Ruso and the River of Darkness (Medicus Investigation 4)
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Engrossing and clever . . . looks set to complete a hat-trick of hits for Downie (News of the World )
Product Description
Ruso is back with a brand new mystery. And it doesn't take long before he fears for his life . . .
Gaius Petreius Ruso and his newlywed wife Tilla have moved back to Britannia, where Ruso's old friend and colleague Valens has promised to help him find work. But it isn't the kind of work he'd had in mind - Ruso's tasked to hunt down a missing tax man named Julius Asper.
Of course there's something else missing: money. And the Council of the town of Verulamium is bickering over what's become of it. Compelled to delve deeper by a threat from his old sparring-partner Metellus, Ruso discovers that the good townsfolk may not be as loyal to Rome as they like to appear.
While Tilla tries to comfort Asper's wife, an anonymous well-wisher warns the couple to flee before they get hurt. But it doesn't take long until Ruso and Tilla find themselves trapped at the heart of an increasingly treacherous conspiracy . . .
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The life of an army medic in 2nd century Brittania never ran smooth, but newly wed to an irrascible headstrong British wife, a dead father who borrowed heavily and placed the family in debt to contend with, as well as currently having no job this guy has a few problems of his own to mull over without becoming ensnared within the machinations of investigating tax fraud and murder on behalf of the local arm of Roman government.
This is a new series of historical detective fiction that is beginning to develop quite nicely. having read the first three (even though No 3 in the series is pretty difficult to get hold of at the moment, unless you've a spare arm and leg - got mine from amazon.com). There are parallels with Davis's Falco beginning to develop: i.e. the shadowy figure of the Roman equivalent of MI5 threatening family (shades of Anacrites), friend Valens and his dysfunctional marriage (Lucius Petronius), intelligent headstrong wife (Helena) and a cast of others in the background that will I'm sure provide some comic relief in the books to come.
The cast of characters is good, the book well plotted with a few twists and turns. It's more light reading than some books of this genre that try to fit stories around actual events and people but is certainly enjoyable.
You do need to have some of the background to the characters to appreciate the nuances and understand what are effectively asides, but it can be read as a stand alone novel and it's certainly worth buying the others to fill in the gaps.
Well worth a denarius or two. I'm looking forward to No 5. If you are buying from the USA you need to check the titles, as the series in the US goes under different titles to the British version and you may inadvertently end up duplicating books: i.e This book in the US goes under the title, Caveat Emptor.
This is a new series of historical detective fiction that is beginning to develop quite nicely. having read the first three (even though No 3 in the series is pretty difficult to get hold of at the moment, unless you've a spare arm and leg - got mine from amazon.com). There are parallels with Davis's Falco beginning to develop: i.e. the shadowy figure of the Roman equivalent of MI5 threatening family (shades of Anacrites), friend Valens and his dysfunctional marriage (Lucius Petronius), intelligent headstrong wife (Helena) and a cast of others in the background that will I'm sure provide some comic relief in the books to come.
The cast of characters is good, the book well plotted with a few twists and turns. It's more light reading than some books of this genre that try to fit stories around actual events and people but is certainly enjoyable.
You do need to have some of the background to the characters to appreciate the nuances and understand what are effectively asides, but it can be read as a stand alone novel and it's certainly worth buying the others to fill in the gaps.
Well worth a denarius or two. I'm looking forward to No 5. If you are buying from the USA you need to check the titles, as the series in the US goes under different titles to the British version and you may inadvertently end up duplicating books: i.e This book in the US goes under the title, Caveat Emptor.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved this. Britannia is believably grubby and corruption abounds. The Romans are just as tribal and corrupt in their own sneering way and Ruso and Tilla are trapped in the middle trying to come out alive.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Frantic confusion greets the opener of Downie's latest and a cliche to boot. Obviously any novel with a British woman of the first century A.D. must depict her as "six feet tall, red hair in a mass of rat's tails[...]of the Iceni" Just need a bit of blue woad to complete the Hollywood portrayal. Anyway, the confusion arises from our cliched Iceni (who's Boudicca's great grandaughter) arriving at the tent of the nephew (name of Firmus) of the laid up procurator to declare the tax-collecting father of her unborn child - one Julius Asper - is missing along with his brother, Julius Bericus, then promptly going into labour.
Luckily, Tilla and Gaius Petreius Ruso are on hand, having returned married from a sojourn to the family estate in "Ruso and the Root of All Evils", pleasantly chatting with Valens just in time to help out. Tilla delivers a baby, Ruso gets sent off to Camulodunum to locate the missing relatives. Trouble is, the pair wandered off with a load of cash and were last seen near a river. Having no luck and finding himself pressured by Tilla's fervent attempts to produce a child for him he gets ready to trot off to Verulamium this time only to be told the missing husband is now deceased. Sans money. Cause of death - difficult to tell. At least he was found in a mansio with a mysterious piece of paper referring to "Room XXVII".
Ruso is ordered by the Procurator to find the money and somewhat reluctantly commences a murder investigation against a background of Roman Imperial bureaucracy that is impressive in its ability to refuse to take responsibility for a corpse. The appearance of Camma's cuckolded husband, Caratius, the Catuvellauni magistrate, throws a motive into the mix pretty quickly. Ruso's got his own problems though, with the reappearance of Metellus and accusations of Tilla stealing money from the army. Their only recourse is to accompany Camma home. Tilla to try and sort out the future of mother and child, Ruso to try and figure out what actually happened. It's difficult trying to find a murderer when no one actually wants to give the truth about the Julian pair's activities. Once in Camulodunum Ruso is in a river with vying currents of taxation, coin forgery, buried treasure and political chicanery. He finds himself manipulated to produce a result that satisfies both Rome and the local populace. A result that isn't a case of "honesty wins the way", rather an astute report of what has happened to prevent embarrassment. Downie does give us the full picture surrounding the likes of Dias, Gallonius, and Caratius. We conclude with our Medicus declaring he's had enough of private investigation and would happily revert to a medically quieter life. I suspect, though, this is precisely the opposite of what Downie intends for our sleuth.
The Ruso series are developing somewhat interestingly. With each novel Downie's writing drops into new depths to the point this latest isn't merely airport fodder but deserves careful consideration in reading solitude. The mechanics of plot can no longer be glossed over, the climax isn't so obvious once half way through and Downie injects a sense of reality into the sleuthing that briskly sidesteps the Agatha Christie-esque denouement. If you've only read the first two mysteries and find them lightweight then persevere. Downie shows promise, marching the ascent to the likes of Gregory or Saylor or Davis. It remains to be seen if the author will arrive at the summit gasping or effortlessly.
Luckily, Tilla and Gaius Petreius Ruso are on hand, having returned married from a sojourn to the family estate in "Ruso and the Root of All Evils", pleasantly chatting with Valens just in time to help out. Tilla delivers a baby, Ruso gets sent off to Camulodunum to locate the missing relatives. Trouble is, the pair wandered off with a load of cash and were last seen near a river. Having no luck and finding himself pressured by Tilla's fervent attempts to produce a child for him he gets ready to trot off to Verulamium this time only to be told the missing husband is now deceased. Sans money. Cause of death - difficult to tell. At least he was found in a mansio with a mysterious piece of paper referring to "Room XXVII".
Ruso is ordered by the Procurator to find the money and somewhat reluctantly commences a murder investigation against a background of Roman Imperial bureaucracy that is impressive in its ability to refuse to take responsibility for a corpse. The appearance of Camma's cuckolded husband, Caratius, the Catuvellauni magistrate, throws a motive into the mix pretty quickly. Ruso's got his own problems though, with the reappearance of Metellus and accusations of Tilla stealing money from the army. Their only recourse is to accompany Camma home. Tilla to try and sort out the future of mother and child, Ruso to try and figure out what actually happened. It's difficult trying to find a murderer when no one actually wants to give the truth about the Julian pair's activities. Once in Camulodunum Ruso is in a river with vying currents of taxation, coin forgery, buried treasure and political chicanery. He finds himself manipulated to produce a result that satisfies both Rome and the local populace. A result that isn't a case of "honesty wins the way", rather an astute report of what has happened to prevent embarrassment. Downie does give us the full picture surrounding the likes of Dias, Gallonius, and Caratius. We conclude with our Medicus declaring he's had enough of private investigation and would happily revert to a medically quieter life. I suspect, though, this is precisely the opposite of what Downie intends for our sleuth.
The Ruso series are developing somewhat interestingly. With each novel Downie's writing drops into new depths to the point this latest isn't merely airport fodder but deserves careful consideration in reading solitude. The mechanics of plot can no longer be glossed over, the climax isn't so obvious once half way through and Downie injects a sense of reality into the sleuthing that briskly sidesteps the Agatha Christie-esque denouement. If you've only read the first two mysteries and find them lightweight then persevere. Downie shows promise, marching the ascent to the likes of Gregory or Saylor or Davis. It remains to be seen if the author will arrive at the summit gasping or effortlessly.
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