Semper Fidelis - Book 39

Still on my Medicus kick.  In fact I am determined to finish the series before the new year.  I actually read Semper Fidelis a week ago and am having trouble recalling it because I just finished the book after it.  

Ruso has gotten his old job back as a medic for the 20th Legion.  He gets temporarily stationed at another outpost where he's actually only supposed to be there for a few days.  The big news is that the emperor Hadrian is on his way to visit Britannia and everyone is all adither in preparing for it. Hadrian and his wife Sabina are shipwrecked though and wind up at this outpost.  Before they arrive however, Ruso uncovers some really strange, creepy stuff going on.  The Britons who have volunteered are convinced they are unlucky because two of their men have died and on the very day that Ruso arrives another man commits suicide.  And then there is the strange native they found hiding in the woods outside the fort who ran away.  Tilla, as usual, acts as a go between for both the Romans and the Natives.  And Ruso is getting better at speaking the native language.

This was a face-paced thriller with some funny scenes, lots of tense scenes, and some really unexpected turns of events.  Ruso as usual is trying to figure things out, getting befuddled, doubting himself, getting himself into desperate situations.  Tilla is always just as much of a sleuth, doing her part, getting into dangerous situations herself and then together, somehow, even though they are apart more than they are together during most of the book, they manage as a team to discover who is to blame.

Ruth Downie is a really good writer.  She crafts her characters masterfully.  She recreates the atmosphere of Roman Britain in such a realistic way without ever getting too heavy.  This is a world of brutality and occupation, slavery, oppressed natives and arrogant Romans. And yet there is a sense of trying to do the right thing, of compassion, of affection, of humor.

Highly enjoyable read!  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.