Ruth Downie

A down-on-his-luck Roman army doctor, Gaius Petreius Ruso has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in one of the inclement outposts of the Roman Empire, journeying to the far reaches of Britannia, where he rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, from her abusive owner, an ill-advised decision that leads to nothing but trouble.

In the far reaches of the Roman Empire, there are three certainties in life for Doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso: death, taxes, and angry barbarians. The hero finds himself trapped at the heart of an increasingly treacherous conspiracy involving theft, forgery, buried treasure, and the legacy of Boudica, the rebel queen.

"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,...

"Russo and Tilla's excitement upon arriving in Rome with their baby daughter is soon dulled by their discovery that the grand facades of polished marble mask an underworld of corrupt landlords and vermin-infested tenements. There are also far too may doctors--some skilled, but others positively dangerous. Ruso thinks he has been offered a reputable medical practice only to find that his predecessor, Doctor Kleitos, has fled, leaving a dead man in...

"It's AD 123 and the sun is shining on southern Gaul. Ex-military medic Ruso and his British wife Tilla are back after a long absence - but it's not the reunion anyone had hoped for. Ruso's brother has left him in charge of a farm he has no idea how to manage, a chronic debt problem and a gaggle of accident-prone small children. Meanwhile his sister Flora has run away to rescue her boyfriend, who's accused of murdering a wealthy guest at a party....

"From seven bestselling authors, including New York Times bestseller Kate Quinn, comes a gripping and vividly imagined novel following an epic struggle of rebellion against the might of Rome. Britannia: land of mist and magic clinging to the western edge of the Roman Empire. A red-haired queen named Boudica led her people in a desperate rebellion against the might of Rome, an epic struggle destined to consume heroes and cowards, young and old, Roman...