Ode to a Banker cover art

Ode to a Banker

Falco, Book 12

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Ode to a Banker

By: Lindsey Davis
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
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About this listen

"The first concern of an author is to do down his colleagues."

In the long, hot Roman summer of AD 74, Falco, private informer and spare-time poet, gives a reading for his family and friends. Things get out of hand, as usual. The event is taken over by Aurelius Chrysippus, a wealthy Greek banker and patron to a group of struggling writers, who offers to publish Falco's work. A visit to the Chrysippus scriptorium implicates Falco in a gruesome literary murder, so when commissioned to investigate, Falco is forced to accept.

Lindsey Davis' twelfth novel wittily explores Roman publishing and banking, taking us from the jealousies of authorship and the mire of patronage to the darker financial world, where default can have fatal consequences.

©2000 Lindsey Davis (P)2015 Audible, Ltd Crime Fiction Historical Fiction Mystery Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Davis's writing zings with fun." ( Daily Mail)
All stars
Most relevant  
Of course if your new to the Falco series, the advice is to start with book 1. The end of this book is straight out of Agatha Christie with our Roman Poirot revealing the murderer to a room of assembled suspects.

A tribute to Agatha

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A n excellent twisty plot rendered difficult to listen too by an almost ladylike delivery.

Good story, shame about the voice.

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I liked all of it good plot as always keeps you on your toes thanks a lot.

falco

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The reader has been badly chosen a first-person narrator representing the plebeian, ironic, canny Falco. If Christian Rodska had told this tale, I’d have chuckled out loud several times- even on second or third listenings. Griffin reads slowly and enunciates clearly, even pedantically. Perhaps the publishers thought this bland performance would be more accessible for those for whom British English is not the mother tongue. The story is good, a nod to 20th century “body in the library” whodunnits, with a Poirot style denouement but with well-researched background on publishing and banking, and casual cultural jokes, like the dubious publishing house rejecting the writings of a certain Martialis as “crap”, unmarketable.

Inappropriate narrator, good story.

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A true portrait of the Roman lifestyle alongside a remarkably good Murder mystery plot

Another great read from Lindsey Davis

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Pausing, having just happily completed my 12th Falco listen/read. Of all of them this seems to me to be the closest to an Agatha Christie, but improved by the fact that there is a warmth in the development of repeating key characters and their domestic circumstances. When, initially, I saw that there was a list of characters to be questioned I drooped, but not for long. It was an intriguing listen/read and one where the villain was not impossible to predict. I like the 'drip-feed' of Roman details, enough to find out what a particular drink consisted of, for example. Davis wins over some other detective series writers by the humour, irony and sanguinity often to be found. Other writers of 14 hour-plus listens might learn from this. She also wins by plot outlines safe in their twists but never being convoluted beyond measure. I have enjoyed the journey with Falco, friends and family and look to the remaining adventures in the series. The reading performance was clear, direct and far more insightful that earlier performance. The irony is smoothly delivered. Listen to this adventure confident that it will please.

Homage to Agatha Christie?

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I'm so glad this is the last of the Falco series narrated by Gordon Griffin. I find myself distracted with almost every sentence he reads, by his misplaced emphasis (which suggests he has no grasp of the meaning of what he's reading) or by his annoying tone, and voices which are very little like how I imagine the characters. I have stuck with his recordings as I wanted to listen to the complete series - but doubt I'll ever want to hear these again.

Another Falco story let down by poor narration

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Story excellent, as you'd expect for a Falco book. However, the awful narrator almost spoils it.

The narrator sounds far too old for Falco, with none of the required sense of humour for his character. He does the female voices incredibly badly - so much so that Helena Justina comes across as a controlling, whiny woman, instead of the strong, capable partner she is. He puts the emphasis on the wrong words in many sentences (I struggle to believe he's actually a native English speaker!) and has the annoying Australian/teenage girl habit of raising his tone at the end of a sentence, as if in a question? I could do far better - in fact, my 12 year old niece could do far better...

Great story, but badly let down by the narrator

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Soo badly read that it was difficult to persist with even though I am a great fan of the BBC versions of Falco. Ponderous.

Badly read

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Lindsey’s wonderful story ruined by this reader. Wrong emphases, wrong tone, wrong for the book

I hate this reader!

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