One Virgin Too Many

by Lindsey Davis Book 11 in the Marcus Didius Falco series.

First published 1999

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4.1(3,262)

After receiving a minor public office connected with Rome's sacred geese, Falco becomes involved in disputes among priestly families. A member of a religious brotherhood is murdered and a child considered for selection as a Vestal disappears.

The investigation moves through institutions protected by tradition and family influence. Falco must locate the missing girl and identify how rivalry over sacred appointments has been used to conceal violence.

Religious office gives the suspects unusual protection because appointments are bound to elite family prestige and civic ritual. Falco cannot treat the priesthoods as ordinary professional organisations without risking political offence. The missing child makes that deference impossible, forcing him to test whether sacred tradition is being used to conceal motives that are entirely human.