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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
This was another good mystery and, as always, I enjoyed the relationship between Ruso and Tilla. Several other familiar characters showed up and the focus on the local families was also interesting.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ruth Downie's writing is like the very best imported confection - marvellous, rich and to be savoured at leisure!
Once again she has presented her readers with a literary treasure filled with complex characters, loads of gentle humour and courage aplenty, all laced together with political intrigue that would leave the Roman senate in the dust! Best of all, her plots remain unpredictable, even after 6 novels.
Once again she has presented her readers with a literary treasure filled with complex characters, loads of gentle humour and courage aplenty, all laced together with political intrigue that would leave the Roman senate in the dust! Best of all, her plots remain unpredictable, even after 6 novels.
Brilliantly evoked Roman Britain setting, great mystery and continuing excellent characterisation. One of my favourite crime authors.
Satisfying. Pertinax makes a good terrible patient. Tilla continues to find that her identity is located neither in the community she came from nor with the Romans but in both. Loved all the family developments in every direction. I was wondering what would happen once Virana had her baby...
Ruso and Tilla are back up in northern Britannia where a rumour has it that there's a body buried in Hadrian's wall-in-progress.
Downie's writing is consistently solid, and I really enjoyed this latest addition to the series. It follows the familiar format of Ruso stumbling into the middle of a mystery - helped along by Tilla's meddling. He then proceeds to bumble around for 200 pages until, in the final few pages of the book, the mystery largely solves itself. It makes the series a little less than satisfying as a procedural because there's little to follow on - when I can't guess the answer, it's because all the salient information is being withheld.
There's humour in this format, though. Ruso is building a reputation as a crime solver, and yet he actually does very little. Tilla is the more active agent, and much of the most important comes through her investigations. Beyond that, it is Ruso's reputation that positions him to receive the information he needs for the mystery to be resolved.
The real appeal of the series is the setting, and how beautifully Downie is able to bring it to life. The world of these novels feels populated, and even background characters have tangibility. The world also plays out in our two main characters and how they interact and negotiate each other's cultural differences (and the differences really are cultural, because both are as stubborn and curmudgeonly as each other, much as they might protest otherwise).
I was concerned about how the couple's infertility would play out, and had some concerns that Tilla would suddenly find herself pregnant after receiving the marriage blessing. I shouldn't have worried, not after how deftly Downie handled the issue of religion in Persona Non Grata. She is very deft at navigating fraught themes. Getting a replacement baby from Virana skirted the groaning border, though. The choice to give up her baby isn't contrary to Virana's established character, but it still would have been nice to see a little more build up. As it was, there was really only the mirroring with Conn's fiancée's refusal to do the same. Still, it's easy enough to see how the decision would have made sense to Virana, so I'll accept it. And it'll be interesting to see how the addition of a baby to the family changes the dynamic between Ruso and Tilla.
Overall, I found this to be a fine addition to the series. I actually bought Tabula Rasa when it first came out, but was afraid to read it and no longer have it to look forward to! But with Vita Brevis coming out soon, I took a chance and was not disappointed.
Downie's writing is consistently solid, and I really enjoyed this latest addition to the series. It follows the familiar format of Ruso stumbling into the middle of a mystery - helped along by Tilla's meddling. He then proceeds to bumble around for 200 pages until, in the final few pages of the book, the mystery largely solves itself. It makes the series a little less than satisfying as a procedural because there's little to follow on - when I can't guess the answer, it's because all the salient information is being withheld.
There's humour in this format, though. Ruso is building a reputation as a crime solver, and yet he actually does very little. Tilla is the more active agent, and much of the most important comes through her investigations. Beyond that, it is Ruso's reputation that positions him to receive the information he needs for the mystery to be resolved.
The real appeal of the series is the setting, and how beautifully Downie is able to bring it to life. The world of these novels feels populated, and even background characters have tangibility. The world also plays out in our two main characters and how they interact and negotiate each other's cultural differences (and the differences really are cultural, because both are as stubborn and curmudgeonly as each other, much as they might protest otherwise).
Overall, I found this to be a fine addition to the series. I actually bought Tabula Rasa when it first came out, but was afraid to read it and no longer have it to look forward to! But with Vita Brevis coming out soon, I took a chance and was not disappointed.
Some crime series start strong, but peter out as none of the subsequant ideas are as good as the others. This is not one of those. This is the sixth outing with Ruso and Dalaghdacha for Downie, and it was a pleasure from start from finish, the atrongest entry yet as Downie's confidence with these characters settles. Downie jas also settled into a style that shifts between absurd humour and pathos much more smoothly, poking fun at her characters while never letting them cartoony or less than heroic.
She works these flaws well in the plot too. Characters as impulsive and sometimes obtuse as these allow a flexibility in driving the action forward. One problem in crime fiction can be that despite our heroes best efforts, things need to get worse in the first half of the book. Downie neatly solves this by having protagonists who believably make things worse, while allowing them to learn, correct course and resolve within genre norms. The tension between them - making it totally believable that they would pursue opposing courses of action - is both great to read and helps this.
Downie' willingness to let her heroes be flawed also extends to allowing them to be reflective of the societies they are from. Many historical crime fiction series rely on a POV hero who reflects largely modern values. Downie eschews that approach, allowing the tensions between different cultures to allow for critique, but acknowleding the uncomfortable reality of social support for slavery, torture as entertainment and rigid gender roles, while allowong her Romans and Britons humanity.
Great example of the genre. Want more!
She works these flaws well in the plot too. Characters as impulsive and sometimes obtuse as these allow a flexibility in driving the action forward. One problem in crime fiction can be that despite our heroes best efforts, things need to get worse in the first half of the book. Downie neatly solves this by having protagonists who believably make things worse, while allowing them to learn, correct course and resolve within genre norms. The tension between them - making it totally believable that they would pursue opposing courses of action - is both great to read and helps this.
Downie' willingness to let her heroes be flawed also extends to allowing them to be reflective of the societies they are from. Many historical crime fiction series rely on a POV hero who reflects largely modern values. Downie eschews that approach, allowing the tensions between different cultures to allow for critique, but acknowleding the uncomfortable reality of social support for slavery, torture as entertainment and rigid gender roles, while allowong her Romans and Britons humanity.
Great example of the genre. Want more!
The latest instalment in the series. This time at Hadrian's Wall and a murder (what else), a body in the Wall? An added feature and the main story is a missing British boy from a local tribe. At the end the boy is recovered and returned, with the help, it seems of most of the Roman administration of Britain. All is well.
An entertaining read, an amusing look at life in Roman Britain. The animosity between the Romans and the Brits is amusing. Also, the alluded to the question of the Wall. Why was it built?
An entertaining read, an amusing look at life in Roman Britain. The animosity between the Romans and the Brits is amusing. Also, the alluded to the question of the Wall. Why was it built?
Ruso's new clerk is missing and may or may not have been buried inside the wall Hadrian's army is building across Britannia. A young boy, who did not see the body being buried in the wall, is also missing and presumed kidnapped. And Tilla and Rusa are to have their marriage blessed by Tilla's family if only the Britons and the soldiers can stop bickering long enough to pull it off.
Brilliantly evoked Roman Britain setting, great mystery and continuing excellent characterisation. One of my favourite crime authors.