Desperate Undertaking: Lindsey Davis

Rome, the very end of December. The Field of Mars is packed with monuments, none more beautiful than Domitian`s new Odeon and Stadium. But the area has been overtaken by ugly events: elaborately staged murders. Someone bears a spectacular grudge against the theatrical community, and intends to get revenge in the most spectacular way possible. The killer`s method is to re-enact bloody scenes from the gruesome side of popular theatre, where characters in plays really die on stage.
A figure from the past wants Flavia Albia`s father to investigate, but Falco is out of Rome for the holidays. Albia seizes the commission. And begins to regret doing so almost immediately. `The undertaker did it!` the first victim croaks before expiring. This seems to make no sense, because surely people are already dead when they go to their funeral?
Though there is a serial killer at large, the authorities would prefer a cover-up but Albia is driven to discover what is going on. How much blood must be shed before the mania ends? And could her own family be on the list for a frightful stage death?