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Three Hands in the Fountain

Marcus Didius Falco, Book 9

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Three Hands in the Fountain

By: Lindsey Davis
Narrated by: Christian Rodska
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About this listen

Marcus Didius Falco and his friend Petronius find their local fountain has been blocked - by a severed human hand. Soon other body parts are being found in the aqueducts & sewers. The Aventine partners are commissioned to investigate.

©1997 Lindsey Davis (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Crime Fiction Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime

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Not so funny this time and you need a strong stomach or is that just me! Interesting detail about waterworks and how things worked then. OveralI, I prefer the more light -hearted Falco.

Gruesome

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The reader does a great job of setting the mood through each scene. The historical detail of the aqueducts really interested me, and I brought out a map to follow Falco's trek out into 'la campagna'.

Another tempting tale

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I enjoyed spending another few hours with Falco and friends in the dark and dangerous alleyways of Rome, although he did manage a couple of jaunts to the countryside as a change of scene. A reasonable plot concerning body parts discovered in the water system kept the action going, but the main enjoyment this time came from Christian Rodska’s energetic and, possibly at times a bit over the top, performances. A troupe of characters exhibited a wide range of roguish regional accents, speech idiosyncrasies and pompous tones, and I had the feeling that our narrator was relishing the opportunity to show off his range. To top it all off his voicing of Falco is the only one I have heard that really fits the character of a working class, slightly disreputable informer who inhabits the world of low-lifes and criminals. Well done!

A really fun performance

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Firstly, I must recommend that the Falco stories are heard or read in order. It’s really important, I think, to learn who Falco is and get to grips with his family and history. Whilst not essential, I do believe it gives the best experience. Now, I didn’t do this, but I still love Marcus and his stories. I have to say, and I find it very important to stress, that CHRISTIAN RODSKA is ace at bringing Falco to life. Whilst Anton is a close second in the BBC adaptations, CR brings just the right cadence and tone to the narration. He nails it and brings Falco to life - warm and utterly believable. The quality of the story lines are pretty good I think but Christian tops off the audible to outstanding. Other narrators are sub par and the value of those stories suffer ultimately. With Christian, you’ve got a winner. Three hands in the Fountain is a vehicle for Falco and his best mate Petronius to put their Roman minds to solving the mystery ….. my advice is (without doubt as read by CR) join them for the ride. You won’t be disappointed.

THREE HANDS IN THE FOUNTAIN

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Roman Lifestyle and an excellent. murder mystery with all the joy of the perfect relationship thrown in written by a woman of course-CONGRATULATIONS LINDSEY DAVIS

Another Great Read from Lindsey Davis

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Marcus Didius Falco relates.another of his more macabre investigations undertaken with best friend Petro. After a severed and fingerless band is found blocking an outlet of one of Rome's water supplies and with no knowledge of how it had come to be there, the men are commissioned to put an end to such occurrences. Helena has recently given birth to Julia, their first child and the story is filled with the bustle and squabbles of family life, of wayward relatives and assorted Roman neighbours and ne'er do wells. The streets and bureaucracy of Rome under Vespasian brought to life in fascinating atmospheric experiencing.
Narration is by Christian Rodska, and is vibrant and enthusiastic, with individual voicing for the assorted characters, although all of his female protagonists have a verbal cartoon quality which adds humour but is nevertheless annoying. His performance is good but for me it is always Anton Lesser who is the true voice of Falco.

As always, three Hands in the Fountain is such a pleasure for any reader with a fondness for books set in this period - and a good mystery , as well.

"Tell Helena I love her."

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Another great Falco story but with too many comedy voices. Scythax is from the East and had a dozy Geordie accent. The census scribes were like Julian and Sandy from Round the Horne and too many other characters sounded like they should've been in a Carry On film. The narrator tried hard but didn't quite get what Falco is all about.

Ruined by the narrator.

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Hot summer in Rome, a good mystery, and learn about Roman viaducts on the way.
Rodska is the best narrator, and he brings this novel to life. It is very straight forward and not as complcated as some of the other books in the series. Descriptions abound and it is an action driven novel that keeps you right up there with Falco.
Helena and her brothers are there, but more as supporting characters, leaving Marcus and Petro to lead the way.

Favourite Falco

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Once you've read one Falco, you'll find yourself wanting to read another ... and another - they are definitely addictive! This one is just as good as the others preceding it, if rather gruesome at times. There's nothing explicitly nasty however - it is more a case of the imagination filling in the details. As well as the usual crime in need of solving, there is also the wonderful backdrop of Falco's family life which as always, is one of the memorable parts of a Falco book.

Exscellent

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Having listened to the radio plays of Falco I was nervous about a different narrator as in my head Anton Lesser _is_ Falco, but the narrator in this book did a great job and whilst the radio plays will always be my personal favourite this narration encouraged me to try more audiobooks of this character next time. I enjoyed the amount of factual detail the plot gives the listener, in terms of engineering it sounds like Rome had a better water system than 21st Century Britain if the descriptions in the book are accurate…I enjoyed the effort the narrator gave to giving different accents to different characters. I think it would repay repeated listens to get all the detail. I’d be tempted to get this as a hard copy as well.

Another great Falco story

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