
Persona Non Grata was Ruso and the Root of All Evils,Ĭaveat Emptor was Ruso and the River of Darkness -īut SEMPER FIDELIS, TABULA RASA, VITA BREVIS, MEMENTO MORI and PRIMA FACIE only have one title each - hooray! Terra Incognita was Ruso and the Demented Doctor, Medicus was Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls,

Since she is unable to wind back time, British readers may find it useful to know that: Ruth is still wondering how this ever seemed like a good idea. *The first four books have all had two titles. Downie, but she isn't the person with the same name who writes medical textbooks, and recommends that readers should never, ever take health advice from a two thousand year old man who prescribes mouse droppings.

A combination of nosiness and a childish fascination with mud means she is never happier than when wielding an archaeological trowel. Ruth is the author of nine mysteries* featuring Roman Army medic Gaius Petreius Ruso and his British partner Tilla. Despite our hero's best efforts to get himself fired as investigator, he and his bride find themselves trapped at the heart of an increasingly treacherous conspiracy involving theft, forgery, buried treasure, and the legacy of Boudica, the Rebel Queen. While Tilla tries to comfort Asper's wife, an anonymous well-wisher is busy warning the couple to get away from the case before they get hurt. 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. And the council of the town of Verulamium is bickering over what's become of it. Of course, there's also something else missing: money.

But it isn't the kind of work he'd had in mind-Ruso is tasked with hunting down a missing tax man named Julius Asper. Ruso and Tilla, now newlyweds, have moved back to Britannia, where Ruso's old friend and colleague Valens has promised to help him find work. In her fourth novel, Ruth Downie brings to life the corruption and treachery of Roman-occupied Britain, as it closes in on her leading man, Gaius Petreius Ruso.
