MYSTERY

Vita Brevis

by Ruth Downie
Bloomsbury USA. Jul. 2016. 384p. ISBN 9781620409589.$26; ebk. ISBN 9781494552794. M
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Life is short and sometimes ends violently, as medical doctor Gaius Ruso knows full well. In this seventh installment (after Tabula Rasa) of the "Medicus" series, Ruso, wife Tilla, and baby Mara have journeyed to Rome, at the invitation of Accius, a former legionary tribune. Yet all they discover is a stuffy room in a roach-infested tenement. Through a series of dubious events, Ruso obtains employment and much better living conditions—if he can keep his employer alive, solve the mystery of where the previous doctor has gone, and protect his family. The plot of this mystery has so many twists and turns that sometimes it's as difficult for readers to keep events straight as for Ruso; in the end, not every question gets a satisfactory answer. Ruso keeps moving forward, though—and so will the reader.
VERDICT Series fans will enjoy this title, but new readers and devotees of historical fiction about the Roman Empire are well advised to start with the first book, Medicus. [See Prepub Alert, 2/1/16.]
Reviewed by Pamela O'Sullivan, Coll. at Brockport Lib., SUNY , May 01, 2016
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