"What price? You told me she was lazy and useless." I'll knock a bit off the price for that arm." "If you don't get help for her soon, this slave is going to die. He faces near poverty, a micro-managing Chief Administrative Officer, the loss of his household servants, mysterious deaths of prostitutes from the local bar, a killer, and the unexpected purchase of a beautiful British slave girl, with whom he is trying not to fall in love. * Downie makes Ruso the “mysterious stranger” who rescued the Emperor Trajan from a collapsing building during an earthquake in Antioch but – much to his wife’s disgust – Ruso never parlays it into anything advantageous.Īrmy doctor Ruso is serving in Roman-occupied Britain under very trying circumstances.
Ruth downie books series#
I’m going to head down to the library this weekend and get some more entries in this series – I’ve been reading too many depressing things lately. I’d enjoy seeing PBS or BBC adapt this into a series like Brother Cadfael it practically cries out for it.
Ruso is a man I can identify with and Downie’s writing is engaging and “user friendly” if you’re looking for a diverting, not-too-serious reading experience. Our hero is by no means stupid, he’s a rather good doctor, in fact, but he is often blind to his environment, awkward socially and politically inept*. I enjoyed reading the book because I enjoyed following Ruso as he stumbles along, inadvertently uncovering the clues that lead him to a corrupt and murderous Roman official and the illegal transport of slaves and kidnapped citizens. The mystery isn’t all that complex or hard to figure out. Our put-upon protagonist is Gaius Petreius Ruso, a doctor in the XX Legion, whose marriage has failed (because he was too devoted to his craft and not devoted enough to advancing his career), whose family is drowning in debt and in danger of losing their Gaulish farm, and whose first “mistake” is rescuing a British slave girl from her slimy owner. It’s a very nicely written, moderately complex murder mystery set in the Romano-British town of Deva (modern day Chester) at the beginning of Hadrian’s reign (AD 117). In both we have a comedic more than tragic writing style that still manages to inject notes of seriousness along the way – in Medicus, it’s a reflection on slavery and sex trafficking. In both two men more devoted to their jobs than anything else find themselves reluctantly involved in murder investigations. Reading Medicus I’m put in mind of Colin Cotterill's Siri Paiboun series. Both series have a nice element of humor, although readers who prefer to smile rather than laugh out loud with their mysteries might be more comfortable with Downie's more character-driven style. I do feel that Downie has a better feel for writing from the male perspective, but Davis's Rome is more finely wrought, her plots better developed. Inevitably, I've also got to compare Medicus to Lindsay Davis's very fun and entertaining Falco series, also a detective series set in ancient Rome. Downie does a decent job at bringing her world to life, but the plot and various plot threads are fairly predictable. Ruso, long suffering, wry, and a humanist doomed to be forever caught up in other people's suffering despite his attempts at pragmatism, is the main entertainment here.
Entertainment value: 5 stars, but several months from now I'll have a hard time remembering much beyond the main characters: Gaius Petrius Ruso, a physician stationed in Brittania with the Roman army, and Tilla, the slave girl he reluctantly purchases from an abusive master. Medicus is what I call a 'popcorn' book: a book to pick up and settle in with for an evening's cozy reading. Persona Non Grata was Ruso and the Root of All Evils,Ĭaveat Emptor was Ruso and the River of Darkness -īut SEMPER FIDELIS, TABULA RASA, VITA BREVIS, MEMENTO MORI and PRIMA FACIE only have one title each - hooray! Terra Incognita was Ruso and the Demented Doctor, Medicus was Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls, Since she is unable to wind back time, British readers may find it useful to know that: Ruth is still wondering how this ever seemed like a good idea. *The first four books have all had two titles. Downie, but she isn't the person with the same name who writes medical textbooks, and recommends that readers should never, ever take health advice from a two thousand year old man who prescribes mouse droppings. A combination of nosiness and a childish fascination with mud means she is never happier than when wielding an archaeological trowel. Ruth is the author of nine mysteries* featuring Roman Army medic Gaius Petreius Ruso and his British partner Tilla.
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