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  • Medicus

  • A Novel of the Roman Empire
  • By: Ruth Downie
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (345 ratings)
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Medicus cover art

Medicus

By: Ruth Downie
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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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, from the hands of her abusive owner.

Now he has a new problem: a slave who won't talk and can't cook, and drags trouble in her wake. Before he knows it, Ruso is caught in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of prostitutes working out of the local bar.

A few years earlier, after he rescued Emperor Trajan from an earthquake in Antioch, Ruso seemed headed for glory: now he's living among heathens in a vermin-infested bachelor pad and must summon all his forensic knowledge to find a killer who may be after him next.

Who are the true barbarians, the conquered or the conquerors? It's up to Ruso (certainly the most likeable sleuth to come out of the Roman Empire) to discover the truth. With a gift for comic timing and historic detail, Ruth Downie has conjured an ancient world as raucous and real as our own.

©2007 Ruth Downie (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Downie's auspicious debut sparkles with beguiling characters and a vividly imagined evocation of a hazy frontier." (Publishers Weekly)
"Fans of Alexander McCall Smith will delight in this series debut set in Roman-occupied Britain and featuring wry army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso." (Booklist)

What listeners say about Medicus

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I'm hoping a successor to Falco!

I've been a Falco fan since I first heard the dramatisations of the earlier books on Radio 4 with Anton Lesser (available on Audible, like the whole book versions with a number of narrators of varying quality!). So I've heard them all, and have been looking for another series of historical mysteries especially in Roman Empire times. I don't want just wars, armies and blokes being macho. So some series have been returned to sender!
I don't want Latin chick lit, just some continuing characters I might like or hate.
Ruso seems to fit the bill, so far, and Simon Vance reads well, with a rather neutral English accent which is easy to listen to, but has developed a recognisable accent for the British characters- - sort of mild Ulster or Ulster-Scots diffentiates locals from invaders.
The English hadn't arrived yet!!
Simon Vance has however developed some American pronunciations which come across like an obscenity in a sermon - unexpected wrong notes, like privacy- just a clunk in an otherwise good performance. There does seem to be a tendency for writers of European origin writing about European events to adopt US English, no doubt hoping for bigger sales, Martin Walker's Bruno novels being a prime example, but diversity of language is part of literature!

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting and informative

I am a glutton for a whodunnit! I found that I could put it down but as I listen to them to get to sleep (blocking out all other thoughts) I did keep rewinding. I found the characters well performed and enjoyed it so much that I have downloaded the second novel for my holiday. Appparently, according to reviews, it is even better.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a Wonderful Find...

I took to this audio-book immediately and with great enjoyment. I was extremely pleased. I came to this novel after 25 Falco and Flavia Albia audio-books penned by Linsey Davis. I am pleased to report that on listening to the full 'Medicus' audio-book I added another 3 in the series to my Audible library and genuinely look forward to listening to them. Not a bad advert for someone steeped in Lindsey Davis. This audio-book is very well performed by Simon Vance, with clarity and great character portrayals. He seems to have the main character of Ruso just right. Audible should be thanked for making this novel part of their 'Plus' catalogue; what a great way of sampling new authors. The plot of this novel feels right and focuses on power and subjugation at different levels, I look forward to how a key relationship now develops and how quickly, especially given levels of 'power' between people. Downie's Ruso novels are recommended listening

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An enjoyable listen very well narrated

Interesting to reflect on Roman Britain. The author acknowkedges the fictional elements but fascinating to consider the possible dynamics between locals and interlopers

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Too long, not humorous enough, gormless hero

As above. Might be ok if half the length and not such a clueless hero.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • A
  • 01-05-17

An excellent read.

If you could sum up Medicus in three words, what would they be?

Well worth reading

Who was your favorite character and why?

none -

Any additional comments?

I tried this on recommendation, having read all the Lindsey Davies's as they have been pujblished. I was not disappointed, enjoying this rather diffident, good-hearted character in his British posting. Very good narration, so often these days I am irritated by mis-pronounciations of words, or the use of 'the' instead of 'thee' for the definite article in front of a vowel which seems to have arrived with estuary English. Was not irritated once by this reader.who did great work on the differentiation of characters' voices.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Held my attention from the beginning

The narrator used a range of distinguishable voices to help keep the story clear and flowing. This is a good story enhanced by the telling

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent in all respects

I would recommend this audio story to anyone. I have read all of the Ruso series. This is the first one. The storyline of all of this series is excellent and the characters and the relationship between them so ver believable. The humor is subtle but there and well done

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly fun story.

Never super exciting, never boring, always entertaining. Taking place at a very specific time period, and place, a fun book about the past. There were points where I would think it didn’t make historical sense, such as locals drinking beer, and speaking ‘british’. Other than that, I enjoyed it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting easy listen about Romans in Britain

Good gentle narration. Able to sustain different accents and tone and pace were very good. Story was fine - a bit slow in parts but with a mix of history and crime it was interesting enough. Nice for holidays or long winter evenings. id probably listen to another.

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