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Medicus

A Novel of the Roman Empire

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Medicus

By: Ruth Downie
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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About this listen

 Gaius Petrius Ruso is a divorced and down-on-his-luck army doctor who has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. His arrival in Deva (more commonly known today as Chester, England) does little to improve his mood, and after a 36-hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to a moment of weakness and rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, from the hands of her abusive owner.

Now he has a new problem: a slave who won't talk and can't cook, and drags trouble in her wake. Before he knows it, Ruso is caught in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of prostitutes working out of the local bar.

A few years earlier, after he rescued Emperor Trajan from an earthquake in Antioch, Ruso seemed headed for glory: now he's living among heathens in a vermin-infested bachelor pad and must summon all his forensic knowledge to find a killer who may be after him next.

Who are the true barbarians, the conquered or the conquerors? It's up to Ruso (certainly the most likeable sleuth to come out of the Roman Empire) to discover the truth. With a gift for comic timing and historic detail, Ruth Downie has conjured an ancient world as raucous and real as our own.

©2007 Ruth Downie (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc. Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Ancient Rome Ancient History

Critic Reviews

"Downie's auspicious debut sparkles with beguiling characters and a vividly imagined evocation of a hazy frontier." (Publishers Weekly)
"Fans of Alexander McCall Smith will delight in this series debut set in Roman-occupied Britain and featuring wry army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso." (Booklist)
All stars
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Great narration, it was never jarring and remained constant. story was well crafted, it moved along painting a vivid and good ending.

A+ presentation A + voice great character portral

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I really enjoy these books, I have listened to the books numerous times! The way the characters stumble along is so realistic!

The narration definitely fits the "Roman" style!

I love the characters

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the story's good and overall quite interesting. the characters are likable which helps a great deal! the narrater reads well too.

good characters

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I really like this, it's a refreshingly different tale of ancient Rone and though I appreciate this is a work of fiction the vague historical facts twisted into the tale are a great idea.

ER meets Midsomer Murders meets ancient Rome

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I listened to this novel on Audible as it was free with my subscription and I like a good historical fiction novel.
I'm glad I did, as it's well written and well narrated.
If you are in the mood for a whodunnit novel that is not too dark and has warmth and heart at the core of the story, with some interesting tellings of life in the time of the Roman Empire thrown in, then this book will not disappoint.
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Four stars from this reader.

Enjoyable Historical Fiction Crime Novel

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A very entertaining story full of puns and wonderful witticisms. I enjoyed it very much

Entertaining who done it

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very entertaining and funny. the main characters struggle with the army and a foreign people was brilliant.

fascinating and funny

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This was beautifully read by Simon Vance but the story was an awful mills and boon of a Roman Doctor who buys a beautiful slave who he falls in love will. Spare me.

Mills and Boon

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