A review by rosannelortz
Ode to a Banker by Lindsey Davis

4.0

In Ode to a Banker, Lindsey Davis tackles both the publishing and the banking industries in ancient Rome. Aurelius Chrysippus, a tasteless Greek who owns a Scriptorium, approaches Marcus to see if he would like to self-publish his poetic scribblings. Outraged that he would be expected to pay the costs of the “printing” himself (ah, vanity publishing!), Marcus storms away, only to find out that the odious Greek must have outraged someone else that day too. Aurelius Chrysippus’ corpse is discovered beaten to a pulp with the finial of a scroll shoved up his nose, and Petronius Longus (chief of the vigiles) subcontracts Marcus to investigate. As he interviews disgruntled authors, an old first wife, a young second wife, and a spoiled son, Marcus discovers that Chrysippus had fingers in more than one pie. He also owns a bank, entitled the Golden Horse, and his shady business deals there may have run him into more trouble than his lack of literary taste at the publishing house.