This first installment of a historical mystery series is touted as one of the best books on Ancient Rome. It is set in Deva(Chester), Britannia we follow a medicus, doctor who on his recent arrival to this city is confronted with numerous dead females.

This should tick all my boxes, debut novel, way to learn about Ancient Rome in an entertaining way and mystery guaranteed to be light enough reading. Well, it is light reading, but the tone and content is best described as a modern sensibility squeezed onto well-researched history on Roman occupation. And the modern colloquiums kept pulling me out of the narrative. I will be a bit more forgiving about the mystery development because it is a debut. But it was frustrating to have clues continuously mentioned and dropped by events that didn’t advance the plot.
Despite these glaring faults, the author did set up characters that I could revisit from time to time.

So overall, a potential gem of a series which could be great once author improves her craft.
A generous 3 star rating, it’s more 2.5. And I suggest getting from the library or used book before committing to buying the entire series.