A Capitol Death

{{Short description|2019 historical crime novel by Lindsey Davis}} {{use DMY dates|date=June 2024}} {{use British English|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox book | italic title =  | name = A Capitol Death | image = File:A_Capitol_Death_cover_UK_2019.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Cover of 2019 UK first edition | author = Lindsey Davis | audio_read_by = | title_orig = | orig_lang_code = | title_working = | translator = | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = UK | language = | series = Flavia Albia | release_number = | subject = | genre = historical fiction, crime fiction | set_in = | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | publisher2 = St. Martin's Press | pub_date = 4 April 2019 | english_pub_date = | published = | media_type = Print, e-book, audiobook, large print | pages = | awards = | isbn = 9781473658745 | isbn_note = | oclc = | dewey = | congress = | preceded_by = Pandora's Boy | followed_by = The Grove of the Caesars | native_wikisource = | wikisource = | notes = | exclude_cover = | website = }} '''''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 on 4 April 2019 ({{ISBN|9781473658745}}) .<ref name="hs">{{cite book|title=A Capitol Death|date=4 April 2019|url=https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781473658745|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|isbn=9781473658745|accessdate=8 April 2019|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408094137/https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781473658745|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-27 |title=A Capitol Death |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lindsey-davis/a-capitol-death/ |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319083349/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lindsey-davis/a-capitol-death/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-24 |title=A Capitol Death by Lindsey Davis |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250152701 |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=Publishers Weekly |archive-date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305082607/https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250152701 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-01 |title=A Capitol Death |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/A-Capitol-Death/pid=9717760 |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=Booklist |archive-date=9 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809230852/https://www.booklistonline.com/A-Capitol-Death/pid=9717760 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The tale is set in November AD 89 on the Capitoline Hill, 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's double triumph, family relationships, and augury, while Flavia and her husband are setting up their new household.<ref name="book">{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Lindsey |title=A Capitol Death |date=2019 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=978-1-473-65874-5}}</ref>

The cover of the UK hardback 1st edition shows a sea shell, likely to be the dye-producing bolinus brandaris, 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, starting with the Aventine Hill and reaching the Capitoline Hill with this latest book.<ref name="hodder-interview">{{cite web |title=Lindsey Davis interview: A Capitol Death and the Flavia Albia series |url=https://soundcloud.com/hodderbooks/lindsey-davis-interview-a-capitol-death-and-the-flavia-albia-series |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |accessdate=10 April 2019 |date=2 April 2019 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029175010/https://soundcloud.com/hodderbooks/lindsey-davis-interview-a-capitol-death-and-the-flavia-albia-series |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}} {{Falco novels}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capitol Death, A}} Category:British historical novels Category:Flavia Albia novels Category:2019 British novels Category:2019 English-language novels Category:Hodder & Stoughton books Category:Novels set in the 1st century Category:St. Martin's Press books