A Body in the Bath House

infobox Book |
name = A Body in the Bath House
orig title =
translator =


author = Lindsey Davis
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series = Marcus Didius Falco
genre = Crime
publisher = Century, Mysterious Press
release_date = 2001
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 326 pp (Hardback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0712 68039 X
preceded_by = Ode to a Banker
followed_by = The Jupiter Myth

"A Body in the Bath House" is a crime novel by Lindsey Davis.

Plot introduction

Set in Rome and Britannia in AD 75, "A Body in the Bath House" stars Marcus Didius Falco, Informer and Imperial Agent. It is the thirteenth in her Falco series.

Explanation of the novel's title

The title is a reference to the discovery of a corpse hidden beneath the floor of the bath house.

Plot summary

When Marcus Didius Falco discovers a corpse hidden under the floor of his new bath house he starts to track down the men responsible - Glaucus and Cotta. He also receives a commission from the Emperor Vespasian. A building project for the British Chieftain Togidubnus is running late and over-budget. Suspecting that the men he seeks have fled to Britain Falco accepts the mission and travels there with his wife, two baby daughters, their nurse and his two brothers-in-law Aelianus and Justinus.

Falco arrives at Fishbourne and starts by investigating corrupt practices. However events quickly take a turn for the worse when the Chief Architect is found murdered in the bath-house of the British King. Falco takes over the project and investigates the killings.

Characters in "A Body in the Bath House"

In Rome

* "A. Camillus Aelianus" - Older brother of Helena
* "Anacrites" - Chief Spy
* "Camilla Hyspale" - Nursemaid to Julia and Favonia
* "Geminus" - Father of Falco, Auctioneer
* "Glaucus and Cotta" - Bath House Contractors
* "Favonia" - Daughter of Falco and Helena
* "Helena Justina" - Wife of Falco, and daughter of the Senator Decimus Camillus Verus
* "Julia" - Daughter of Falco and Helena
* "Lucius Petronius Longus" - Friend of Falco and Vigiles Officer
* "Maia Favonia" - Falco's widowed sister
* "Marcus Didius Falco" - Informer and Imperial Agent.
* "Perella" - Dancer and Spy
* "Q. Camillus Justinus" - Younger brother of Helena
* "Vespasian" - Emperor of Rome

In Britain

* "Alexas" - Doctor
* "Blandus" - Painter
* "Cyprianus" - Clerk of Works
* "Gaius" - Clerk
* "Lupus" - Overseas labour force supervisor
* "Magnus" - Surveyor
* "Mandumerus" - Local labour force supervisor
* "Marcellinus" - Retired Architect
* "Milchato" - Marble Mason
* "Philocles" - Mosaicist
* "Plancus" - Assistant Architect
* "Pomponius" - Project Manager
* "Rectus" - Draining Engineer
* "Sextius" - Mechanical statue-seller
* "Strephon" - Assistant Architect
* "T. Claudius Togidunus" - Great King of the Britons
* "Timagenes" - Gardener
* "Verovolcus" - Briton working for Togidubnus
* "Virginia" - Barmaid

Major themes

* Investigation into corruption at the building of a palace of an influential Roman ally.
* The obsessive pursuit of Maia by Anacrites.

Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science

* Set in Rome and Britannia, in AD 75, during the reign of Emperor Vespasian.
* Fishbourne Roman Palace, in the village of Fishbourne in West Sussex, is one of the most important archaeological sites in England.
* Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus (or Togidubnus) was a 1st century king of the Regnenses in early Roman Britain.

Release details

* 2001, UK, Century Hardback ISBN 0712 68039 X
* 2002, UK, Arrow, Paperback ISBN 0099298309
* UK, Chivers/BBC AudioBooks, read by Christian Rodska, Cassettes ISBN 07540 97692 CD audios ISBN 14056 70487
* UK, Isis, Large Print ISBN 0-7531-6612-7
* 2002, US, Mysterious Press, Hardback ISBN 0892967714
* US, Mysterious Press, Paperback ISBN 0-446-69170-4

ources, references, external links, quotations

[http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/ Author's Official Website]