Saturday, November 30, 2013

"Caveat Emptor" by Ruth Downie

(cover image from Amazon.com)

Caveat Emptor (2011) by Ruth Downie is the fourth in her historical mystery series featuring Gaius Petreius Ruso, Roman doctor and reluctant investigator, and his British former-slave (now, his wife), Tilla.

I actually finished this a few weeks ago, and I've been meaning to blog about it,... but I couldn't figure out what to say. I enjoyed it, but I have little to add which I haven't mentioned previously about the first three books in the series. If you enjoyed those, you'll enjoy this one (and you should read them in order).

This time, Ruso and Tilla are back in Britannia, but in the South, where the natives are more accepting of Roman rule. Tilla acts as midwife to a British woman whose lover - a tax collector - has disappeared, and Ruso is pretty much blackmailed into investigating the matter, since the taxes went missing, too.

It seems to me that these books are getting more serious as the series goes on. But the main characters are still delightful. Their relationship has slowly evolved, even as their personalities have stayed the same. So there's just enough change from book to book to hold my interest.

Well, as I said, I don't have much to say about this one, so I'll stop trying. If you're a fan of the series, you should be happy with this book. Otherwise, I'd start with Medicus.

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Note: My other book reviews are here.

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