The eighth gripping novel in the bestselling Medicus series, in which Ruso and Tilla investigate the death of the wife of Ruso’s friend in the sacred hot spring of Aquae Sulis.A scandal is threatening to engulf the popular spa town of Aquae Sulis (modern-day Bath). The wife of Ruso’s best friend, Valens, has been found dead in the sacred hot spring, stabbed through the heart. Fearing the wrath of … Fearing the wrath of the goddess and the ruin of the tourist trade, the temple officials are keen to cover up what’s happened. But the dead woman’s father is demanding justice, and he’s accusing Valens of murder.
If Valens turns up to face trial, he will risk execution. If he doesn’t, he’ll lose his children.
Ruso and Tilla do their best to help but it’s difficult to get anyone–even Valens himself–to reveal what really happened. Could Ruso’s friend really be guilty as charged?
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Ruth Downie’s Best Yet
I’m not a verified purchaser, because I obtained my copy the old fashioned way — borrowed from a local public library.
The novel opens with a deadly fire in an inn in Aquae Sulis. When the flames are extinguished and activity starts to settle down, a young woman stabbed through the heart is found in the sacred waters of Sulis Minerva. The young woman, Serena, is the wife of Ruso’s friend and fellow legion doctor, Valens. She had been having an affair with Terentius, an architect’s assistant working on the building of a new bath. Terentius is missing. Valens had recently arrived from his posting in the legions. Serena with her two sons have been living with her father, Pertinax, a retired chief centurion whose damaged leg was amputated by Ruso. Pertinax blames Valens for the murder and intends charge Valens with her murder when the Governor arrives in a few days.
Ruso and his wile Tilla and family are living a bucolic life with her tribe 300 miles away. Albinus, his former clerk in the legions, arrives to give Valens the news of the murder. As Albinus’s wife, Virina, is the birth mother of Ruso’s adopted baby daughter, he decides to take the whole family to Aquae Sulis. The storyline takes off from here. As Ruso tries to unravel the truth, it appears that there are more players in this game that meets the eye. This storyline captured my attention, and I felt that I could read another chapter even late into the evening — I mean morning. This is my primary criteria for a high star rating.
The B-storyline was extraordinarily rich in this novel as most of the major characters in this novel are long term characters in the series. The B-storyline merged with the main storyline for much of the novel. For me, this made the whole novel more intimate and enjoyable for me. While this is the eighth novel in this series and even with my previous statement that most of the characters are regulars, I did not see unexplained references that would leave a first time readers feeling that they missed something.
There is not any vulgar language or explicit sex scenes.
Overall, this novel was a most enjoyable read, and, in my opinion, possibly the best yet in this series. If you like ancient Roman gumshoe novels, this novel is a must. If it sounds interesting, give it a try as it is an easy read also. I rate this novel with five stars.
This is probably my most-favourite Roman-era mystery series. I have previously interviewed both protagonists on my blog, and was proud to be a part of the global launch of Memento Mori.
So the short version is: unsurprisingly, I enjoyed it very much. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that while reading the last bits of the book I missed my train stop.
Twice.
So yeah, an amazing novel for anyone who loves the genre.
*** What to expect
Dumped straight into the action, Ruso is visiting ancient Bath in an attempt to clear his friend from a murder charge. Expect the usual twisting plot (you only think you know what’s going on!), engaging fully-fleshed characters, charming and realistic dialogue, well-researched history, and everything you might enjoy in a detective mystery set in Roman Britain.
*** What to be aware of
There are some references to events in past books. This might make some of the characters’ shared history and in-jokes opaque, though you can start reading here without too much issues.
POV alternates between Ruso and his (native) wife Tilla, written in the 3rd person. Somewhat less common for detective stories, but I find that Ms Downie does an amazing job of both presenting each with a unique voice whilst still tantalising the reader with disjointed bits of information.
*** Summary
You can read my review of the whole series here. Most of what I said there stands for this volume as well. This is an excellently written, amazingly well-researched historical mystery, with charm and wit like no other. Whether you are a long time fan of Ms Downie or whether this is your first encounter, I highly recommend Memento Mori. Get your copy today!
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Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: a story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic – for lovers of Ancient Rome, Detective Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
A great read, like all the books in this series. I hope there will be more stories featuring Tilla and Ruso.
With almost every book in this series, I put it down thinking, “This was the best one.” This installment was no different. Some scenes seemed a bit roundabout and repetitive, but overall the story just keeps pulling you through. Ruso’s snarky comments are pure gems, and Tilla’s take-no-guff attitude toward her husband is delightful.
I really like historical fictions and ones set in Ancient Roman are really fun!