Set in Roman Britain, this writer wears her learning lightly, but it is never anachronistic and accurate. (Sometimes, I checked and always found that she was right!)
Not quite a crime novel, although crimes happen. But it's also a love story. In fact, it was so good that I read it twice, just to see how she had done it. Hard to categorise, but I went on to read all eight books in the series, avidly.
I love Russo and Tilla; I never grew tired of them. The best historical novels make you feel as though you are there, rooting for the characters. They have stayed with me ever since. A wonderful book and a wonderful series.
Welcome to the most remote part of the Roman Empire. Britannia, AD117 – primitive, cold, damp and very muddy.
The Gods are not smiling on army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso in his new posting in Britannia. He has vast debts, a slave girl who is much more trouble than she is worth and an overbearing hospital administrator to deal with . . . not to mention a serial killer stalking the local streets.
Barmaids’ bodies are being washed up with the tide and no one else seems to care. It’s up to Ruso to summon…
A very original piece of writing - as expected from this author. Not so much a twist at the end as a surprise that - when you looked back - you should have been able to see. An interesting narrator.
This is a psychological thriller rather than a crime novel, and a very fine one.
It was an unusual choice for me. But we'd been watching the old Sharpe TV series with Sean Bean and it was so good that I thought I'd give the books a try. Not my usual choice of novel, but I enjoyed this one very much - accessible and thought provoking - and I will certainly read others. Sean Bean IS Sharpe!
Bernard Cornwell's action-packed series that captures the gritty texture of Napoleonic warfare--now beautifully repackaged
It's 1809, and Napoleon's army is sweeping across Spain. Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is newly in command of the demoralized, distrustful men of the 95th Rifles. He must lead them to safety--and the only way of escape is a treacherous trek through the enemy-infested mountains of Spain.
When young Finn O’Malley travels from Ireland to work at the potato harvest in 1960s Scotland, he forms a close friendship with Kirsty Galbreath, the farmer’s red-headed granddaughter.
The farm becomes a sanctuary for him, but Finn is damaged by a childhood so traumatic that it will be years before he recovers his memories of what really happened at the brutal Industrial School to which he was committed.
For the sake of his sanity, Finn must try to find out why he was taken into care and what became of the mother he loved and lost. Dealing sensitively with the realities of state sanctioned abuse and its aftermath, Bird of Passage is a powerful story of cruelty, loss and enduring love against all the odds.
