Lindsey Davis biography

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Readalikes

Lindsey Davis

Lindsey Davis

Lindsey Davis Biography

Lindsey Davis was born and raised in Birmingham, read English at Oxford, then joined the civil service. After thirteen years, her first novel (which she'd written for herself) was runner-up for the Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize, which encouraged her to leave her job and try to become a writer.

She had romantic serials commissioned for Woman's Realm, then changed to writing about the Romans with The Course of Honour, the remarkable true love story of the Emperor Vespasian and his mistress Antonia Caenis. Her research into imperial Rome then inspired The Silver Pigs, the first in the Falco series about a Roman informer in the AD70s, which has now attracted a devoted readership.

The Silver Pigs won the Authors' Club Best First Novel for 1989, and Davis was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library in 1995. In 2011 she was awarded the Crimewriters' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement.

From the author's website

Lindsey Davis's website

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Interview

In two separate essays, written by Lindsey Davis, she discusses how she came to write the Falco series and how the locations, plots and even the character of Falco himself ('Sam Spade in a ratty toga'), have developed during this long-running series.

I have been writing now for over fifteen years, though it has passed in a flash. I always wanted to write historical novels, which were what I primarily read as a girl, but I never intended to cover the Romans. My interest was the political history of England in the Seventeeth Century and I did begin my published career with romantic serials about the Civil War for 'Woman's Realm'.

The Romans came later - first the love story of the Emperor Vespasian as seen through the eyes of his mistress Antonia Caenis in 'The Course of Honour' and then my Roman detective, Marcus Didius Falco. Falco began as something of a joke: would it be possible to place a forties-style private eye two thousand years ago? Rome at that time seemed an ideal alternative to the big metropolitan settings of so may 'gumshoe' novels - a huge, dangerous, colourful city that saw itself as the centre of the world. It was full of characters on the make - and really did have men called 'informers', who hid behind pillars listening for information they could sell, or who actually took people to court in order to receive compensation like modern 'ambulance chasers'.

So Falco was born, a wise-cracking cynic, ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Lindsey Davis at BookBrowse
Master and God jacket Nemesis jacket Alexandria jacket Saturnalia jacket
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Readalikes

All the books below are recommended as readalikes for Lindsey Davis but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose readalikes

  • Ruth Downie

    Ruth Downie

    In 2004, Ruth Downie won the Fay Weldon section of BBC3's End of Story competition. Her first novel, Medicus and the Disappearing Dancing Girls was published in the UK in 2006, and in the USA in 2007 (as simply Medicus). The ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Accusers

    Try:
    Medicus
    by Ruth Downie

  • Diana Gabaldon

    Diana Gabaldon

    Diana Gabaldon is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Outlander novels.

    The series is published in 26 countries and 23 languages, and includes a nonfiction companion volume, The Outlandish ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Accusers

    Try:
    Lord John and The Private Matter
    by Diana Gabaldon

We recommend 8 similar authors

View all 8 Readalikes

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