He wasn't planning on getting involved. He had his own problems after all, but someone had to ask questions about the dead girl...
Ruso is an army doctor (medicus) recently arrived in early second-century Britain. The setting comes alive in all it's grittiness, and we quickly learn to care about the plight of Tilla, wonder what Merula and Bassus are really up to and despise the penny-pinching Priscus who seems to have more power than he should. A Good Read.

The biggest problem with the book - and I think I read this in a review, so it is my own damn fault for not listening: SO many anachronisms. Despite the reminders that we were in ancient roman britannia, it never really felt like it. The author's note at the end made me feel a little better about some of the things that felt out of place (or really too modern) for me, but I still couldn't "believe" we were in the ancient roman empire. I've never read anything placed in this era, and I thought it would be great to try something new. I was just too distracted by things that didn't seem fit into that period of history as I understood it. Character development was lacking in some regards. The "mystery" part was okay. I didn't completely see it coming, but I wasn't surprised either. I don't think I thought enough about it to try to figure it out ahead of time. It was just okay. I'd maybe try the second book before giving up on the series all together...

Decent enough book. Interesting setting (Roman Brittania). Plotting was slow, solution was pretty obvious; given the nastiness of the character you knew he was being set up to be the villain. But I did like the hero, Ruso, and his relationship with the slave girl Tilla might turn out to be fun. I have the second in the series from the library. I will go on to it, but not right away.

A good historical mystery. The main character is a buffon (in a good way), pretty funny, good characters.

Really enjoyed this one - a satisfying mystery of ancient Britain (under Roman rule). I liked the details of medical science of the time, as well as the character development. Am looking forward to the next one in the series.

Mystery and romance, set in Britain during the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Features a cranky young army doctor, some of whose values are probably anachronistically modern. The plot advances primarily because he does things that fly in the face of common sense and doesn't notice stuff that is right in front of his face. Since he's narrating, and the reader notices what he does not, the book makes the reader feel smart. Part serious and part silly. Characters are well fleshed out.

Well narrated by Simon Vance (who sometimes annoys me, but not in this book).

The author includes an afterword in which she explains which aspects of the novel are historically based and which are made up.

I plan to read the next book in the series.

Note, the novel includes slavery and I felt ambivalent about the neutral to positive attitude that the sympathetic characters have toward slavery. The author does make it clear in her afterword that her own viewpoint is more negative.

I love reading about ancient Rome. This novel is about a doctor named Russo who is stationed in Brittania. While there he ends up buying a slave who was injured and helping her recover. He also unwillingly becomes sort of a detective when he is brought a murdered slave girl. A very interesting story and it is set in Ancient Rome so what could be better. I will enjoy reading on in this series.

Solidly charming with humor, an appealingly dense hero and a good sense of place. Pace was good but I got a bit impatient with the last third, could have been boiled down. Inspired by Falco? If not they are an unintentional paean to Lindsey Davis. I may not be completely cured of murder mysteries after all. Or all but the ancient roman ones? Oy.

Doctor Gaius Ruso is serving with the Roman Legion in Britannica when two unexpected things happen: the body of an unknown woman is brought to his hospital when no one else is available to take responsibility of it and he acquires a female slave when he saves her from a beating in the street. Ruso reluctantly becomes embroiled in the mystery of the dead woman while also trying to control and communicate with his new slave.

I don't know much about this period of history, so I'm not sure how historically accurate this is. Downie's book immediately captured my interest and I found it to be extremely interesting. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.