Vita Brevis - Ruth Downie

   2016; 366 pages.  Book 7 (out of 8) in the “Medicus” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Cozy Mystery; Rome; Historical Fiction.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

 

    Heads up, Imperial Rome!  Gaius Ruso has arrived!  He’s brought his wife Tilla, and 7-month-old daughter Mara, along with him.  And not much else, other than a bunch of medical equipment, since Ruso is a Medicus (“Doctor”) by trade, and just recently discharged from serving in a Roman legion.

 

    The first thing to do, of course, is to open up a practice and get some money coming in.  He hopes his former military superior, Publius Accius, who’s somewhere in Rome, will put in a good word for him.  Open some doors.

 

    Well, speaking of opening doors, one just did.  Kleitos, a doctor here in Rome just left town unexpectedly, leaving a whole bunch of patients in the lurch and a fully furnished, doctor’s residence.  What a perfect opportunity for Ruso!  He’s moving in today, along with his family.

 

    He plans to set up quickly, and start seeing Kleitos’s patients immediately.  Oh, and he needs to get someone to remove that barrel sitting on the front porch.  It’s sealed, so who knows what’s in it, but it’s stinking to high Olympus.

 

What’s To Like...

    Vita Brevis is the seventh book in Ruth Downie’s (completed) Roman historical fiction “Medicus” series.  I’ve read the first six books, but that was ten years ago.  The series is set in 123 CE, at the height of the Roman empire, although I think this is the first one where Ruso actually sets foot in the capital city.

 

    The mystery angle starts almost immediately; the reeking barrel is left on Kleitos’s porch on page 4, with Ruso making his entrance shortly thereafter.  The chapters are short: there are 76 of them covering 366 pages.  There’s a “Cast of Characters” section at the start of the book, which I found really helpful, due to my 10-year hiatus from this series.

 

    As expected, a relatively simple mystery (what’s in the stinking barrel?) quickly becomes more complex.  Where did Kleitos go, and why?  Why do thugs keep knocking on Ruso’s/Kleitos’s door asking for payment for “services rendered”?  Can Ruso and his former boss patch things up?  Why didn't Kleitos label his potions bottles?

 

    One of the things I love about this series is Ruth Downie’s skill at setting the story in a believable historical epoch.  One example: all cities had “dung carts” in those days.  Horses and donkeys make great beasts of burden as transportation on the streets of Rome, but in a city this size, they generate a lot of poop on a daily basis.

 

    I thought the author’s handling of the sensitive issue of slaver was also deftly done.  The fate of being a slave was a dicey affair.  It all depended on the master.  Slaves also came in all colors., and many of them eventually garnered enough money to buy their freedom.  The medical scenes were also skillfully rendered.   Herbs and potions were of course commonly prescribed, but sometimes surgery was necessary.

 

    The ending is well thought-out.  It’s not filled with thrills & spills, but that's okay.  Instead it's a product of Ruso's deductive reasoning.  And his ingestion of poppies.

 

Kewlest New Word…

Bodge (n.): something that is completed quickly and carelessly.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.4*/5, based on 1,098 ratings and 96 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.13*/5, based on 1,456 ratings and 157 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “And how is your wife enjoying Rome?”

    “She’s very busy with the baby,” said Ruso.

    “Oh, dear, yes.  I heard something about that.”

    “Parenthood is a marvelous thing,” Ruso assured him.  “You should try it yourself.”

    “I’m glad to hear it,” Metellus told him.  “Especially after the rumors.”

    Ruso said, “It never pays to listen to rumors.”

    “Actually, I find it pays rather well.”  (loc. 437)

 

    “Horatia was only one opportunity among many.”

    “That’s all he thought of her?”

    “Don’t be silly, Ruso.  Daughters of rich families are part of the business.  They’re born knowing that.  It’s their duty to contribute, and since they can’t do much else, the least they can do is provide helpful alliances and grandchildren.  Not everyone can marry for love and live on beans like you do.”  (loc. 4348)

 

Kindle Details…

    Vita Brevis presently sells for $9.99 at Amazon, as do the other seven books in the series.  Ruth Downie also has a short story, The Bear and the Wolf, and a novella, Prima Facie, both set in the Roman Empire for your Kindle, priced at $0.99 and $2.99 respectively. 

 

Across the room, Mara put her toes in her mouth and sucked them.  (loc. 1371)

    The profanity is sparse in Vita Brevis, so little of it that I forgot to keep count.  I’m sure there were less than ten instances in the entire book.

 

    The quibbles are negligible.  The only one I can think of is subjective: Ruso can be dense at times.  You might solve the mysteries and the crimes before he does.  Heck, it took him, and Tilla, an unbelievable amount of time to determine why that barrel on the front porch smells so rotten, and why someone wants payment for delivering it to Kleitos's house.

 

    Overall, the plusses far outweigh the minuses in Vita Brevis, and it was nice to read a cozy mystery where the author pays just as much attention to developing the mystery as she does to the "coziness".  There’s one more book in this series, Memento Mori, so I gotta hit the used-book stores to find a copy since I can’t remember the last time I saw Ruth Downie’s e-books discounted at Amazon.

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  Early on, Ruso scrapes up enough money to buy him a trio of slaves.  Two of them evolve into important characters in the story; but the third simply runs away the first chance he gets.  We aren’t even told his name.  I kept waiting for this plot thread to make an impact on the storyline, but it never does.  I’m hoping he shows up in the final book.