Rats are always bigger than you expect... Marcus Didius Falco ancient Romes hangdog investigator hates sharing a cell with a rodent
- though being bailed by his old mother is almost as embarassing. His highborn girlfriend cant decide if she wants him & Titus Caesars reward for past services is a wet fish. Hoping for a better life or at least a better apartment he takes on new clients. On the elegant slopes of the Pincian Hill three nouveaux riches freedmen with two flashy wives are under siege by a clever redhead. Severina Zotica has a foul-mouthed parrot an odd connection with a snake dancer
- & averysuspicious past. As he pursues this flame-haired fortune-hunter Falco finds himself beset by violent rent-racketeers poisoners & women without consciences who have dangerous designs on him...