying. As Albia investigates a case which has been thrust upon her involving a disgruntled wife, the nut situation – and the people behind it – grows worse. When charged, organized crime bosses usually have their defense lawyers at the ready while witnesses magically disappear, right? Not so fast this time.

As the full severity of the cases and criminals facing them slowly developed, I sat back and savored all the nifty tidbits of Roman life coming my way. Yes, Flavia Albia was in her usual and wonderful snarky form and ended up telling a lot of background information as she took us through the streets of Rome but the way this is conveyed is just so darn entertaining, interesting, and effortless that I didn’t mind what is basically a history lesson without the lecture.

The characters are all nicely developed and even sulky slaves (using the term employed in the book), donkeys, loan sharks, bath house owners, and party entertainers are memorable. I loved watching Albia and Tiberius’s continuing partnership in marriage and crime solving. Each is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the other and, coming to this marriage after previous ones – plus being slightly older, they’re wiser thus working together beautifully.

The twists and turns of the cases are at first separate then slowly, threads begin to get tangled as links start to appear. What might seem at first to be casual encounters or just nice background information about the time or place needs to be cataloged and filed away. Some things I quickly caught onto but a few bits came back in ways I didn’t expect or remember which was delightful. Justice is served to those to most deserve it while others will be mourning the wreckage of their professional and private lives. But even though I knew Tiberius and Albia would get their suspects in the end, the way this happened for one was terrible (but justified) retribution while the other took me completely by surprise and made me laugh out loud. I loved this ending! B+

Lindsey Davis returns with another Flavia Albia mystery set in Ancient Rome. With the approach of Saturnalia, her husband Tiberius is nearing the end of his term as a plebeian aedile. After the family becomes ill from tainted nuts in their luncheon pies, he learns that the nut sellers have been “persuaded” to take their supplies from a new syndicate that uses threats and intimidation against them. When Tiberius takes action against them he also puts his own family in danger. As an investigator, Flavia has a case of her own that leads to the discovery of a loan sharking ring. Flavia’s uncle had taken down the leader of a crime empire years earlier but it appears that branches of this empire are still active and must be stopped.

With the death of Tiberius’ sister, he and Flavia have taken in his two young nephews. Flavia is not prepared to take on the role of mother and is doing her best to control the boys, who enjoy pranks but are also still dealing with their grief. With the holidays upon them, Davis also brings back some familiar characters, including Flavia’s adoptive parents Didius Falko and Helena. She also brings back Rodan, who had trained as a gladiator and was the rent enforcer in Flavia’s old building. He has an intimidating appearance and was brought on to help protect Flavia’s family although working is not his strong point.

While there are darker moments in Davis’ latest tale there are also family moments that offer some warmth. Davis’ descriptions of Rome make it easy to visualize the ancient city and she offers a complex set of mysteries that come with a surprising resolution. As a fan of this series, I hope to see much more of Flavia Albia in the future. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin Press/Minotaur Books for providing this in exchange for my review.

I can't think of a more enjoyable escape from these trying times than to spend time in 89 AD with Flavia Albia, her husband Tiberius Manlius and his very young nephews are trying to navigate the holiday of Saturnalia. The little boys, Gaius and Lucius are just three and five and this is their first Saturnalia since their mother died. Instant parenthood - it's a challenge. It seems like all of Rome is partying to the max, day and night. Presents must be bought and kitchens well stocked - the household can't run itself and needs a steady hand to keep things from falling to pieces. Flavia Albia is up to the task. After all, she, like her adoptive father, Falco, is a private informer - what we would call a private detective - and she can get any job done. As she says, a woman's work is never done.
There is a little bit of everything in this holiday, from clients with domestic problems to gangsters who don't take kindly to merchants saying no when being coerced into buying moldy nuts from them. The result is, shall we say, harsh? I'll say no more to avoid spoilers.
Every one of Lindsey Davis's mysteries is a wonderful combination of historical facts, vivid settings, wonderfully twisted puzzles, great characters and a nice helping of humor.
My thanks to the publisher Minotaur and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Another solid and humorous offering from Lindsey Davis. The somewhat convoluted cast of characters made this book a bit less enjoyable for me as a reader compared to earlier installments in the series.

This 9th in Lindsey Davis's Flavia Alba series takes place during the December Roman festival of Saturnalia, and all the antics associated with it, in 89 A.D..

There are poisonings, arson, murders and general mayhem - all of which Flavia navigates with her usual aplomb!

Mortal Danger Invades Albia’s Home

It is Saturnalia, and everyone is in a festive mood. Albia, the heroine, is hurrying to purchase some gift statues with her two nephews who are staying with her and Tiberius. She walks into the statue-makers residence and discovers a murder scene. Io Saturnalia! When she returned sans children and with Tiberius and a vigile investigator, the body was gone. She found the body drinking with his brother in a tavern. He was lucky not to be killed a second time that day! The day continues. Albia’s chief took offense that he could not cook a newly acquired sheep and leaves. The steward rushes to procure some meaty pies. Unfortunately, quite a few family members became quite ill. As Tiberius is an Aedile, this is in his bailiwick. He goes to the pie shop to find out why and discovers a large nut scamming problem. The is a second main storyline that involves Albia. Tiberius and the vigile investigator will allow Albia to participate in the investigation but unpaid. UNPAID! Not Albia’s style. Through a tip from a recalled vigile, she finds a woman who believes that her husband is cheating on her and wants proof. The main story lines proceed from here.

The main storyline is told primarily by Albia. Most of the progress of the nut scamming investigation is provided by discussions between Tiberius and the investigator in which Albia participates. As for her own investigation, what looked like a simple and quick job, turns out to be neither. After a few surprises, I was hooked. Then, a literary bombshell goes off, and Albia’s entire family is in mortal danger. In every book, this happens Albia and some family members, but now the mortal danger invades her home. The twists and turns in the main storylines continue right up to the end. For me, this book was the best main storyline yet.

One reason that I enjoy reading Lindsey Davis novels is the B-storyline so rich and integrated so well with the main storylines. In this novel, Albia works hard to keep her household running even during such trying times as Saturnalia. Her household has grown by two young and at time unruly boys. One B-storyline thread explains an what is behind an important decision for Albia. I will let you read how that turned out. Albia has taken up one trait from Falco. In exasperation, she uses the exclamation, “Cobnuts.” One outstanding feature that I really enjoyed in this novel is that Falco and Helena make speaking and contributing roles in this story. I hope that this continues in future novels.

For aspects to which some readers object, this novel is quite clean. There are not any intimate scenes. Rude language had a count of one. The author does use some British informal that required me to use the Internet feature of my e-reader app to determine the exact meaning. Also, some words use the British spelling, as would be expected.

Overall, I could not find a single aspect with which I had an issue. For me, this was a very enjoyable read. I was engaged all the way to the end where all the loose ends were tied up — a bit unexpectedly I might add. As I mentioned before this book was the best so far in this series and can be your first read of the series. I rate this novel with five stars.

I received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from St. Martin’s Publishing Group with an expectation for an honest, unbiased review. I wish to thank St. Martin’s Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

I received this book free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Comedy of Terrors by Lindsey Davis is the 9th book in the Flavia Albia series, historical mysteries set in Ancient Rome. I’ve been following Albia since book one, The Ides of April, and followed her informer/detective adoptive father, Falco, throughout his 20-book career. So, I’m obviously hooked on Davis’ novels.

The current book is set during Saturnalia, party time in Rome, which is currently under the rule of Emperor Domitian. Albia is looking for work, but discouraged by the holiday break in family discord, which is where she generally finds clients. Her husband, Tiberius Manlius, a soon-to-be retired aedile is still searching out small-time corruption occurring on his watch. However, he stumbles onto dangerous large scale, mob-type criminal behavior by investigating holiday nuts gone bad. Someone is muscling in on the nut trade, making a profit selling rotten product. Needless to say, the threat is bigger than bad nuts.

Albia manages to scrounge up a client, a woman whose husband is allegedly straying, and tackles the investigation while simultaneously attempting to provide a holiday atmosphere for her disorganized household, which now includes Tiberius’ two young recently orphaned nephews.

The novel is a little slow to start, but that’s because the groundwork must be laid for the interconnecting plot lines. Albia’s trademark cynical observations and snarky wisecracks give the story its familiar voice, but at times, I wanted the mystery to move along a little faster. When it does kick in though, the pace picks up and clues come fast and furious. Albia is a brave and smart investigator and her husband is a reliable sidekick.

The author manages to bring all the various threads together to solve the mysteries and dispense justice. There are even satisfying glimpses of the old crowd (Falco, Petro, Helena) for nostalgia purposes. The series continues to entertain.

Thanks to H&S for an ARC, I liked this book a lot!
I've always enjoyed Davis' Rome mysteries, but in the past I've found Flavia much more serious and somewhat dark.
This book is set during Saturnalia 89AD, and while the expected dead bodies turn up, it's a bit more light-hearted. Maybe Flavia is coming to terms with her new role as a 'Roman matron'?
Her relationship with her new husband is getting back to normal, and her newly adopted nephews are adjusting to Rome.. Her household continues to expand as well.
The action turns around some underhanded nut profiteering, Roman gangsters, and family holiday hijinks.
I always recommend Lindsey Davis to my patrons who enjoy historical settings - she's the best!

The latest in a long running series, Lindsey Davis continues the story of Flavia Albia, her growing family, and her work as an investigator in Ancient Rome. Albia continues to be a fantastic leading lady, solving mysteries and juggling an increasingly busy domestic life with the addition of her husband's small nephews to their household during Saturnalia, the biggest holiday of the year. Davis is a master at crafting mysteries, her formula remains more or less the same, but each case has been so wildly different from the next that it's still as exciting to follow as book one. The cast of characters are varied and interesting, and while the reoccurring cast is getting rather large at this point in the series, it's not hard to keep track of everyone. Fans of this series, and Davis' Falco series, will love this new addition that retains all of what makes her books so fun to read.