Desperate Undertaking Explained

Desperate Undertaking is a historical crime novel by British writer Lindsey Davis, the tenth in her Flavia Albia series.^[1] It was published in the UK on 7 April 2022 by Hodder & Stoughton ^[2] and in the United States on 27 July 2022 by Minotaur Books .^[3]

The tale is set in Rome in late December 89 AD, set in and around the Field of Mars, and involving murders among the theatrical community.^[4] It is divided into parts, of varying lengths, with titles "Laureolus", "Pasiphae", "Oedipus Rex", "Medea", "Selurus the bandit king of Sicily", "Orpheus or possibly Daedalus", "Aeschylus", "Jason" and "The Girl from Londinium".^[5]

The cover of the first UK hardback edition shows a damaged bas-relief carving of a seated man contemplating a theatrical mask which he holds in his outstretched hand. The image is of part of "Relief of a seated poet (Menander) with masks of New Comedy, 1st century B.C.–early 1st century A.D.", held by the Princeton University Art Museum.^[6] The American cover shows a girl in a white and purple tunic looking towards a Roman theatre while clutching a large dagger.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly wrote that the novel "reinforces Davis’s place at the top of the Ancient Roman historical subgenre".^[7] Kirkus Reviews and the Historical Novel Society also gave favourable reviews.^{[8] [9]}

Notes and References

1. Murphy . Jane . 2022-06-01 . Desperate Undertaking. . . English . 118 . 19-20 . 36–37 . Gale.
2. Book: Desperate Undertaking. 6 October 2021 . Hodder & Stoughton. 9781529354713 . 15 March 2022.
3. Web site: Desperate Undertaking . Macmillan . 15 March 2022.
4. Web site: Desperate Undertaking . Lindsey Davis . 15 March 2022 . 1 October 2021.
5. Book: Davis . Lindsey . Desperate Undertaking . 2022 . Hodder & Stoughton . 9781529354713 . 1, 77, 181, 277, 311, 355, 375, 389, 399.
6. Web site: Relief of a seated poet (Menander) with masks of New Comedy (y1951-1) . artmuseum.princeton.edu . 10 April 2022 . en. Identified in an acknowledgement on the dustjacket
7. Web site: 26 April 2022 . Desperate Undertaking: A Flavia Albia Novel by Lindsey Davis . 2024-10-27 . Publishers Weekly.
8. Web site: May 10, 2022 . DESPERATE UNDERTAKING . 27 October 2024 . Kirkus Reviews.
9. Web site: Ashworth . Mike . August 2022 . Desperate Undertaking (Flavia Albia) . 2024-10-27 . Historical Novel Society.