Caveat Emptor

Ruso and Tilla have arrived back in Britain, newlyweds and in need of a place to live and a job for Ruso. Ruso's old friend Valens, from his army medic days, has found him one--as an investigator for the procurator, to locate the missing tax money, not to mention the missing tax collector, Julius Asper, from the town of Verulamium.

Asper's lover Cama (spelling optional since I listened to the audiobook), traveled the twenty miles from Verulamium to Londinium to report Asper's disappearance and what she believes to be the perfidy of the town leaders. She quickly winds up at Valens' house, giving birth to Asper's baby with Tilla as mid-wife.

Meanwhile, Ruso is tracking down Asper, and instead finding his corpse. That's not nearly so show more unpleasant for Ruso, though he's not pleased, as discovering that his old enemy Metellus is also interested in the case, and also expects a report from Ruso. Soon Ruso is off to Verulamium "to help the town council," and Tilla is also, accompanying her patient Cama and her baby. The tight bond between Ruso and Tilla, and the counterpoint of their disagreement about nearly everything, including marriage, relationships, and investigating crimes, ensures that they are often working at odds even as they have much the same goals in mind.

This is a nicely complex mystery, with enough but not too much Roman and British history layered in, and the continuing growth of Tilla and Ruso as characters. I've enjoyed every one of these stories so far, and I expect to continue doing so.

Recommended. show less

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

The former Roman Army medic Gaius Petreius Ruso is now back in Britannia after a sojourn in Gaul, while he recovered from a broken foot.

Ruso and Tilla are now married. Ruso can’t believe it himself, but had found that he was much happier with Tilla than without her. They are currently staying in the city of Londinium [now London] with Valens, Ruso’s friend and former surgical colleague. Valens had convinced Ruso to come there promising he could get him a job. As it turned out, he did find him a job, but not a medical one. Rather, Valens convinced the procurator that Ruso was a crack investigator who could help find the show more tax collector missing from Verulamium [now St. Albans], just north of Londinium. Not only is the tax collector, Julius Asper, missing, but his pregnant partner Camma came to the procurator to plead for help finding him, and proceeded to begin the birthing process right in the office. Fortunately, by then Ruso and Tilla (a trained midwife) arrived, and Tilla helped deliver the baby. Ruso, meanwhile, got to work on the case of the missing man, and more importantly to the city of Verulamium, it seemed, the case of the missing tax money.

Other complications (besides the usual one of everyone lying to protect themselves) included the possible dissolution of Valens’ marriage, the reunion of Ruso with his former clerk Albanus, who wanted to help him, and revelations about Tilla’s possible inability to have children because of a botched abortion in her past. Tilla wanted to know if Ruso still wanted her as a wife since she may not be able to give him an heir, and so Tilla and Ruso discussed what each other’s expectations of marriage are.

As for Tilla, she declared, ‘What I expected,’ she said… ‘was this man who tries to do the right thing even when it is foolish.’”

An excellent description of Ruso!

Evaluation: Ruso continues to bumble through regular and extracurricular responsibilities, trying to do what is best while everyone else is trying to take advantage of him. As in the earlier books, both Ruso and Tilla get endangered as Ruso moves closer to the truth in his investigations. I am greatly enjoying this series, I love the medical information, and the author also shows us how the class and gender disparities of the time played out, which is always interesting. The series is also starting to weave in elements of the growing appeal of Christianity in the Roman Empire. show less

I've had this Early Review book for a while, but when I received it I realized it was the fourth book in a series, so I went back to read the series from the beginning. I'm glad I did, not only because I've "known" the characters since their first introduction and seen the evolution of various relationships, but also because Downie becomes more accomplished with each book.

Downie's detective, Ruso, a doctor recently released from his service with the Roman army in Britain, returns from his family home in Gaul with his new wife, Tilla, and pauses in Londinium to visit his old friend Valens. Valens helpfully volunteers Ruso to look for a missing tax man, his brother, and the tax monies from the nearby town of Verulamium. Ruso protests show more that he's not an investigator, but he's assigned the job anyway.

Before long Ruso has found one man dead, Tilla has delivered a baby, and they find themselves in Verulamium, where Ruso is accorded a lavish suite of rooms. He mostly doesn't enjoy them, though, because Tilla is staying with the new baby and its unfortunate mother, a princess of the Iceni.

Ruso is of that class of detectives who seems to be blundering around, asking questions blindly with no clue of what really has happened until, finally, he reasons it out and doggedly does his best to put it right, often in the face of official indifference or outright corruption. His decency may be his most notable quality; it's clear that Tilla appreciates it, and through her, we see this about him, too.

I'm naturally curious about when the next book will be along, so I've visited Downie's website and sent her a query about that! Well, a query that also no doubt reads as fan mail, because I'm definitely a fan. show less

The biggest problem with historical mysteries is that once one type is begun, others soon follow--some good, some not as good. However, I have nothing but praise for Caveat Emptor. Ruth Downie's Gaius Petreius Ruso is a worthy companion to Falco and Gordianus the Finder. The setting, 2nd century Britain, is well presented, as are the carious corruptions and other probelems besetting the Romans and their conquered tribes. Ruso, a surgeon who has reluctantly become enmeshed in several mysteries, is asked to investigate the disappearance of a tax collector, his brother, and the tax money.
This is a very Byzantine story, full of unexpected twist and turns. Not everyone or everything is what is seems to be at first glance.
My only regret is show more that I started reading the series with this book--now I have to go and order all the others.

Mummylady show less

This fourth volume in the series finds Ruso back in Britain and reluctantly as usual on the case of a missing tax collector. I say as usual because he seldom has his way with anything, it seems, and for a Roman citizen with a trade is rarely pleased with the way his life is going. His discontent is wearing off on me as a reader, and I slogged through this book like a legionnaire does mud.

Downie makes the atmosphere feel real, and her descriptions are usually right on. The cast of co-stars is rather large, something I don't enjoy, but most of the major players were well-identified. I don't like the fact that Ruso is left in the dark for so long while he bumbles about looking like a amateur. Tilla is constantly causing more trouble, which show more I realize is fuel for the fire.

I would like something more positive from this series in order to continue. Ruso as the inept detective may have been fun at the beginning, but has now worn off as a plot device. show less

I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. Having read Ruth Downie's previous novels, I was pleasantly surprised by Caveat Emptor. I found it to be a better read than her previous books, as it seems like Ruso, the main character, has settled into an identity. This book is set in Roman Britain and involves murders, missing tax money, blackmail, and corruption. I found the pace of the story to be perfect, and the short chapters enticed me to read "just one more" before putting the book down. All in all, a good read, especially for fans of historical fiction set in ancient Rome.

Caveat Emptor: a Novel of the Roman Empire is Ruth Downie's 4th book in her series. In Caveat main character Gaius Petreius Ruso is back in Britain after a visit to his family in Gaul. He is trying to find another job as a medic but instead he and his new wife Tilla are sent to Verulamium (n/k/a St. Albans) in order to investigate where the town's missing tax payment disappeared to. The town's elected tax collector, Julius Asper, and his brother, Bericus, have also disappeared. Their bodies are eventually found but the money was still missing. The town leaders are angry that Rome sent an investigator to snoop in their business and do their best to thwart Ruso's inquiry. Ruso uncovers a conspiracy involving theft and forgery that almost show more gets him killed.

While there was crime to resolve, I enjoyed more the development of the Ruso and Tilla characters. They are from different cultures; Ruso is a Roman and Tilla is a barbarian from Briton. I love it when their cultures collide because Tilla always wins in the end. Go Tilla! They are newlyweds who are trying to conceive a baby, a big change in Ruso's way of thinking. Concerning the crime, I was surprised where the plot moved to and was fooled about the ending of the story. There is a huge illustration of the differences in Roman and English tribal life that was informative for me. The author knows her historical time period well. I am looking forward to the next book in the series. show less