I got to page 100 and decided that this book was not for me.
I found the plot too slow and just couldn't get into it.

Falco is faced with his own mortality. He can't take cases that might kill him or injure him because he has a family to provide for. The adventure shows him thinking about how his past decisions caused suffering to those who loved him. He earns a living from a corrupt system--Rome. He reevaluates what things he is won't due anymore and be worthy of the people he loves. Effective introspection that ends with Falco maintaining his friendship with Petronius.

Ostia is interesting, and the minor queer subplot is fairly well done, though also awkward.

The conventions of the genre tell us that every person we meet and every thread of the plot must be related somehow. In this book, however, there are just too many. A missing gossip columnist, a favorite aunt, a revenge plot, corruption in the builders' union, rivalry between different police precincts and intelligence agencies, an older woman pressed into service by kidnappers, a younger woman in love with one of the kidnappers without really knowing what she's gotten herself into, pirates and smugglers, two different groups of sinister foreigners who sometimes collaborate and sometimes go for one another's throat...I have intentionally used the modern terms for these people so you may ask, as I did, "Is this Ostia and Rome, or Brooklyn and Manhattan?"

As for people being related, we finally meet Marcus's long-lost uncle Fulvius. He has an interesting story of his own, and it's not implausible for him to show up here. But why does nearly every other person from both Marcus's and Helena's families put in an appearance? I suspect it's more in the interests of fan service than because they actually advance the plot.

Despite my earlier comments, you do learn a lot about the setting, the times, and the shipping trades from reading this book. I liked that, but others may skip over paragraphs at a time to get to the action...or to find out more about Marcus Didius Falco as a paterfamilias of a growing clan.

Scandal Takes a Holiday, the next book in the Falco series, follows our intrepid hero to the port of Ostia where he is trying to ascertain the whereabouts of a missing scribe. This is not just any scribe, however–it is Infamia, the celebrated writer of the scandal column in Rome’s official newspaper. In the process, Falco discovers a corrupt builders’ guild, a kidnapping racket, and the unsettling information that Cilician pirates (the ones that Pompey wiped out a hundred years ago) might be plying their trade once again. I “really liked” this one, but it wasn’t “amazing.” Four stars! I’m going to be so sad when I finish reading this series….

I always enjoy the characters, but I didn’t really manage to follow the whole pirate/random storyline.

I read several books in this series long ago and liked it, so decided it was time to go back to ancient Rome and see what Marcus Didius Falco was up to. It took about five chapters before I waded through the dialogue and meanderings reasonably appropriate for the time and began to enjoy my listening time.
Falco is hired to find a scribe who works for the Emperor's newspaper. Scribe's missing and the path leads Falco into other issues that require investigating. One of which is a kidnapping ring that needs to be stopped.
A lot of characters, lots of action, plenty of interesting dialogue. Sort of a like a film noir set in ancient Rome.
I like this series and I'm glad to get back to it. I can recommend this book, series and author.