The Graveyard of the Hesperides Albia, a widow, works as a "delatrix" (a detective or private informer) in ancient Rome, like Falco. The cover of the UK hardback edition has an image of a golden apple with a silver leaf, resting on a marble surface with a few drops of what appears to be blood, and it carries the strapline: "A Flavia Albia Novel". The American hardback edition has a colourful image of a woman walking away between classical columns. The plot features sex workers, bones, wedding planners and lentils. In Greek mythology, the Garden of the Hesperides is the garden of the goddess Hera
The Arm of the Starfish evokes the historical Macrina's scar, which her brother Gregory writes about in his "Life of Macrina". Classical names used in the book include Polyhymnia, the fictional Portuguese island of Gaea, named for a Greek goddess associated with the Earth, and Typhon, the deadliest monster in Greek mythology and the legendary "Father of Monsters." Finally, the names of Kali Cutter and Joshua Archer are significant. Kali is the name of the Hindu goddess of change, power and destruction, while the girl's surname indicates that she and her father have the power to cut (i.e., wound) others, both figuratively and literally. Joshua,