 Cover of 1st UK hardback edition 2023 | |
| Author | Lindsey Davis |
|---|---|
| Series | Flavia Albia |
| Genre | historical fiction, crime fiction |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton, Minotaur Books |
Publication date | 6 April 2023 |
| Publication place | UK |
| ISBN | 9781529354737 |
| Preceded by | Desperate Undertaking |
| Followed by | Death on the Tiber |
Fatal Legacy is a historical crime novel by British writer Lindsey Davis, the eleventh in her Flavia Albia series. It was published in the UK on 6 April 2023 by Hodder & Stoughton (ISBN 9781529354737)[1] and in the United States on 18 July 2023 by Minotaur Books (ISBN 9781250799906).[2]
The plot, set in Rome in AD 90, involves, amongst other aspects of Roman life: an unpaid bar bill; a missing will and codicil; a rabbit farm; an orchard planted variously with walnuts, apricots and cherries; freed slaves; suspicious deaths; and feuding families with labyrinthine family trees.[1][3] Before publication, the author wrote: "The joke of this plot is that it is impossible to summarise".[4] It takes place on the Aventine and Caelian hills and at the Forum Romanum.
The cover of the first UK hardback edition shows a pair of shears against a mosaic showing a rabbit.[1] The cover of the first American edition shows a woman holding a large dagger behind her back, and an armoured Roman soldier, inside a building.[2]
Writing in The Globe and Mail, Margaret Cannon called the novel "as light as air and as witty and amusing as Davis’s finest Falco books of yore".[5] Publishers Weekly wrote that it was "more low-key than past entries, but no less gripping",[6] while Kirkus Reviews called it "dark mystery encased in a rich portrait of ancient Rome."[7] The Historical Novel Society also gave a favourable review.[8]
- ^ a b c Fatal Legacy. Hodder & Stoughton. 13 December 2021. ISBN 9781529354737. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Fatal Legacy". Macmillan. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ Plot details from the book
- ^ "Fatal Legacy". Lindsey Davis official website. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ Cannon, Margaret (27 July 2023). "Ten thrillers to read in the heat of summer". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
- ^ "Fatal Legacy: A Flavia Albia Novel". Publishers Weekly. 270 (22): 98–99. 29 May 2023 – via Gale.
- ^ "Davis, Lindsey: FATAL LEGACY". Kirkus Reviews. 1 June 2023 – via Gale.
- ^ Ashworth, Mike (August 2023). "Fatal Legacy (Flavia Albia)". Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 27 October 2024.