
A Dying Light in Corduba
The Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries, Book 8
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $24.47
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Simon Prebble
-
By:
-
Lindsey Davis
About this listen
In this eighth mystery featuring hard-boiled Roman PI Marcus Didius Falco, Davis creates a chiaroscuro world of evil plots and dark humor as olive oil whets a villain's appetite for power and his taste for murder.
Surprisingly, nobody is poisoned at the Society of Olive Oil Producers banquet; the attempted murder of Rome's chief spy occurs immediately afterward. Suspicion falls, quick as the Italian night, on the dinner's sinuous dancer, a lady who has already left for Corduba, Spain. Naturally, Marcus Didius Falco, the Philip Marlowe of Roman detectives, is dispatched to follow her. But he has pledged to stay with Helena, his pregnant, patrician wife, until she gives birth.
Caught between Scylla and Charybdis, Falco makes what may be a fatal mistake: He brings Helena with him to a terra incognita of olives and intrigue, where a dies irae and a remorseless killer wait.
©1996 Lindsey Davis (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Silver Pigs
- A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Marcus Didius Falco encounters the young and very pretty Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately that there is something amiss. When she confesses that she is fleeing for her life, Falco offers to help her and, in doing so, gets himself mixed up in a deadly plot involving stolen ingots, dangerous and dark political machinations, and, most hazardous of all, one Helena Justina - a brash, indomitable senator's daughter connected to the very traitors that Falco has sworn to expose.
-
-
Completely brillant
- By Lynn on 01-25-20
By: Lindsey Davis
-
The Ides of April
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Lucy Brown
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina. From her mother, she learned how to blend in at all levels of society; from her father, she learned the tricks of their mutual professional trade. But her wits and (frequently) sharp tongue are hers alone. Now, working as a private informer in Rome during the reign of Domitian, Flavia has taken over her father’s old ramshackle digs at Fountain Court in the Surbura district, where she plies her trade with energy, determination, and the usual Falco luck.
-
-
Prefer dead old dad
- By readqueen on 10-09-13
By: Lindsey Davis
-
The Course of Honour
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He has no money, no reputation and no famous ancestors.' The love story of the Emperor Vespasian, who brought peace to Rome after years of strife, and his mistress, the freed slave woman Caenis, this book recreates Ancient Rome's most turbulent period - the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero and Vespasian's rise to power. As their forbidden romance blossoms, Caenis is embroiled in political intrigue, while Vespasian embarks on a glorious career.
-
-
Great love story
- By Julie on 05-04-20
By: Lindsey Davis
-
Master and God
- A Novel of the Roman Empire
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lindsey Davis’ Master and God is a vastly entertaining historical novel set in the reign of the Emperor Domitian in first-century Rome. It is on the one hand a love story between Gaius Vinius Clodianus, a valiant but reluctant member of the Praetorian Guard, whose military career is as successful as his marital history is disastrous, and Flavia Lucilla, daughter of a freed slave and hairdresser to the ladies of the imperial household. A devastating fire in Rome brings them together....
-
-
Info Dump with Romance
- By S. Lev-Ami on 10-03-12
By: Lindsey Davis
-
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
- The Glass Library, Book 1
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
-
-
Fun to be Back
- By Meg on 10-12-22
By: C.J. Archer
-
Razzmatazz
- A Novel
- By: Christopher Moore
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
San Francisco, 1947. Bartender Sammy “Two Toes” Tiffin and the rest of the Cookie’s Coffee Irregulars—a ragtag bunch of working mugs last seen in Noir—are on the hustle: they’re trying to open a driving school; shanghai an abusive Swedish stevedore; get Mable, the local madam, and her girls to a Christmas party at the State Hospital without alerting the overzealous head of the S.F.P.D. vice squad.
-
-
Noir Has Never Been So Funny
- By Stefan Filipovits on 06-24-22
-
The Silver Pigs
- A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Marcus Didius Falco encounters the young and very pretty Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately that there is something amiss. When she confesses that she is fleeing for her life, Falco offers to help her and, in doing so, gets himself mixed up in a deadly plot involving stolen ingots, dangerous and dark political machinations, and, most hazardous of all, one Helena Justina - a brash, indomitable senator's daughter connected to the very traitors that Falco has sworn to expose.
-
-
Completely brillant
- By Lynn on 01-25-20
By: Lindsey Davis
-
The Ides of April
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Lucy Brown
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina. From her mother, she learned how to blend in at all levels of society; from her father, she learned the tricks of their mutual professional trade. But her wits and (frequently) sharp tongue are hers alone. Now, working as a private informer in Rome during the reign of Domitian, Flavia has taken over her father’s old ramshackle digs at Fountain Court in the Surbura district, where she plies her trade with energy, determination, and the usual Falco luck.
-
-
Prefer dead old dad
- By readqueen on 10-09-13
By: Lindsey Davis
-
The Course of Honour
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He has no money, no reputation and no famous ancestors.' The love story of the Emperor Vespasian, who brought peace to Rome after years of strife, and his mistress, the freed slave woman Caenis, this book recreates Ancient Rome's most turbulent period - the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero and Vespasian's rise to power. As their forbidden romance blossoms, Caenis is embroiled in political intrigue, while Vespasian embarks on a glorious career.
-
-
Great love story
- By Julie on 05-04-20
By: Lindsey Davis
-
Master and God
- A Novel of the Roman Empire
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lindsey Davis’ Master and God is a vastly entertaining historical novel set in the reign of the Emperor Domitian in first-century Rome. It is on the one hand a love story between Gaius Vinius Clodianus, a valiant but reluctant member of the Praetorian Guard, whose military career is as successful as his marital history is disastrous, and Flavia Lucilla, daughter of a freed slave and hairdresser to the ladies of the imperial household. A devastating fire in Rome brings them together....
-
-
Info Dump with Romance
- By S. Lev-Ami on 10-03-12
By: Lindsey Davis
-
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
- The Glass Library, Book 1
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
-
-
Fun to be Back
- By Meg on 10-12-22
By: C.J. Archer
-
Razzmatazz
- A Novel
- By: Christopher Moore
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
San Francisco, 1947. Bartender Sammy “Two Toes” Tiffin and the rest of the Cookie’s Coffee Irregulars—a ragtag bunch of working mugs last seen in Noir—are on the hustle: they’re trying to open a driving school; shanghai an abusive Swedish stevedore; get Mable, the local madam, and her girls to a Christmas party at the State Hospital without alerting the overzealous head of the S.F.P.D. vice squad.
-
-
Noir Has Never Been So Funny
- By Stefan Filipovits on 06-24-22
-
The Throne of Caesar
- By: Steven Saylor
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's Rome, 44 BC, and the Ides of March are approaching. Julius Caesar has been appointed dictator for life by the Roman Senate. Having pardoned his remaining enemies and rewarded his friends, Caesar is now preparing to leave Rome with his army to fight the Parthian Empire. Gordianus the Finder, after decades of investigating crimes and murders involving the powerful, has set aside enough that he's been raised to the Equestrian rank and has firmly and finally retired. On the morning of March 10th, though, he's first summoned to meet with Cicero and then with Caesar himself.
-
-
Oh, How Disappointing!
- By Gillian on 03-01-18
By: Steven Saylor
-
Imperium
- A Novel of Ancient Rome
- By: Robert Harris
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Tiro, the confidential secretary (and slave) of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events that will eventually propel his master into one of the most suspenseful courtroom dramas in history.
-
-
Engrossing read
- By Everett Leiter on 08-16-07
By: Robert Harris
-
London
- The Novel
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 49 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is Edward Rutherfurd's classic novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning 2,000 years. He brings this vibrant city's long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and intrigues of half-a-dozen families, from the age of Julius Caesar to the 20th century. Generation after generation, these families embody the passion, struggle, wealth, and verve of the greatest city in the world.
-
-
Do NOT buy on Audible
- By Diane Vanek on 06-19-18
-
Paris
- The Novel
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Jean Gilpin
- Length: 38 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Internationally best-selling author Edward Rutherfurd has enchanted millions of readers with his sweeping, multigenerational dramas that illuminate the great achievements and travails throughout history. In this breathtaking saga of love, war, art, and intrigue, Rutherfurd has set his sights on the most magnificent city in the world: Paris. Moving back and forth in time across centuries, the story unfolds through intimate and vivid tales of self-discovery, divided loyalties, passion, and long-kept secrets of characters both fictional and real, all set against the backdrop of the glorious city.
-
-
Paris: The Novel (is that helpful?)
- By Mel on 05-07-13
-
Medicus
- A Novel of the Roman Empire
- By: Ruth Downie
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gaius Petrius Ruso is a divorced and down-on-his-luck army doctor who has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. After a 36-hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to a moment of weakness and rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, from the hands of her abusive owner. And before he knows it, Ruso is caught in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of prostitutes working out of the local bar.
-
-
Took Me by Surprise
- By Lehua of Pacifica on 03-29-08
By: Ruth Downie
-
Dreamer's Pool
- Blackthorn & Grim, Book 1
- By: Juliet Marillier
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello, Natalie Gold, Nick Sullivan
- Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she'll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help. Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais.
-
-
Beautiful story, pretty solid narration
- By Anya on 11-19-14
By: Juliet Marillier
-
Island of Exiles
- By: I. J. Parker
- Narrated by: Roy Vongtama
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the exiled Prince Okisada, the most illustrious prisoner of the penal colony on Sado Island, is poisoned, Akitada is called upon by the emperor's envoys to investigate incognito. Posing as a prisoner, he discovers a deadly conspiracy, only to fall into the hands of brutal guards and disappear. It falls to Tora, Akitada's devoted assistant, to begin his own dangerous search of the island for his lost friend and the truth.
-
-
interesting
- By NL on 04-05-23
By: I. J. Parker
-
The Robe
- By: Lloyd C. Douglas
- Narrated by: Stuart Langton
- Length: 22 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Roman soldier, Marcellus, wins Christ's robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene's robe, a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity. Set against the vividly drawn background of ancient Rome, this is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption.
-
-
Simply the Best
- By Jerrilynn on 11-18-05
By: Lloyd C. Douglas
-
Past Imperfect
- By: Julian Fellowes
- Narrated by: Richard Morant
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Damian Baxter is hugely wealthy and dying. He lives alone in a big house in Surrey, England, looked after by a chauffeur, butler, cook and housemaid. He has but one concern--his fortune in excess of 500 million and who should inherit it on his death.
-
-
Read Snobs instead
- By cristina on 02-14-13
By: Julian Fellowes
-
The King’s Gambit
- By: John Maddox Roberts
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Edgar Award-nominated mystery, John Maddox Roberts takes listeners back to a Rome filled with violence and evil. Vicious gangs ruled the streets of Crassus and Pompey, routinely preying on plebeian and patrician alike. So the garroting of a lowly ex-slave and the disembowelment of a foreign merchant in the dangerous Subura district seemed of little consequence to the Roman hierarchy.
-
-
Great start to a series
- By P. Johnson on 09-21-17
-
Lion of Senet
- Second Sons, Book 1
- By: Jennifer Fallon
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the world Ranadon there is no night as both suns shine brightly. The intervention of Belagren, High Priestess of the Shadowdancers, and the sacrifice of a child of royal blood, has banished the Age of Shadows from the skies. Belagren's position is unquestioned...until circumstances begin to tip political rivalries into a deadlier game altogether.
-
-
Really enjoyed it
- By Amazon Customer on 09-15-17
By: Jennifer Fallon
-
Wolfblade
- Hythryn Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Jennifer Fallon
- Narrated by: Maggie Mash
- Length: 25 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marla Wolfblade of Hythria is determined to restore her family's great name, but conspirators surround her: The Sorcerers' Collective, the Patriots - even members of her own family. She must make sure her son Damin lives to be old enough to restore the Wolfblade name to its former glory. Elezaar the Dwarf is a small man with big secrets - but that doesn't matter to Marla Wolfblade. Her brother is the High Prince of Hythria, and, in this fiercely patriarchal society, her fate will be decided on his whim.
-
-
An epic political drama
- By Katherine on 07-19-14
By: Jennifer Fallon
What listeners say about A Dying Light in Corduba
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Williams
- 05-17-16
Incredible author. Perfect reader.
So happy they are re-recording these! Previous reader made Falco sound like a surly thug.
I'm looking forward to getting the entire series with a narrator who SOUNDS like Falco!
Just can't beat Davis' lighthearted mixture of murder, politics, and ancient history. Yum!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KTBear
- 11-20-20
As always, a pleasure!
This book by Lindsey Davis is a wonderful mystery, full of twists and turns, historical accuracy, and a laugh out loud wit. I’ve both read and as well as listened to to audio version of the Marcus Didius Falco Series several times over the last 20 years. I always feel like I’m meeting up with an old friend again! And Simon Prebble’s narration is the perfect voice for Falco.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Russell Davis
- 11-10-18
cheeky b'stard
tongue in cheek as ever, the intrepid detective and feisty wife duo please at every turn.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- William Simkiss
- 08-25-21
One of the best Falco books.
Intrigue, politics, international travel, spies galore! 007 has nothing on Falco. Marvellously written, weaving the internal politics of Roman civil servants with the many individual characters of the various players, plus Falco’s own growing family. All is intertwined.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 05-06-20
Unpopular opinion.
Unpopular opinion, but I liked the old narrator better. The new narrator nearly put me to sleep.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amis
- 10-31-22
Not one of my favorites - not improved by the narrator
Honestly, this story was never a top favorite though I’ve read the Falco series pretty much as it was published. There are interesting settings and situations and a twisting plot line. What really spoils it is the narration.
Plenty of people seem to like Simon Prebble’s Falco narrations. Indeed, I enjoy listening to him narrate OTHER stories but for Falco, he is just plain WRONG!
Falco came up from the mean streets of the Aventine, dragging himself up from very humble beginnings. He was working class and gained advancement through intelligence against the odds.
Falco has a huge sense of drama, irony and humor. He is telling the exciting stories of his youth. In short, he is an adventurer in every sense of the word!
Simon Prebble’s droning, monotonous narrations and his very standard English, middle class accent simply don’t do justice to the character or the story.
Added to this, there are numerous mispronunciations of words and horrible renderings of classical names. Every time I hear him mangle Anacrites, I shudder. I hate Ampi-theater with a passion - have you ever heard that a frog is an “Amp-ibian”? There are numerous others - way too many to list -and they distract from the story.
This potentially very interesting story could be much improved by proper narration. If the publishers could find a decent narrator who could provide life to the stories instead of smothering them, I would happily spend credits to replace the Falco books narrated by Simon Prebble
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!