A good adventure story in which Falco exposes himself reluctantly to the dangers of a seemingly impossible mission in Germany, only parts of which have been conquered by the Romans. He benefits from the company of Helena Justina's likeable brother Justinus, who's stationed there, and we see something of Helena herself, but not enough. She goes as far as the civilized parts of Germany, but naturally stays out of the way of real danger. Falco has to venture into the uncivilized parts, where no Roman is safe; and at the beginning of winter, too.

We learn in passing about the tribes of Germany and about commercial rivalry in the pottery industry.

The Iron Hand of Mars is a heavy metal object that Falco is obliged to carry with him to present to the 14th Legion as a gift from the Emperor. It has no particular function in the plot.

As usual, Falco has plenty of problems and some suffering to endure, but he survives it all and even accomplishes his impossible mission—because, although things sometimes seem to be going badly for him, on balance he has an implausible amount of good luck. He also has Helena's brother, who turns out to be surprisingly resourceful, and saves his life more than once. ( )

Harder work than some of the other books purely because it is set around military history. Falco's usual luck holds out. ( )

An enjoyable romp through the ancient Roman world as usual, though this time mostly on the very edges of it. Lindsey Davis continues her great immersion and realism for the time period and the relevant cultures, but the plot for this one was definitely weaker and sort of petered out without any really satisfying resolutions. Some of the minor characters also didn’t really seem have much purpose, and were more there for flavour and humour than contributing much to the story. Nevertheless, a decently fun read. ( )

When the Emperor's son Titus makes a move on Helena, Falco goes off in a tiff and finds she's left Rome. Needing money and hoping to search for her, he accepts the Emperor's mission to Germany. There are mystery elements, but this is and reads like a somewhat sarcastically viewed adventure story. The history of Roman military (mis)adventures along the Rhine in the early Imperial era is where the data load is thickest in this episode. ( )

Marcus Didius Falco is an imperial agent on a mission to Germany in AD 71 to find a legion commander whose loyalty to the emperor may be suspect. His only support is a ragtag bunch of Roman recruits and they embittered centurion. Ahead lie the hordes of Celtic barbarians.

This is an excellent addition to the Falco series of murder mysteries set against the backdrop of imperial Rome. Here, Falco is despatched to the ends of the empire to save the emperor from possible rebellion. As always, Falco has that cynical, world-weary approach to life that makes him the most perceptive of detectives.

Davis writes extremely well - great plotting, strong characters and a narrative drive that makes reading a joy. Highly recommended. ( )