I enjoyed "Persona Non Grata", although, like the second book in the series, it's not as good as the great first book.Ruso and Tilla continue to have misadventures, and I appreciated the change of scenery by going to visit Ruso's family in Gaul. The family was quite entertaining and added new dim...
Thoughts on the Overall Book: I'm really glad I gave this book a go, because now I have found another historical series that I really love! "Medicus" is a somewhat quirky, easy to read historical fiction novel, and just the kind of book I love to sit down with before bed. I never thought I would ...
N.B. R S Downie is published in the US as Ruth Downie and this book, "Ruso and the Demented Doctor", is published in the US as Terra Incognita. Army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso is waiting for the gods to smile on him. But, on a posting to the hostile North of Britannia, he's in for a long wait. No...
Back in the kitchen, Tilla wrapped a cloth around one hand, steadying the steaming pot over the fire. Then she hooked a tangle of dripping cloths out of the first rinsing bucket with a stick and lowered it at arm’s length into the hot water. She could hear someone moving about and chased away a f...
“Do.” “The saying that No man minds being proved honest—it is very good. I never heard it amongst the Catuvellauni.” Not even tempted to offer the obvious insult to the Catuvellauni, Tilla said, “Nor I amongst the Brigantes. But when you are foreign you can tell people whatever nonsense you want ...
There were at least three. There was his brother’s sort: the kind where the couple liked each other from the start. There was the sort contracted by the rich and powerful, where the couple didn’t like each other—if they had even met— and probably never would, but the marriage cemented some form o...
They had then wasted time in a desperate search for him, before looking in the sack dumped in the grass behind the house and realizing they were in even bigger trouble than they thought. Ruso’s participation in the search had begun with his joining the huntsmen and dogs at the east gate for a con...
Resting his fingers on a cold wrist with a pulse that was too weak and too fast, Ruso told him that Tilla was praying to the local gods on his behalf. The lad’s cadaverous attempt at a smile of thanks was interrupted by a hiccup. Ruso exchanged a glance with Pera, who had just entered the room. H...
Inside, half a dozen men Ruso did not recognize were sparring with wooden practice weapons under the eye of a trainer. The yard smelled of beef stew, grease, and fear.He made his way across to the surgery, where the assistants were ripping up linen rags and rolling them into bandages. Gnostus was...