Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of a famous investigating family. In defiance of tradition she lives alone on the colourful Aventine Hill & battles out a solo career in a male-dominated world. As a woman & an outsider Albia has special insight into the best & worst of life in ancient Rome. A female client dies in mysterious circumstances. Albia investigates & discovers there have been many other strange deaths all over the city yet she is warned off by the authorities. The vigils are incompetent. The local magistrate is otherwise engaged organising the Games of Ceres notorious for its ancient fox-burning ritual. Even Albia herself is preoccupied with a new love affair: Andronicus an attractive archivist offers all that a love-starved young widow can want even though she knows better than to take him home to meet the parents... As the festival progresses her neighbourhood descends into mayhem & becomes the heartless killers territory. While Albia & her allies search for him he stalks them through familiar byways & brings murder ever closer to home. The Ides of April is vintage Lindsey Davis offering wit intrigue action & a brilliant new heroine who promises to be as celebrated as Marcus Didius Falco & Helena Justina her fictional predecessors.