Clara’s Verdict
Lindsey Davis has been writing Flavia Albia — the adopted daughter of her earlier protagonist Marcus Didius Falco — for over a decade now, and Murder in Purple and Gold is a strong entry in the series. I spent a wet Tuesday evening with Jane Collingwood’s narration and the vivid, dangerous world of Flavian Rome, and came away impressed by what Davis does consistently well: she makes ancient Rome feel neither sanitised nor exotic, but lived-in and complicated, with the texture of a society that is recognisably human in its corruption, its loyalties, and its obsessions. The Circus Maximus setting is inspired — chariot racing as the backdrop for a murder investigation gives Davis everything she needs: violence, money, faction politics, and an atmosphere where death is never entirely out of the ordinary.
About the Audiobook
The novel turns on the murder of Lepo, the rising star of the Purples, a new chariot-racing team funded by the Emperor Domitian. Suspicion immediately falls on Agathon, a young competitor from the rival Golds faction, and a lynch mob is forming. The Golds hire Flavia Albia to clear their man’s name. His alibi holds — until it does not — and Davis proceeds through the dangerous glamour of the charioteer world with her usual combination of procedural intelligence and social observation.
The world of chariot racing functions as a wonderful backdrop for a mystery precisely because it is a setting where violence is normalised, where fortunes can change in the length of a race, where the crowd’s loyalties are passionate and irrational, and where powerful men with money to lose are never far away. Davis uses all of this. The Emperor Domitian — described in the synopsis as « psychotic » — looms in the background as a constant threat, and the political stakes of the investigation are real: a chariot team sponsored by the emperor means that clearing a suspect involves navigating the most dangerous patronage network in the city.
The Flavia Albia series, of which this is a later entry, is published by Hodder and Stoughton and typically runs to just under twelve hours of audio. This instalment was released in April 2026, and no listener ratings are yet available. That is simply a reflection of its newness rather than anything to be concerned about.
The Narration
Jane Collingwood has narrated the Flavia Albia series throughout its run, and the consistency is an asset that accumulates over time. Her performance of Flavia’s voice — sharp, observant, occasionally wry, with the professional detachment of a woman who has seen enough of Rome’s underworld not to be easily shocked — is well-established, and returning listeners will settle into it immediately. For newcomers, Collingwood’s confident handling of the ancient Rome setting and the large cast of charioteers, senators, and faction bosses is reassuring. She makes no false moves with the material, and her understanding of how to pitch Davis’s particular brand of historical crime fiction is evident in every chapter.
What Readers Say
No listener ratings are available at the time of writing. Given Davis’s established reputation and Collingwood’s long association with the series, this is a case where the track record of the author and narrator carries more weight than a single novel’s review count. Readers who have enjoyed previous Flavia Albia books can approach this one with reasonable confidence — the combination of setting, investigative intelligence, and narrative voice is consistent across the series. Those new to the series would do well to begin at the beginning with The Ides of April, where Flavia is introduced and the world is established.
Who Should Listen?
The Flavia Albia series is ideal for readers of historical crime fiction who want intelligence and authenticity alongside plot. Davis knows her Roman world deeply — she has spent a career in it — and the Circus Maximus setting makes this particular novel a compelling entry for anyone interested in the social and political world of the Flavian era. The combination of a female investigator, a meticulously realised ancient setting, and mysteries that are rooted in the political and economic structures of Rome rather than simply whodunnit mechanics distinguishes the series from most of its competitors. Existing fans need no encouragement. New listeners should start at the beginning, but this is a series worth beginning.
