Medicus

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… show more.

I’m interested in Roman Britain, but I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. It’s a wonderful read.

The Medicus of the title, army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso, and his resolute British friend Tilla are instantly engaging, while the setting is accurately and vividly drawn.

Downie writes a gripping story that tells us a great deal about the Roman Empire, but she wears her learning lightly. She draws irresistible parallels with the modern world without ever straying into anachronism.

This is such a good story that I read it twice just to try to understand how… show more.

This is the first book in Downie’s Medicus series, a series of crime novels based around Ruso, a Roman military doctor. Ruso finds himself based in Britain, in an attempt to escape his past, and finds himself reluctantly drawn into a series of mysterious deaths of women working at a local bar. He also finds himself unexpectedly buying Tilla, a British woman, to rescue her from her abusive previous owner – so with a new job, a new household, and a new set of questions to answer, he has plenty on his plate. Downie spins an excellent murder mystery and… show more.