Lindsey Davis

This article is about the historical novelist. For the American bishop (born 1948), see G. Lindsey Davis.

Lindsey Davis
Born	1949 (1949) Birmingham, England
Occupation	novelist
Nationality	British
Period	1989 - present
Genres	historical whodunnit
Notable work(s)	Marcus Didius Falco
lindseydavis.co.uk

Lindsey Davis (born 1949) is an English historical novelist, best known as the author of the Falco series of crime stories set in ancient Rome and its empire.

Biography

Davis was born in Birmingham and after taking a degree in English literature at Oxford University (Lady Margaret Hall), she became a civil servant. She left the civil service after 13 years, and when a romantic novel she had written was runner up for the 1985 Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize, she decided to become a writer, writing at first romantic serials for the UK women's magazine Woman's Realm.

Her interest in history and archaeology led to her writing a historical novel about Vespasian and his lover Antonia Caenis (The Course of Honour), for which she could not find a publisher. She tried again, and her first novel featuring the Roman "detective", Marcus Didius Falco, The Silver Pigs, set in the same time period and published in 1989, was the start of her runaway success as a writer of historical whodunnits. A further eighteen Falco novels have followed, as well as The Course of Honour, which was finally published in 1998. Rebels and Traitors, set in the period of the English Civil War, was published in September 2009. Nemesis, the twentieth Falco title, is to be published in June 2010,^{[dated info]} as is Falco: The Official Companion. Davis has won many literary awards, and was honorary president of the Classical Association from 1997 to 1998.

The dedication of her 2009 work Rebels and Traitors is "For Richard / dearest and closest of friends / your favourite book / in memory", and the author's website tells that "I am still getting used to life without my dear Richard. For those of you who haven't seen this before, he died in October [2008]".^[1] The author says in her publisher's newsletter: "The greatest recommendation I can give is that Richard, its first reader, thought it wonderful. He devoured chunks, demanding ‘Bring more story!’ even when he was in hospital. One of the last things I was ever able to tell him was that Rebels and Traitors was to be published by Random House, so I would be working with dear friends for his favourite book."^[2]

Published works

Marcus Didius Falco

1. The Silver Pigs (1989)
2. Shadows in Bronze (1990)
3. Venus in Copper (1991)
4. The Iron Hand of Mars (1992)
5. Poseidon's Gold (1993)
6. Last Act in Palmyra (1994)
7. Time to Depart (1995)
8. A Dying Light in Corduba (1996)
9. Three Hands in the Fountain (1997)
10. Two for the Lions (1998)
11. One Virgin Too Many (1999)
12. Ode to a Banker (2000)
13. A Body in the Bath House (2001)
14. The Jupiter Myth (2002)
15. The Accusers (2003)
16. Scandal Takes a Holiday (2004)
17. See Delphi and Die (2005)
18. Saturnalia (2007)
19. Alexandria (2009)
20. Nemesis (2010)

Omnibus editions:

• Falco on His Metal (1999)
  • Venus in Copper
  • The Iron Hand of Mars
  • Poseidon's Gold
• Falco on the Loose (2003)
  • Last Act in Palmyra
  • Time to Depart
  • A Dying Light in Corduba

Associated publication

• Falco: The Official Companion (2010)

Other novels

• The Course of Honour (1998)
• Rebels and Traitors (2009)
• Master and God (to be published 15 March 2012 by Hodder and Stoughton:^[3] set in reign of Domitian)^[4]

Awards and nominations

• Short listed for the Georgette Heyer Prize for two unpublished works (pre-Falco).
• Winner of the Author's Club Prize for "Best First Novel" in 1989 for The Silver Pigs.
• Winner of the Crime Writers' Association (CWA): Dagger in the Library for being an author "whose work has given most pleasure" in 1995. [1]
• Winner of the first Ellis Peters Historical Dagger awarded by the Crime Writers' Association in 1999 for Two for the Lions. [2]
• Winner of the Sherlock Award for the Best Comic Detective in 2000 for Didius Falco. [3]
• Awarded the 2010 Premio Colosseo, awarded by the city of Rome to someone who "has enhanced the image of Rome in the world"^[5]
• Winner of the 2011 Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers' Association^[6]

References

1. ^ "Lindsey's page". The Official Lindsey Davis Website. http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/lindseyspage.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
2. ^ "The Lindsey Davis Newsletter, no. 9". Random House Publishing. January 2009. http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/lindsey_davis/issue9/Lindsey%20Newsletter.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-31. 
3. ^ "Master and God". Lindsey Davis website. http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/master&god.htm. Retrieved 26 June 2011. 
4. ^ "Lindsey's page: Next book". Lindsey Davis website. http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/lindseyspage.htm. Retrieved 4 April 2011. 
5. ^ "Management Committee". Society of Authors. http://www.societyofauthors.org/management-committee. Retrieved 3 November 2010. 
6. ^ Allen, Katie (25 January 2011). "Davis to be awarded Cartier Diamond Dagger Award". The Bookseller. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/davis-be-awarded-cartier-diamond-dagger-award.html. Retrieved 26 January 2011. 

External links

• The official website of Lindsey Davis
• Interview with Lindsey Davis
• Publisher's newsletters

Persondata
Name	Davis, Lindsey
Alternative names
Short description	English novelist
Date of birth	1949
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Date of death
Place of death