Am happily suspending my disbelief for this series. Lots of characters to root for (Albanus, Ruso, Tilla, Firmus, Camma's baby). ( )

This is the fourth installment of an entertaining historical crime fiction series set in the Ancient Roman Empire.

The former Roman Army medic Gaius Petreius Ruso is now back in Britannia after a sojourn in Gaul, while he recovered from a broken foot.

Ruso and Tilla are now married. Ruso can’t believe it himself, but had found that he was much happier with Tilla than without her. They are currently staying in the city of Londinium [now London] with Valens, Ruso’s friend and former surgical colleague. Valens had convinced Ruso to come there promising he could get him a job. As it turned out, he did find him a job, but not a medical one. Rather, Valens convinced the procurator that Ruso was a crack investigator who could help find the tax collector missing from Verulamium [now St. Albans], just north of Londinium. Not only is the tax collector, Julius Asper, missing, but his pregnant partner Camma came to the procurator to plead for help finding him, and proceeded to begin the birthing process right in the office. Fortunately, by then Ruso and Tilla (a trained midwife) arrived, and Tilla helped deliver the baby. Ruso, meanwhile, got to work on the case of the missing man, and more importantly to the city of Verulamium, it seemed, the case of the missing tax money.

Other complications (besides the usual one of everyone lying to protect themselves) included the possible dissolution of Valens’ marriage, the reunion of Ruso with his former clerk Albanus, who wanted to help him, and revelations about Tilla’s possible inability to have children because of a botched abortion in her past. Tilla wanted to know if Ruso still wanted her as a wife since she may not be able to give him an heir, and so Tilla and Ruso discussed what each other’s expectations of marriage are.

As for Tilla, she declared, ‘What I expected,’ she said… ‘was this man who tries to do the right thing even when it is foolish.’”

An excellent description of Ruso!

Evaluation: Ruso continues to bumble through regular and extracurricular responsibilities, trying to do what is best while everyone else is trying to take advantage of him. As in the earlier books, both Ruso and Tilla get endangered as Ruso moves closer to the truth in his investigations. I am greatly enjoying this series, I love the medical information, and the author also shows us how the class and gender disparities of the time played out, which is always interesting. The series is also starting to weave in elements of the growing appeal of Christianity in the Roman Empire. ( )

Ruso and Tilla have arrived back in Britain, newlyweds and in need of a place to live and a job for Ruso. Ruso's old friend Valens, from his army medic days, has found him one--as an investigator for the procurator, to locate the missing tax money, not to mention the missing tax collector, Julius Asper, from the town of Verulamium.

Asper's lover Cama (spelling optional since I listened to the audiobook), traveled the twenty miles from Verulamium to Londinium to report Asper's disappearance and what she believes to be the perfidy of the town leaders. She quickly winds up at Valens' house, giving birth to Asper's baby with Tilla as mid-wife.

Meanwhile, Ruso is tracking down Asper, and instead finding his corpse. That's not nearly so unpleasant for Ruso, though he's not pleased, as discovering that his old enemy Metellus is also interested in the case, and also expects a report from Ruso. Soon Ruso is off to Verulamium "to help the town council," and Tilla is also, accompanying her patient Cama and her baby. The tight bond between Ruso and Tilla, and the counterpoint of their disagreement about nearly everything, including marriage, relationships, and investigating crimes, ensures that they are often working at odds even as they have much the same goals in mind.

This is a nicely complex mystery, with enough but not too much Roman and British history layered in, and the continuing growth of Tilla and Ruso as characters. I've enjoyed every one of these stories so far, and I expect to continue doing so.

Recommended. ( )

Not as good as the other in the series, but did enjoy. Looking forward to the next book..... ( )

I enjoy this series more for the characters and the worldbuilding than the mystery. This entry is no exception. Ruso and Tilla are their own lovable selves, and the series continues to explore the effects of the Roman occupation of Britain in interesting ways. The mystery itself seemed fairly by-the-numbers. I read the book in one go, because I was eager to see if something unexpected might happen, but everything fell out along fairly predictable lines. Though I think I may have missed the explanation for why Asper and the brother weren't ever the suspected counterfeiters, even though the coin mold was found in their house? ( )