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A review by topdragon
Medicus by Ruth Downie
3.0
Set in Roman Britannia at the time of Hadrian succeeding Emperor Trajen, this series opener introduces Doctor (Medicus) Gaius Petreius Ruso who has reluctantly transferred to an Army unit in this faraway outpost. He is deeply in debt, mostly through circumstances beyond his control, but is dedicated to helping those in need of his skills. In a moment of weakness, he finds himself rescuing a slave girl from an abusive situation, thinking he can always sell her at a profit and pay off some debt. But other girls are showing up dead or missing and despite his best efforts, Ruso gets drawn into solving the mystery of who’s behind it all.
I’m a bit mixed on my opinion of this first book in the series. Ruso is an interesting character in many ways even though he tends toward a doom and gloom outlook on life. The writing style was fairly absorbing and I found myself wanting to see what happened next. But I found the mystery elements to be less than I’d hoped for. Just not too much to it and, frankly, the romance plot overshadowed the mystery plot. The author also committed one of the cardinal sins of mystery stories (at least for me) when Ruso gets to learn of the identity of the culprit from a messenger but we readers don’t get to hear it. He then acts on this new information, leaving us in the dust. A fair-play mystery, this is not. But it really didn’t matter at that point as the bad guy was pretty evident by then.
The other problem I had was the details of the setting, or lack thereof. This takes place in Roman Britain! What a great setting! But it could have taken place almost anywhere and at any time in history for all the details we are provided. There were a few mentions of Roman lifestyles and culture but the modern-day language used throughout kept putting images of a more current era in my head. In most historical mysteries I’ve read the setting is vibrant and almost becomes another character in itself. A missed opportunity methinks.
Still, there was enough here to coax me to go ahead and try the next in the series. I am cautious but hopeful.
I’m a bit mixed on my opinion of this first book in the series. Ruso is an interesting character in many ways even though he tends toward a doom and gloom outlook on life. The writing style was fairly absorbing and I found myself wanting to see what happened next. But I found the mystery elements to be less than I’d hoped for. Just not too much to it and, frankly, the romance plot overshadowed the mystery plot. The author also committed one of the cardinal sins of mystery stories (at least for me) when Ruso gets to learn of the identity of the culprit from a messenger but we readers don’t get to hear it. He then acts on this new information, leaving us in the dust. A fair-play mystery, this is not. But it really didn’t matter at that point as the bad guy was pretty evident by then.
The other problem I had was the details of the setting, or lack thereof. This takes place in Roman Britain! What a great setting! But it could have taken place almost anywhere and at any time in history for all the details we are provided. There were a few mentions of Roman lifestyles and culture but the modern-day language used throughout kept putting images of a more current era in my head. In most historical mysteries I’ve read the setting is vibrant and almost becomes another character in itself. A missed opportunity methinks.
Still, there was enough here to coax me to go ahead and try the next in the series. I am cautious but hopeful.