The Jupiter Myth by Lindsey Davis

The provided text consists of excerpts from "The Jupiter Myth," a novel by Lindsey Davis featuring the character Marcus Didius Falco, an auditor who finds himself involved in a murder investigation while on holiday in Britain. The plot centers on the death of Verovolcus, a well-born British man found drowned in a tavern's water source, which quickly exposes a major criminal racketeering operation run by Roman gangsters, including Florius Oppicus and his partner, who are expanding their turf from Rome and Ostia. Falco, aided by his companion Helena Justina and his friend Petronius Longus (a vigiles officer also secretly pursuing the gang), works to solve the murder and expose the widespread extortion scheme, which is marked by businesses adopting Jupiter-themed names to signal compliance. The narrative also includes personal dramas, such as Petronius's grief over the death of two of his daughters and the dangerous involvement of Amazonia (Chloris), a gladiator and Falco's former lover, who becomes an unuseable witness before her untimely death.