Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many (UK 2013)

From the Publisher:
A LOST CHILD IN A DEADLY LOTTERY...
A frightened child approaches Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco, pleading for help. Nobody believes Gaia's story that a relation wants to kill her - and neither does he.

Beset by his own family troubles, by his new responsibilities as Procurator of the Sacred Poultry, and by the continuing search for a new partner, he turns her away.

Immediately he regrets it. Gaia has been selected as the new Vestal Virgin, and when she disappears Falco is officially asked to investigate.

Finding Gaia is then a race against time, ending in Falco's most terrifying exploit yet...

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many. A Marcus Didius Falco Novel. Arrow, ISBN: 9780099515166 (April, 2013), 336 p., £8.99.

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many (UK 2009)

From the Publisher:
A lost child in a deadly lottery...
A frightened child approaches Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco, pleading for help. Nobody believes Gaia's story that a relation wants to kill her - and neither does he. Beset by his own family troubles, by his new responsibilities as Procurator of the Sacred Poultry, and by the continuing search for a new partner, he turns her away. Immediately he regrets it. Gaia has been selected as the new Vestal Virgin, and when she disappears Falco is officially asked to investigate. Finding Gaia is then a race against time, ending in Falco's most terrifying exploit yet...

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many. A Marcus Didius Falco Novel. Arrow, ISBN: 9780099515166 (February, 2009), 326 p., £7.99.

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many (USA 2001)

From the Publisher:
"One of the best historical series... wisecracking humor, scathing social commentary, and rollicking adventure." -- Detroit Free Press

International bestselling author Lindsey Davis has done in the mystery genre what Caesar did in Gaul: came, saw, and conquered! Her innovative series put hardboiled detective Marcus Didius Falco, "the Sam Spade of ancient Rome" (Publishers Weekly), on the mean streets of the Eternal City. Now Davis returns to A.D. 74 with a riveting investigation into a missing child...

ONE VIRGIN TOO MANY
Men are fools for love. And that includes Marcus Didius Falco. To please his beloved, the tough shamus has become Procurer of the Sacred Poultry -- i.e., babysitter of the temple geese. It's steady work, good pay. But Falco is soon restless and when a beautiful child, chosen to enter the secret order of Vestal Virgins, disappears, he grabs the case. He quickly discovers that greed and religious fervor are only a thread away from madness. And a little girl's life may be cut short, not by Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, but by a sinister human hand-unless Falco finds her in time...

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many. A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery Novel. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0446677698 (July, 2001), 356 p., $12.95.

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many (USA 2000)

From the Publisher:
With the passing of Ellis Peters, the title Queen of the Historical Whodunnit is temporarily vacant. Lindsey Davis is well suited to assume it - and she is funnier than Peters... Davis' books make old Rome sound fun... it is all so enjoyable -- The Times (London)

To paraphrase Julius Caesar, award-winning author Lindsey Davis "came, saw, and conquered" the historical mystery genre with her wisecracking, suspenseful Marcus Didius Faleo series. With this, her eleventh novel, Davis returns to the heart of ancient Rome in A.D. 73 with a chilling foray into the mysteries of the Vestal Virgins and the unholy fate of a missing child...

ONE VIRGIN TOO MANY
Rome's top shamus Marcus Didius Falco finds himself in a foul situation when he's appointed Procurer of Sacred Poultry. Morosely baby-sitting geese and stewing about his future, he's about to make a classic mistake: He doesn't take his newest client seriously.

The girl, a perfect doll, had waited for him on his doorstep, tapping a tiny foot in a golden sandal, her loyal retainers hanging about within earshot. Her voice was petulant when she told him someone in her family wanted to kill her; he should have noticed the fear in her eyes.

With domestic troubles of his own, Falco sent her home. For one thing, a lion had eaten his brother-in-law, leaving his sister and her children impoverished. For another, the sweet young thing wanting to hire him was only six years old. That was before Gaia Laelia, the leading candidate to become the next Vestal Virgin living in the sanctum santorum, disappeared.

Hounded by his own guilt and the "I told you so's" of his all-too-perceptive wife, Helena, Falco joins the hunt, both helped and hindered by Helena's brother and his clueless new partner. The twisting trail will lead to a gruesome murder and into the cold-blooded intrigues of those who practice rites both sacred and profane. Here, in the temples of Rome, piety is a cousin to madness, and lust and religious fervor are just a hair's breadth apart. And here a little girl's life can be cut tragically short - not by Clotho, Lachesis, or Atropos, but by an all too human hand...

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many. A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery Novel. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0892967161 (November, 2000), 356 p., $23.95.

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many (UK 2000)

From the Publisher:
Falco returns home to Rome for his eleventh appearance in this highly popular and successful series. As a reward for his Census work Falco has at last been made an equestrian. But imperial favour coupled with his new duties as Procurator of the Sacred Poultry of the Senate and People of Rome bring their own complications. Not only is he now ensconsed in all the trappings of the Establishment and the state religion but Falco also has a troublesome new partner, Aelianus, to deal with. Private and public business merge as he is sent to investigate the disappearance of a young girl selected to be a Vestal Virgin. Closely watched by his ex-partner Petronius and the vigilies who are just waiting for him to slip up, Falco is sorely determined to solve this mystery.

Lindsey Davis: One Virgin Too Many. Arrow, ISBN: 0099799715 (May, 2000), 326 p., £5.99.