I could see much scope for overturning clichés, especially when doing so can be a joke. The classic private eye is a loner, a man with the sketchiest past—recent war service usually—in which he may hint that he was a hero so we believe he can win his fights. This tough cynical figure is normally remarkable for having no visible family, at best beset by some stormy divorce, but never boasting parents or siblings, a home town, or schooldays. It seemed to me that Falco had to be provided with the absolute antithesis; a rampaging Italian family headed by a forthright mother—a matriarch furiously on the loose in this supposedly patriarchal society. Family responsibility was a duty for a Roman male, and I wanted him to have the right preoccupations—even when he is trying hard to avoid them. How was I to know that this would be so popular? My hero’s troubled, troublesome relatives, his loyal friends and his devious foes, his neighbours in the baking hot alleys around Fountain Court on the Aventine, have become for many readers the best-loved feature of the books. It provides me with tremendous fun as I catalogue the ever-increasing cast and their curious lives. The regular characters—many of whom new readers will meet here in The Silver Pigs—have acquired passionate followers, often supporting the worst reprobates. Even the pets now have their devotees. I am hotly berated if I omit people’s favourites.

Writing about a historical period gave me distinct advantages. The exotic details, social settings and locations instantly make a novel more lively and give it greater depth. Researching these aspects is a pleasure for me; whether it involves books, museums, archaeological sites or travel. In the course of writing the series I have explored backgrounds in Italy, Spain, Germany, Syria and Libya, not to mention parts of Britain where I had never been before. There are also responsibilities. I see no point in writing about the past unless you try to make it as authentic as our current perception of that period may be; otherwise you may as well create your own place and time in science fiction or fantasy. So I do try to be accurate. But this is fiction, which I am writing fast to meet readers’ keen demands, and writing in a daring, innovative way sometimes. Mistakes may creep in; there were a few loose ends and carelessly chosen words due to inexperience in The Silver Pigs. We have discreetly corrected some in this new edition (no, I shall not list them!).