2007; 416 pages. New Author? : Yes. Full Title : Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire. Book #1 (out
of 5) of Ruth Downie’s Medicus series. Genre : Historical Fiction; Murder-Mystery. Overall Rating : 8*/10.
Gaius
Petreius Ruso has woman problems. Women problems, actually.
First,
there’s his ex, who is a world away, but whose nagging still manages to creep
into Ruso’s thoughts. Then there’s the
corpse of a young lady that was just pulled out of the river, who is
unidentified and shorn of all her hair.
Finally, there’s the damaged-goods slave-girl that he got talked into
unwittingly buying.
Curiously, it’s the latter one that will give him the most headaches.
What’s To Like...
Medicus is set in Roman-occupied Britain in the 2nd
Century AD. Ruso is a recent arrival,
and serves in the Roman army as a surgeon/doctor, which in Latin is
‘Medicus’. I found him to be a
well-developed, fascinating character, and enjoyed watching him try to cope
with his many and assorted career, financial, and women woes.
The rest of the crew, who are listed in a handy “Cast of Characters” at
the beginning of the book, aren’t particularly 3-D, but at least they’re
interesting. Valens, Ruso’s roommate and
fellow doctor, is a great supporting character.
Hopefully, he is a “regular” in the series. The book is an ambitious mixture of genres –
Murder-Mystery, Historical Fiction, and Romance.
The Romance stays in the background, which will be a plus for most male
readers. The Murder-Mystery is a
police-procedural. It plods along
predictably, with the question being not so much “Who done it”, as “How is Ruso
going to prove it”. I kept waiting for a plot twist, but it never came.
Frankly,
the Historical Fiction is poorly done.
Anachronisms abound. There are
candles, paper, and underwear – none of which were around at the time. Even worse is the dialogue, riddled with
out-of-place verbiage such as “Bollocks”,
“Oy”, “Right-Oh”, and (You’re another of those medical) “fellers”. I don’t expect the characters to speak in
Latin, but come on now. Fellers?!?!
That
being said, the pacing was good and held my interest. The writing is witty and captivating, which
is no mean feat given the underlying serious themes of slavery, prostitution,
and imperialism. The ending is so-so,
but it does tie everything up. The
Epilogue is fantastic.
Excerpts...
The plump woman,
casually propping one hand under her jaw to disguise her chins, leaned forward
and peered at Ruso. He was diagnosing
short sight as she said, “So, how long have you been in Britannia, doctor?”
“Two weeks,”
replied Ruso.
The woman
appeared to be waiting for more. He felt
there was something else he should add to this reply to pad it out a little,
but since he had fully answered the question he could not think what the
something might be. This was another
reason why he disliked dinner parties. (loc.
2084)
“May you rest in
peace, sister. May you enjoy a better
life in the next world than you suffered in this one. May you forgive us all for not avenging you
sooner and …” He paused to clear his
throat, “and may the dead be kind enough to forgive me for not telling the
whole truth, because I have a duty to the living.”
“Sometimes,”
murmured a girl’s voice, “is good not to tell too much truth.” (loc.
6664)
Kindle Details...
Medicus
Sells for $1.99 at Amazon, which is a nice, cost-effective way to become
acquainted with Ruth Downie and Gaius Petreius Ruso. The
other four books in the series are priced in the $7.39-$9.99 range for the
Kindle. I borrowed this e-book for free
from my local library.
”I’m a doctor, not a fortune-teller.” (loc. 2723)
If
you read Medicus as a Romance, a
Murder-Mystery, or a piece of Historical Fiction, you will probably be
disappointed. But as I read the book, I
kept wondering if such expectations were not the author’s intent.
There
is a lightheartedness to the writing that I haven’t seen from any other writer
in this genre – Lindsey Davis, Ellis Peters, John Maddox Roberts, etc. It’s a pleasant change to have someone treat
a historical setting with wit and humor, while still telling a story that
doesn’t bog down. The ancients weren’t
stodgy and serious all the time. I’m
sure they got drunk, told jokes, palled around, and laughed at both themselves
and other ‘fellers’.
So
treat Medicus like it’s an airport
novel (aka
“beach read”), and enjoy the ride.
Ignore the inaccuracies and colloquialisms; they’re there to enhance the
storyline. If you want to read something
more serious along these lines, any of the aforementioned authors are highly
recommended. But Ruth Downie seems to
have carved out her own little niche, and I think it’s a pleasant broadening of
the literary choices in this genre.
8 Stars. Subtract 2 stars
if you’re a stickler for historical accuracy.
Add 1 star if you read this on an
airplane or at the beach.
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