Caveat Emptor - Book 38

Caveat Emptor is the next in the Medicus series by Ruth Downie, Ruso and Tilla have married and now travel back to Britainia because Tilla misses home.  Ruso needs to get a new job as a doctor somewhere, but before he starts looking, he is asked to be a investigator.  His reputation for solving the case in the first book has followed him, mostly due to his friend Valens.  A Briton who served as a tax collector for the Romans is missing and so is the money to pay the taxes.  Ruso and Tilla travel to the town whose money has been stolen and there Tilla is midwife to a woman who announces that the missing man is the father of her child.  All kinds of complications ensue.  There are officials who many be covering up crimes, there are tribal tensions, and a handsome but suspicious head of the guards who seems to be everywhere.  Metallus, also from the first book, shows up.  Everything is confusing and Ruso can't tell who to trust.

This books seemed a bit heavier than the others, mostly because Tilla has a dark secret she is keeping from Ruso. They both dream of settling down somewhere and starting a family but Tilla had an abortion way back when she was a slave and she fears now that is why she never gets pregnant.  Ruso's and Tilla's marriage is stretched to an almost breaking point.  Usually, there are really funny episodes in this series, but this time I didn't notice any.  There is a lot about marriage here, Ruso and Tilla's, Valens and Serena, and even Camma's lonely marriage.

In this book, Tilla's obstinance, which is usually endearing, really puts them and others in danger.  And she realizes it.  Ruso too feels like he hasn't measured up to what he ought to be as a husband.  Tilla comforts him by telling him what she wants is a husband who tries to do the right thing, even if he is a fool sometimes.  But though they love each other, their relationship seems a bit fragile too.

It was a good read.  The plot is complicated, lots of characters I was starting to have trouble keeping track of, and the mood is definitely a bit heavier than the previous ones.

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