Tabula Rasa

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The medicus Ruso and his wife Tilla are back in the borderlands of Britannia, this time helping to tend the builders of Hadrian s Great Wall Having been forced to move off their land, the Britons are distinctly on edge and are still smarting from the failure of a recent rebellion that claimed many lives Then Ruso s recently arrived clerk, Candidus, goes missing A native boy thinks he sees a body being hidden inside the wall s half finished stonework, and a worrying rumor begins to spread When the soldiers ransack the nearby farms looking for Candidus, Tilla s tentative friendship with a local family turns to anger and disappointment It s clear that the sacred rites to bless her marriage to Ruso will have to wait Tensions only increase when Branan, the family s youngest son, also vanishes He was last seen in the company of a lone and unidentified soldier who claimed he was taking the boy to see Tilla As Ruso and Tilla try to solve the mystery of the two disappearances while at the same time struggling to keep the peace between the Britons and the Romans an intricate scheme involving slavery, changed identities, and fur trappers emerges, and it becomes imperative that Ruso find Branan before it s too late. Read Tabula Rasa author Ruth Downie – kino-fada.fr The author has really outdone herself This novel really shines in all respects it s one of her best to date and highly recommended.Medicus Ruso is with a vexillation from the XX Legion, based temporarily at a small fort involved in building Hadrian s Wall Tilla, his wife is with him First, Ruso s secretary disappears has he gone AWOL or has something really nefarious happened to him Then, a youngster, Branan, from a British family is kidnapped Both the Britons and the Army are horrified The author has really outdone herself This novel really shines in all respects it s one of her best to date and highly recommended.Medicus Ruso is with a vexillation from the XX Legion, based temporarily at a small...Only an excellent writer with a superb set of characters and an imagination full of fresh ideas can fuel a series to lastthan maybe 4 or 5 books in a series The fact that Tabula Rasa is book 6 in Ruth Downie s series, then, is telling The fact that, yet again, it is an absolutely cracking tale is even better.I figure I m past having to explain why I love Ruth s books at this point, but to recap my view over the whole series, this is it in a nutshell Truly believable, very sympathetic Only an excellent writer with a superb set of characters and an imagination full of fresh ideas can fuel a series to lastthan maybe 4 or 5 books in a series The fact that Tabula Rasa is book 6 in Ruth Downie s series, then, is telling The fact that, yet again, it is an absolutely cracking tale is even better.I figure I m past having to explain why I love Ruth s books at this point, but to recap my view over the whole series, this is it in a nutshell Truly believable, very sympathetic and engaging characters Intricate, carefully crafted plots Deep, realistic, historically accurate portrayal of the ancient world Fascinating de...3.5 stars Enjoyed this series as always and found the timing and setting during the construction of Hadrian s Wall totally fascinating I love grumpy but thoroughly honest Ruso and I m glad Tilla didn t seem so critical of Ruso as she s sometimes been in...3.5 stars Another fun historical mystery with the Medicus in Roman Britain I d forgotten how much I like Ruso and his wife Tilla, a native Briton Their relationship is interesting They are genuinely fond of each other, and at times they have great respect for each other s abilities however, they are influenced by two radically different cultures which have nothing but disdain for each other.I like a curmudgeonly protagonist, and Ruso fits the bill As always, there are the ordinary 3.5 stars Another fun historical mystery with the Medicus in Roman Britain I d forgotten how much I like Ruso and his wife Tilla, a native Briton Their relationship is interesting They are genuinely fond of each other, and at times they have great respect for each other s abilities however, they are influenced by two radically different cultures which have nothing but disdain for each other.I like a curmudgeonly protagonist, and Ruso fits the bill As always, there are the ordinary irritations that go with being in the army, and being stationed in damp, distant, hostile Britannia, and dealing with hypochondriacal or malingering patients Now his young clerk has gone missing, and everyone thinks that the homeless pregnant girl Tilla brought home is carrying Ruso s child, and to top it all, Tilla wants Ruso to be friendly with some of her acquaintances among the local Britons, even though the loc...This is book six in the Gaius Ruso series This historical fiction series is best if it is read in order.Ruso is a medical officer in the Roman Legion stationed in Briton He married a native Briton, Tila In this story Ruso and Tila are caught in a conflict between the Romans and Britons There is a rumor a body is buried in the Hadrian s Wall Ruso s medical clerk is missing A Briton boy is missing and the family is related to Tila With the Britons teetering on the edge of rebellion, Ruso This is book six in the Gaius Ruso series This historical fiction series is best if it is read in order.Ruso is a medical officer in the Roman Legion stationed in Briton He married a native Briton, Tila In this story Ruso and Tila are caught in a conflict between the Romans and Britons There is a rumor a body is buried in the Hadrian s Wall Ruso s medical clerk is missing A Briton boy is missing and the family is related to Tila With the Britons teetering on the edge of rebellion, Ruso and Tila attempt to discover who took the boy The book is well written and meticulously researched The plot spirals and bends enough to keep the reader s attention Downie continues to develop the key characters Russo s relationship with Tila matures Russo evolves with each installment rather than remaining a static character I appreciate Downie s attention to detail both historical and...Finally we get to look at Roman Britain s most famous architectural marvel Hadrian s Wall Out in the northern extreme of the Roman empire, Ruso is managing the hospitals for the twentieth legions Between building accidents, tense natives, and touchy centurions, it s only a matter of time till murders rumoured and real start dragging at Ruso.What to ExpectComplex and engaging plot, with all characters being fully fleshed people with their own agendas Ruso has to navigate between all of Finally we get to look at Roman Britain s most famous architectural marvel Hadrian s Wall Out in the northern extreme of the Roman empire, Ruso is managing the hospitals for the twentieth legions Between building accidents, tense natives, and touchy centurions, it s only a matter of time till murders rumoured and real start dragging at Ruso.What to ExpectComplex and engaging plot, with all characters being fully fleshed people with their...Somehow I thought this followed the visit to Rome but no, this is before.Ruso is up near Hadrian s wall and he and Tilla are having the usual accommodation problems and are renting space from the local snack shop This time they have someone to work for the rent, Virana, a pregnant girl Tilla is monitoring Things have not been quiet on the wall since the romans are really not making any attempt to understand the Britons, who despise the Romans as ignorant bullies I like MS Downie s characters Somehow I thought this followed the visit to Rome but no, this is before.Ruso is up near Hadrian s wall and he and Tilla are having the usual accommodation problems and are renting space from the local snack shop This time they have someone to work for the rent, Virana, a pregnant girl Tilla is monitoring Things have not been quiet on the wall since the romans are really not making any attempt to understand the Britons, who despise the Romans as ignorant bullies I like MS Downie s characters because they make sense Ruso has a cer...What delightfully entertaining historical mystery I am a sucker for this combination particularly when a series protagonists are a mated pair who are irritated by, but love each other in equal measure Very funny, very sweet As reviewer Assaph Mehr puts it Downie is masterfully weaving the investigations through sub plots, distractions, daily lives, grand events till you just have to know what happens next Ruso may be a reluctant investigator, but he has that nagging voice in his head What delightfully entertaining historical mystery I am a sucker for this combination particularly when a series protagonists are a mated pair who are irritated by, but love each other in equal measure Very funny, very sweet As reviewer Assaph Mehr ...TABULA RASA, BY RUTH DOWNIE Book 6 of Medicus Investigation This series was a recommendation from my sister She dangled the book in front of me while saying It s mystery set in Britannia when it was part of the Roman Empire and the detective is a doctor, before I tackled her to the ground and took it from her hands I have enjoyed the previous ones immensely, and this was no different.Synopsis While the Twentieth Legion finishes its work in building Hadrian s wall in the north of TABULA RASA, BY RUTH DOWNIE Book 6 of Medicus Investigation This series was a recommendation from my sister She dangled the book in front of me while saying It s mystery set in Britannia when it was part of the Roman Empire and the detective is a doctor, before I tackled her to the ground and took it from her hands I have enjoyed the previous ones immensely, and this was no different.Synopsis While the Twentieth Legion finishes its work in building Hadrian s wall in the north of B...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 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 theactive agent, and much of the most important comes through her investigations Beyond that, it is...

Tabula Rasa
  • English
  • 02 April 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 335 pages
  • 1608197085
  • Ruth Downie
  • Tabula Rasa