See review for book 8.

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... ( )

This is the sixth installment of an entertaining historical crime fiction series set in the Ancient Roman Empire.

It is A.D. 122 and Roman Army medic Gaius Petreius Ruso is now back with the Twentieth Legion after sojourns in Gaul and Britannia. He is currently stationed in Parva at a temporary fort erected to facilitate the construction of Hadrian’s Wall.

Ruso’s clerk, who happens to be the nephew of his former clerk Albanus, goes missing, and Ruso feels an obligation to locate him since he promised Albanus he would look after him. Meanwhile, a local boy claims he saw someone late at night hide a body inside the wall. Then the boy who is suspected of starting the rumor goes missing, and the natives are up in arms.

Ruso feels he must find his clerk and find the missing boy Branan, who is related to Ruso’s wife Tilla. Once again the lives of Ruso and Tilla are at risk as they take separate paths to investigate what is going on. The stakes are high: if a Roman soldier is found to blame for the kidnapping of a local child, the fragile peace between the two groups will be shattered.

Meanwhile, in the background, Tilla is now a trainee medicus, and she and Ruso are also taking care of Virana, a pregnant girl cast out by her family. Virana, perhaps better known to the men on the base than Tilla and Ruso would like, also helps with the investigation.

Evaluation: This book tackles the interesting question of what searching for a missing child might encompass in times before technology could aid in the process. Ruso and Tilla’s relationship continues to evolve, with Tilla clearly in charge in spite of Ruso’s exasperation over that fact. They still have trouble communicating with one another, but the process is aided by knowing each other better, and being able to make assumptions in the absence of clear understanding. Altogether an enjoyable series. ( )

The time period is not commonplace and the characters are charming. I always look forward to what Ruso and Tilla are up to. I love Downie's dry humor. ( )

3.5 stars

This installment of the Roman Medicus series takes places near Hadrian's wall in northern Britain. Ruso's clerk disappears, and then a local boy disappears and there's tension with the natives in the form of demonstrations and the burning of houses.

There were some fun characters in this one, like the hypochondriac centurion Fabius and the pregnant, gossipy Viranna who's always on the lookout for potential husbands.

The novel does disappoint a little with its ridiculously quick and urgent labour and delivery near the end, but I guess the author just wanted to wrap things up. An exact time isn't given, but it doesn't seem like it could have been more than a couple hours.

Anyway, overall the book doesn't disappoint and I'll happily read the next one in the series. ( )