''A Capitol Death'' is a historical crime novel by British writer Lindsey Davis, the seventh in her Flavia Albia series. It was published in the UK by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

on 4 April 2019 () . The tale is set in November AD 89 on the

Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Roman Forum, Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn (mythology), Saturn. The wo ...

, and includes a death by falling from the Tarpeian Rock, a stinking family of shell-fish boilers who produce the imperial purple dye, the preparations for

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

's double triumph, family relationships, and

augury Augury was a Greco- Roman religious practice of observing the behavior of birds, to receive omens. When the individual, known as the augur, read these signs, it was referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" () means "looking at birds". ...

, while Flavia and her husband are setting up their new household. The cover of the UK hardback 1st edition shows a sea shell, likely to be the dye-producing

bolinus brandaris ''Bolinus brandaris'' (originally called ''Murex brandaris'' by Linnaeus and also Haustellum brandaris), and commonly known as the purple dye murex or the spiny dye-murex, is a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, an edible marine gastr ...

, on a purple, perhaps bloodstained, background. In an interview with her editor Oliver Johnson, Davis discussed her successful plan to base a series of books on the

seven hills of Rome The seven hills of Rome (, ) east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the city. Hills The seven hills are: * Aventine Hill (Latin: ''Collis Aventinus''; Italian: ''Aventino'') * Caelian Hill (''Coll ...

, starting with the

Aventine Hill The Aventine Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills. I ...

and reaching the Capitoline Hill with this latest book.

References

Novels set in ancient Rome British historical novels Flavia Albia novels 2019 British novels 21st-century British novels Hodder & Stoughton books Novels set in the 1st century St. Martin's Press books {{2010s-crime-novel-stub