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.