Customer Reviews

Caveat Emptor: A Novel of the Roman Empire (Roman Empire Novels)

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Ruth Downie takes her "Medicus" series to a new level of complexity and intrigue with "Caveat Emptor". This fourth book in the highly entertaining series set in Roman-ruled Britain in the Second Century AD has protagonist Gaius Petreius Ruso and his now-wife Tilla back in Londinium after a long visit to his family home in southern Gaul. Ruso, no longer an army medic, is looking for work and reluctantly accepts an assignment from the Procurator of the province to investigate the disappearance of a tax collector and a substantial amount of tax revenue from the nearby town of Verulamium (modern St. Albans). With Tilla and the missing tax collector's wife and child in tow, Ruso moves his investigation to Verulamium, to all appearances a very law-abiding and largely Romanized settlement where the local Britons talk with Babbit-like pride about their town and province. The town fathers are not happy about the possibility of criminal scandal that has come with Ruso the Investigator, and as the bodies of the tax collector and his brother turn up, civic hostility becomes increasingly dangerous for Ruso and his family and colleagues.

Author Downie has crafted a very clever plot that is slowly revealed through Ruso's investigation in classic police procedural fashion albeit in the historic context in which the mystery is set. The conclusion is never predictable and is revealed only in the last few pages of the book.

While the plot is clever and skillfully spun out, what I liked even more about "Caveat Emptor" was the growing complexity of the characters. The relationship between Ruso and his Briton wife Tilla is extremely complicated. To be sure, there are masculine/feminine differences at work, but this is also a pairing of two extremely different people, coming from two very different cultures (cosmopolitan vs. tribal). The two are shown to be strongly committed to each other, but they are rarely in agreement about anything--their lives together, relationships with others, how to investigate a crime, etc. That personal tension is consistently written into the entire run of the story and, for the most part, strengthens it and brings a sense of historic reality to the tale.

I also thought that Downie provided a good balance of mystery story vs. historic detail in "Caveat Emptor". The plot had a modern feel to it, with its emphasis on human relationships, greed, petty power struggles, and bureaucratic bad behavior. But there is enough historic material here--living conditions, Roman medicine, transportation, burial rites, tribal relationships, etc.--to make the story original and entertaining for the reader who chooses this genre for those qualities.

A very fine book in a good series that gets more interesting with each successive episode. Recommended.

If you like your Romans with a sense of humor, a gift for understatement, and an ability to go with the flow, you'll love Ruso. He and his assorted friends, Romans and countrymen are a welcome addition to the ofttimes strictly by-the-book cast of characters to be found in other series of the Roman empire. Downie's characters and plots continue to expand and grow with each wonderful addition to the series.

I'm a total sucker for Roman mysteries. Medicus came my way a few years ago through a Deseret Industries store in Price, Utah. I wanted something to read (pre-Kindle days), and $1 seemed like a bargain for a newish book. I loved it, and I've been a Ruth Downie follower ever since. Caveat Emptor was a fine read. The plot got a bit convoluted, as Downie's tend to, but I'm OK with that, especially since the Ruso and Tilla relationship grows more tender. I re-read the final two chapters several times, because they are textbook examples of understatement and tenderness from a talented writer. I'm ready for another book, because we have to find out where in the world of Roman Britain the fates will take this self-deprecating, yet still-dynamic duo.

Missing tax collectors, stolen tax money, murder, corruption, warring tribes, political intrigue in Roman Britain, and a possible link to Boudica... sound interesting? It probably would to most fans of historical fiction and mystery; however, this book may not be to everyone's liking. Lovers of Ruth Downie's Medicus series will no doubt rejoice while others may wonder why they should bother reading the series.

In Caveat Emptor, the fourth installment of her Medicus series, Downie returns her hero Gaius Petreius Ruso the Medicus and his new wife (and ex-slave) Tilla to Roman Britain where they plan to start their new life together. Ruso's old friend Valens has promised to find work for him, but much to Ruso's disappointment, Valens was unable to find him work as a doctor. Instead, he secured Ruso a position as an investigator for the Procurator's office looking into the disappearance of a local tax collector named Julius Asper, his brother, and the town's taxes owed to the Roman government. As Ruso grudgingly pursues the investigation, the bodies keep piling up and the investigation quickly becomes more and more complicated with a wide range of characters involved.

While the two central characters, Ruso and Tilla, are both relatively well developed, most of the characters in Downie's novels remain flat and elusive, and at best they seem like simple characters from a novel and not real people. Even though Ruso and Tilla seem fully developed when compared to other characters in this novel, they are still difficult to understand at times. In fact, the biggest mystery in the novel may be their very relationship and the fact that they are even married. At one point, Tilla refers to her husband, Ruso, simply as "the Medicus" (the Doctor), which comes off rather awkward (or is that just a result of their relationship in general?). Did wives in Ancient Rome refer to their husbands as "the Doctor" or "the Wine Merchant," or is that just an old habit from Tilla's days as a slave earlier in her life. Regardless, these two can often feel awkward together, which leaves readers wondering if they will be able to continue their lives together in any future novels by Downie.

Without a doubt, Ruth Downie has her own style of writing, and it is clear in this book that she has fully developed her style. The writing and development in this novel seem much more natural, especially when compared to the first book in the series and her first novel, Medicus. In that book, many of the descriptions and dialogue felt rather contrived, while those in Caveat Emptor have a simple, natural flow that is much easier to read. Some of the best moments in Caveat Emptor come during the friendly banter between Ruso and Valens, but unfortunately Valens only rarely makes any appearances. It may also help Downie that by now she has provided the basic historical setting and character development and therefore does not need to include it in this book, whereas a large portion of Medicus was setting up the background, in which Downie provided many interesting facts about second century Roman Britain. Without the need to provide background description, Downie is able to focus more on the central mystery and can move the plot along quicker; although it may still be too slow for some. And while the loss of historical detail and descriptions may disappoint some readers (myself included), it may make Downie's work more accessible to a wider audience.

While Caveat Emptor may have a few drawbacks, Downie is still able to transport readers to second century Roman Britain, which should delight many historical fiction fans. It is good to see Ruth Downie becoming a more confident writer, and it should be fun to watch her further develop her skills in future works.

Back in Britain after a stay in Gaul, Gaius Petreius Ruso hopes for a comfortable situation as a doctor. Instead, his Londonium friend wangles him a job as an investigator. The town of Verulamium always pays its taxes on time and is hoping for a visit from the Emperor himself. But a woman arrives in Londonium claiming to be the (very pregnant) wife of the tax collector who has gone missing--along with the tax money. Missing locals isn't a huge problem, but missing taxes is a big deal. Ruso finds himself packed off to Verulamium with the instruction to find the money (finding what happened to the missing tax man is not nearly as important).

Ruso finds a well-run city. Its guards are well-equipped and polite. The local politicians are politicians...loud, self-centered and opinionated, but much like politicians anywhere. Even his chief suspect seems to be a nice enough fellow, in his own way. Still, the money is missing and it doesn't take Ruso long to discover that the missing tax man isn't just missing, he's been murdered.

Author Ruth Downie creates an engaging historical mystery. The reluctant investigator makes for an interesting character while Ruso's wife, Tilla, threatens to steal the limelight with her opinions, her solution to the noisy rooster next door, her willingness to stick her neck out for others, and her desire for a child. Downie gives us a convincing look at a province at the edge of Roman rule, where tribal customs remain strong and where Romanization remains incomplete.

CAVEAT EMPTOR is part of a continuing series. It is the first book in the series that I've read and can be enjoyed independently.

Those who have followed this series will be pleased by this latest addition. The characters stay true to themselves instead of devolving into sappy fantasy or historically inconsistant roles. Ruso and Tilla are finally married and return to Britain to try and carve out a new life for themselves. Yet again the pair are drawn into other peoples problems and are stuck trying to make sense of what is really going on. The process of solving this ancient mystery illuminates both Roman and tribal British life and the historical accuracy makes for a good read. This series gets better with each installment.

My husband and I have a new historical "hero" in the form of Medicus, the Roman surgeon to the army that find itself isolated in the land of barbsrians, Britannia.
This the is fourth novel in the series that adds color to the historical period of Roman Occupation in the form of characters, mysteries, relationships, mystique and myth of the Britons/Celts (known as the blue-faced savages). This is a very good read with locale and historic information of the period used as a backdrop for a story that is very modern in its narrative. Cannot wait for the next book by Ruth Downie! JCK

This series started out with book one "Medicus" that was a long tough read that grew on me...a bit.

I was recently presented with the first 3 books of this series that deals with a Roman "doctor" who starts out in the Roman army and finds himself unwillingly saddled with a slave woman and a set of mysteries to "solve." An interesting idea started out as a difficult book to read. I found it hard to feel any empathy for the main character of Ruso, in fact, he felt to me more like a secondary character than the leading man. Too much of an attempt was made for the "historical" setting which only bogged down the very long novel to a degree where I almost abandoned the first book a third of the way into it. Set in Roman Britain, we deal with cold, damp, dirty fort life, buying and selling of slaves, prostitution, etc. If the second book had not been sitting on my coffee table, I would certainly never have bought it after struggling through the first one with my opinion of Ruso not much changed.

In the second book, Ruso goes home to Rome where we are introduced to his family and the following catastrophes that occur. There is an underhanded "foreclosure" procedure underway, a missing relative involved in a theft, various family disagreements, etc. In this and other regards, the dialogue is almost completely modern, something that I am certain rankled with many a "historical" reader. That does not bother me so much (few of us read ancient Latin and we are talking FICTION here, the definition of which many seem to have forgotten) as the females of Ruso's household. They are disrespectful, whinny, and completely annoying. No Roman female could get away with acting like they do. For the sake of "historical setting" we are given a gladiatorial scene, a bumpy cart ride to a dirty dangerous port town, and a strange introduction to Christians for no reason I could fathom. Again Ruso seems inept and a secondary character in his own story.

In Book three, Ruso marries his slave woman and goes to Gaul to solve a crime for his new boss. Again, modern dialogue and modern sensibilities mixed in with missing tax collectors and other things. Tilla, the now married yet cold, illiterate, slave woman, appears more intelligent and self assured than a well educated Roman male--hard to believe--and is given a larger role in the story than is acceptable. Poor Ruso, alas, is still (IMO) a secondary character in his own story.

The series does continue from here, but I will not be following Ruso's misery any farther. I am ambivalent as to recommending this series. If you want a novel with a semi-historical Roman setting and you don't mind all the immoral things that went only with that time period, you might pick this series up. Don't expect a fast read or one where you can easily identify with one of the characters.

This is the third or fourth book in this series that I have read, and I continue to find it amazing how this doctor/investigator continues to try to solve mysteries when he is such a complete idiot when it comes to understanding people. This is not a flaw in writing; it is very well written. It is a character flaw in Ruso himself, which is a sign of very intelligent writing. This man does not understand people, and yet he continues to successfully solve cases. This case, like several of the previous ones, takes a long time to get to its conclusion, but when it does, the book wraps up well, and you get the satisfaction of knowing you read a good mystery which was solved in the end. This is an entertaining book, which also gives a nice glimpse into the world of the Roman Empire.

I enjoyed "Medicus" and found the characters and the setting interesting. "Caveat Emptor" is significantly below the standard of the first novel. The story is just not very engaging, and I frankly did not care about the fates of the characters or the solution to the "mystery".