Persona Non Grata: A Novel of the Roman Empire (The Medicus Series, 3) - Hardcover

Downie, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1596916095 ISBN 13: 9781596916098

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2009

Synopsis

The third novel in the acclaimed Gaius Petreius Ruso series by the New York Times bestselling Ruth Downie―this time set in ancient Gaul.

Ruth Downie is published as R.S. Downie in the UK, and this book is available there under the title Ruso and the Root of All Evils.

At long last, Gaius Petreius Ruso and his companion, Tilla, are headed home―to Gaul. Having received a note consisting only of the words "COME HO ME!" Ruso has (reluctantly, of course) pulled up stakes and brought T illa to meet his family.

But the reception there is not what Ruso has hoped for: no one will admit to sending for him, and his brother Lucius is hoping he'll leave. With Tilla getting icy greetings from his relatives, Lucius's brother-inlaw mysteriously drowned at sea, and the whole Ruso family teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, it's hard to imagine an unhappier reunion. That is, until Severus, the family's chief creditor, winds up dead, and the real trouble begins…

Engrossing, intricate, and―as always―wonderfully comic, Ruth Downie's latest is a brilliant new installment in this irresistible series. This is everything we've come to expect from our charming, luckless hero.

About this title

About the Author

In 2004, Ruth Downie won the Fay Weldon section of BBC3’s End of Story competition; Medicus is her first novel. She is married with two sons and lives in Milton Keynes, England.

Reviews

The third installment to Downie's Roman Empire series—the second-century saga of a witty and courageous army surgeon, Gaius Ruso, and his smart and loyal lover, Tilla, a barbarian woman from Britannia—continues in gripping fashion. Ruso returns to his family home in southern Gaul, summoned by a forged letter pleading for his immediate return. Once Ruso and Tilla return, Ruso is thrust into a dangerous quagmire involving a missing ship, huge family debts and, before long, the murder of the family's principal creditor—a crafty phony named Severus—who is poisoned in Ruso's home. While Ruso and his family are quickly suspected of the murder, Ruso and Tilla's attempts to solve the crime are hampered by interfering family members, a lying politician, a greedy banker and a pair of too-eager investigators sent from Rome. Ruso and Tilla must also deal with prejudice, envy and a new religion, Christianity. The plotting is clever and suspenseful, with subtle clues and lots of action, while the setting and supporting cast are vividly drawn. This is solid entertainment, nicely done. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1596916095
• ISBN 13: 9781596916098
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368