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Mar 25, 2009

Carre rated it:

Five stars, five, and again five! Hurray for Medicus: it's the page-turner I've been looking for for a long time. I read it in an entire day because I couldn't put it down.

Set in Roman Empire-era Brittania, this is the story of reluctant hero , Gaius Petrius Ruso, a doctor in the local army hospital, who turns detective very much against his will. Humorous, lighthearted, colorful... This is Downie's first novel, and I hope she's planning a whole series of Ruso mysteries!

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2010

Laura rated it:

I loved this book! Our hero, Medicus, a doctor in ancient Roman-occupied Britain, is a fascinating and totally lovable guy. The book jacket compares him to young Harrison Ford, and I think that's perfect--surly, oblivious to his own charm, professional, and totally adorable underneath a mildly prickly exterior. The writing somehow makes it easy to imagine living in Deva, Brittania (an area in a period I know nothing about) and all the characters are well-written and very engaging. I am really lo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 29, 2009

Ann rated it:

Medicus is what I call a 'popcorn' book: a book to pick up and settle in with for an evening's cozy reading. Entertainment value: 5 stars, but several months from now I'll have a hard time remembering much beyond the main characters: Gaius Petrius Ruso, a physician stationed in Brittania with the Roman army, and Tilla, the slave girl he reluctantly purchases from an abusive master. Ruso, long suffering, wry, and a humanist doomed to be forever caught up in other people's suffering despite his at More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 12, 2009

Kassandra rated it:

...The back cover made it sound so interesting and original - like a historical fiction mystery with men in short tunics with great senses of humor. It's really about a lonely, rather boring medicus (doctor) for the Roman Empire stationed overseas who stumbles upon a whorehouse, a couple of missing girls, and some bad oysters. Of course in the mix there is a beautiful, resilient, implausible slave girl - who was possibly once royalty or a healer or ???. Did I mention the doctor is in debt trying More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Rebecca rated it:

Medicus is full of surprising twists and turns which lead to a somewhat unexpected ending, and somewhat predictable ending. Two military doctors in Roman England compete with each other to receive a promotion. One doctor is in the trade for the money and notoriety only, while the other does it because he believes in it and needs the money desperately. The two doctors live together and are in constant opposing views on any topic which comes up in the town they are stationed in. Good character dev More...

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Sep 24, 2011

Marfita rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Sep 13, 2011

Jacqie rated it:

This is the first book in a lovely series. I inadvertently started with the last book and have hopped my way around. While I enjoyed this book, it suffered a bit of the unevenness of some first books. We meet our medicus, Tilla, Valens, and Albanus. The fact that our hero really wants nothing to do with solving any murder, and keeps getting dragged back into the situation, is amusing. I liked the details of Roman life, the hobnailed boots, the bad wine, and the dicey situation with British t More...

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Sep 12, 2011

Lucinda rated it:

Medicus (2007, APA: Medicus and the Disappearing Dancing Girls, Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls) introduces Gaius Petreius Ruso, a Roman army physician in second century Roman Britain, who has transfered to the 20th Legion in the remote Britannia port of Deva (now Chester, England) to start over after a divorce and the death of his father have left him with a huge pile of debts. When a dish of bad oysters disables one of the other doctors, Ruso works a two-day shift at the hospital, incl More...

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Mar 16, 2011

Lilian rated it:

In classic mystery form, the novel opens with a dead body. But for the first third it reads more like a literary novel and even the rest of the book is driven, not so much by suspects, investigation, danger relating to the crime, but by the character of the characters. I couldn’t put it down. If Downie can sustain the quality of writing throughout the series, I will be seriously impressed.

Medicus is about a doctor in ancient Britain under the occupation of the Romans. Gaius Petreius Ru More...

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Feb 05, 2011

Libtechgurugoddess rated it:

I picked up this book because it's a mystery set in ancient Roman times, though based in Brittania. The hero is Gaius Petrius Ruso, but he refers to himself as simply Ruso. He's an army doctor for the Roman Empire. I like his quiet irony and self-effacement, although he's obviously more intelligent and observant than most of the people around him. Solving the murders seems to be almost a side story, compared to the fascinating minutiae about the Roman army and life as a doctor in ancient Britain More...

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Dec 12, 2009

D.w. rated it:

So what's not to love. We have a doctor who is just trudging along, be set by a large amount of burdens from his fathers debts to his divorce. We have a setting which is not the fast paced Londinium, but Deva, (Chester) a little out of the way, a little backwoodsy, a little slow.

But this book opens so well. A coroners inquest, so we have a body, right at page one. But hey, this is the back end of the empire. Who cares.

No one, and that is part of the problem that holds this ba More...

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May 01, 2009

Valorie rated it:

Medicus: : A Novel of the Roman Empire by Ruth Downie is about a divorced and female wary Roman doctor named Ruso who quite simply has terrible luck. First, he finds himself the owner of a very expensive and wounded female slave named Tilla who can’t cook or obey any orders. Second, a dead prostitute from a local bar that sells poison oysters is found floating in a river and Ruso somehow finds himself in the middle of the investigation. And third, yes, there is also a third, Ruso’s family in More...

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Nov 29, 2011

Shawna rated it:

I enjoyed it. Took a bit to get into it, but the story pulls you in. Entertaining, but not amazing.

I did find my first "dog barked" line in this, though! (since reading the article: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/cultu...)

Page 279:

He passed through the gates and made his way across the open area that supported the fort from the civilian buildings. At this time of night the town was little more than a huddle of angular shapes illuminated by the occasion More...

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Jul 10, 2011

Laura rated it:

Gaius Petreius Ruso serves as a military doctor during the Roman occupation of Britannia, dealing with his over-meticulous hospital administrator, his wounded and mangled patients, and an unclaimed dead body washed to shore. And not just a dead body but a murdered body. During a moment of sleep-deprived vulnerability, he manages to pick up a half-dead slave girl who won't talk and can't cook, and winds up investigating the mysterious deaths of several prostitutes.

Ruso is a grumpy, ta More...

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Jun 30, 2011

Terence rated it:

Reading Medicus I’m put in mind of Colin Cotterill's Siri Paiboun series. In both two men more devoted to their jobs than anything else find themselves reluctantly involved in murder investigations. In both we have a comedic more than tragic writing style that still manages to inject notes of seriousness along the way – in Medicus, it’s a reflection on slavery and sex trafficking.

Medicus is not a “heavy” read, however. It’s a very nicely written, moderately complex murder mystery set More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Sep 09, 2009

Lynn rated it:

I see some of the other folks below reacted to this book as I did: it was a page turner, but I won't be likely to remember I even read it in a few months (or next week). I, too, found the main character kind of boring. He was a good guy, but not a very interesting one. I didn't feel a connection with the character, which I really need to do to love a book. It was really a modern mystery novel set in Roman Britain. The trappings of the Roman Empire were there, but not the spirit or really the und More...

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Aug 30, 2010

Heather rated it:

I have had great luck with historical mysteries this past year! First I stumbled on Mistress of the Art of Death and then Crocodile on the Sandbank. Now Gaius Petreius Ruso joins the historical detectives I must continue to follow.

Ruso is a medicus, a doctor in the Roman Army, newly assigned to the province of Britannia. He is down on his luck – divorced, inheritor of his late father’s massive debt, and soon-to-be investigator in a murder his superiors want nothing to do with. To More...

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Jan 24, 2011

Tom rated it:

Set in Britain under Roman rule, circa 1st century, AD, "Medicus" follows Gaius Ruso - legionnaire, doctor and reluctant detective. Divorced with a lot of family money problems, Ruso becomes the unwilling owner of an injured slave. This gets him wrapped up in a lot of intrigue at a local pub.

While I set out to enjoy the historical setting, the story took only superficial cues from it. This murder/mystery could have been told in any other time period or location with only More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 12, 2010

Abraham rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2010

Minsma rated it:

I loved this book. Told with heart and a great deal of humor, it had me buying the sequel before I’d even finished the first book. Gaius Petreius Ruso, the hero of the story, is a doctor, known as a medicus, for the Twentieth Legion stationed in Deva (current day Chester) in Roman Britain ca 178 AD. He’s a wonderful, well-rounded character: a man burdened with debt from his profligate farm family back in Gaul who is trying to earn a living as best he can and get the family out of trouble. He’ More...

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Jul 24, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

This is an engaging series. I had read Medicus when it was new and just reread it because, after reading #3 Persona non Grata I couldn't remember the original plot that brought the medicus and Tilla together. It was just as enjoyable on second read--complex and entertaining enough that it still seemed fresh, and I went to the library to get the second book Terra Incognita just to complete the experience. Downie's Roman empire is well-researched, but her knowledge doesn't intrude into the story i More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Ruth rated it:

c2006. First published as Medicus and the Disappearing Dancing Girls and then under this title in 2007. The 465 pages went really quickly and it was a delight to read. It had me chuckling away to myself and the plot was great. I had some inkling who the "perp" was but nothing definite. I loved the character of Ruso and the historical detail was dealt with by a deft and light touch. The Times reportedly said "Ruso will be a hit even if he wears socks with his sandals" and I ca More...

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Aug 16, 2009

Doug rated it:

This was a fun read and I'm looking for the next in the series. Anyone who enjoys the Lindsay Davis novels about M. Didius Falco, private detective in ancient Rome, will probably note that Ms. Downie is not the master storyteller that Ms. Davis is. However, for a debut, I was impressed with her grasp of the formula and by all of the extras which she wove in to the narrative thread.

In summary, our hero, Gaius Petreius Ruso, is a medical officer in the Roman army, stationed in More...

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Feb 06, 2011

Johnsergeant rated it:

Narrated by Simon Vance

11 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

Gaius Petrius Ruso is a divorced and down-on-his-luck army doctor who has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. His arrival in Deva (more commonly known today as Chester, England) does little to improve his mood, and after a 36-hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to a moment of weakness and rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, fro More...

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Apr 20, 2011

Emily rated it:

Asterix meets McDreamy in this wanly imagined mystery about a doctor in Roman-era Britannia. I spent most this book pondering the strangely modern feel of Ruso's everyday life and work at the hospital doing rounds and clinic. Was this a carefully wrought statement about the commonality of experience through history (à la Wolf Hall) or just a failure of historical imagination? I quickly came to suspect the latter. There are a couple of nice touches here--Ruso's pesky scribe, his debts overseas--b More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 08, 2011

J.R. rated it:

Gaius Petreius Ruso, a doctor with the Roman Legion, comes to Britain in hope of opportunity for promotion and a better financial situation. He’s left behind an unappreciative wife but is burdened with family responsibilities and pursued by creditors.

He soon discovers Britannia is bleak, his quarters are squalid, his roommate is competing for the post he wants, and the hospital administrator is a bureaucratic oppressor.

Ruso is dour and serious. He’s also compassionate, a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 17, 2009

Sensitivemuse rated it:

Medicus is a mystery taking place in Ancient Rome (to be specific, Britannia). It features Gaius Petreius Ruso, a doctor working at the army hospital. He's i Britannia for a reason; to run away from several personal issues and to fix some (ie; family debt). Throughout the novel he's constantly plagued with a lot of misfortune and a lot of bad luck. He just happens to be at the wrong places at the wrong times. Ruso comes across and unwillingly takes a slave named Tilla who has her own plans up he More...

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Mar 14, 2011

Susan rated it:

Life in Roman Britain is a challenge for Gaius Petreius Ruso, an army doctor or Medicus, transferred from service in the Middle East. Instead of scorpions, he's dealing with damp and lowlife. Divorced and responsible for saving the family farm in southern Gaul, Ruso faces heavy financial responsibility and few funds with which to live, yet somehow he has bought a slave whose one arm is badly broken and needs to be reset and otherwise requires care and rest!

The author presents a somet More...

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Jan 23, 2011

Smokinjbc rated it:

Medicus is a novel about a down-on-his-luck army doctor, Ruso, in Brittania at the beginning of Emperor Hadrian's reign. Dead prostitutes keep turning up and although no one much cares. Ruso attempts to solve the puzzle, causing more problems than he solves for the most part. Although deeply in debt, he manages to acquire a sick, suicidal slave and plans to get her on the road to recovery and sell her to help his family estate.

I liked the characters of Ruso and his roommate Valens, More...

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Aug 29, 2009

Janene rated it:

I won the 3rd of this series here on Goodreads, and one to never read a series out of order, had to reserve the first 2 from the library. Medicus is the first in the series and I like it very much so far..and not far into it.

I finished Medicus after several sittings. Was the 'mystery' very mysterious? No. Was the 'romance' very romantic? No. Was this a book that was impossible to put down? No.

Were the charactors very well written and entertaining? Yes. Did I ca More...

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