Three Hands in the Fountain
by Lindsey Davis
List Price: $23.00
Pages: 351
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0892966912
Publisher: Mysterious Press
In vino, veritas. But in the water supply of Rome, horror-as Marcus Didius
Falco is about to find out. Sharing an ewer of Spanish red with his old
friend and new partner Petronius Longus, Falco is on the spot when a man
cleaning the local fountain makes a gruesome discovery: a human hand.
Small and evidently female, the hand suggests its owner met a terrifying fate. Naturally,
Falco and Petro, formerly of the Vigiles, want to seize on it as their
first big case. The officials of Rome, however, prefer to hush up the
incident, since a population that riots at the drop of a toga might run
wild if body parts are polluting their drinking water.
O tempora! O mores! Soon other delicate, dismembered hands are being found in Rome's two hundred
miles of aqueduct. Now aided, inspired, and given critical clues by his
wife, Helena, Falco & Partner are ready to buck the status quo and even
butt heads with Falco's old boss, Chief Spy Anacrites, to crack the case.
But O, Hades! The duo suspects a serial killer is at large, linked to public festivals,
and likely to strike again at the upcoming Roman Games. Even a detective
as astute as Falco may not spot a twisted mind in a crowd of 250,000.
And if Falco loses this race with time, another pretty victim will make
a deadly splash...
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1 From what you have read so far, do you believe Lindsey Davis really is a pawn in the hands
of an editor - or anyone?
2 Find the topics for discussion in the Q and A section, and discuss them
3 Discuss anything else there that you find controversial. Or even interesting.
4 What do you imagine the hypothetical author Mimsy Bloggins to be like? Do you
think you would enjoy her books?
5 Falco was derived initially as a classic genre 'private eye'. What are the criteria
for this, and in what ways - in his character and situation - does he
meet or depart from them?
6 He is now attempting to work with a partner, Petronius Longus. How does this relate
to his existing partnership with Helena, and what does the failure of
the two old cromies to work together tell us about friendship? There will
be different partners in succeeding books. Who do you think the author
will choose? (NB the third one in fact turned out not to be the person
she had intended!)
7 The squad of vigiles, first introduced in detail in 'Time to Depart' are
used like the ensemble characters in a 'police procedural' crime novel.
Our lack of knowledge of Roman police procedure creates obvious difficulties,
but which elements of modern policier crime novels do translate
here?
8 Although it is not necessary to know this, the character Julius Frontinus was a
historical figure. What do you think it adds if you are told that he was
a governor of Roman Britain (does it add more for British readers than
for Americans?) and that he wrote a famous Latin treatise on aqueducts?
How do you feel about the use of 'real' people in historical novels?
9 When the series began, Falco was a rather disreputable character, in his own mind
at least a fabulous seducer of women, whereas Petronius occupied the standard
position of hard-working official policeman, a good family man too. How
has this now developed, and where do you feel it will end for them both?
10 People sometimes say 'A Roman girl of good family would not behave as Helena
has done'. The author replies that there is an example in Juvenal of a
senator's wife who ran off with a gladiator - and an elderly beaten-up
gladiator at that. She believes that there have always been spirited girls
who did as they liked. True? Likely? Is it acceptable to say that what
never changes in history is human nature?
11 By accident the first book was written in the first person because it seemed traditional.
What are the advantages and disadvantages? Are there any particular problems
in developing the story in a crime novel? What about the pros and cons
of perpetual direct speech in a narrative?
11a Given that most ordinary Romans probably did not speak like Cicero, and that
even Cicero probably did not speak like his speeches in private, consider
how an author can satisfy those who want their historical characters to
sound Really Classical, while also achieving pace, liveliness, conviction,
and wit for those who are less pedantic?
12 How can a woman write as a man? Why can't most men write about women at all, let
alone in the first person? Whatever happened to simple observation?
13 Discuss the recurrent theme of organisational politics.
14 (If question 13 is answered fully, there will be no time for any others!)
Courtesy of Warner Books
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