Davis is a British detective writer, her protagonist bumbling his way from success to success. The odd thing is that her detective, Marcus Didius Falco, lives in first-centry Rome.

Davis has a nice way of bringing life and even familiarity to an exotic, ancient civilization. There are emperors, gladiators, foreign wars, class boundries, palaces, pagan temples, senators in purple—and after a few Falco novels you feel like you know the place like your home town.

Her characters, too, are a lively bunch: Falco the private detective in the some-time employ of the government, Julia his wise (and upper-class) partner, Petro his friend and one-time army buddy, and Falco’s cantancerous family.

In Ode to a Banker, Falco seeks to solve the murder of a banker and arts patron. There are lots of suspects, clues, and red herrings, but Falco and friends—and Rome herself—are the real stars.