Two for Lions

"Two for the Lions," by Lindsey Davis, takes place in A.D. 73. Lindsey Davis' sleuth – informer Marcus Didius Falco – admits he needs a partner and so teams up (to work on a census project) with Anacrites, a man he loathes because of his previous employment as imperial spy. Falco ultimately discovers that working for the Roman Emperor Vespasian means neither a reliable salary nor a secure job, but first Falco and his partner, paid to engage in delinquent tax collection, wind up in Africa solving gladiatorial school murder mysteries.