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Caveat Emptor: A Novel of the Roman Empire

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Caveat Emptor: A Novel of the Roman Empire

By: Ruth Downie
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Summary

Ruso and Tilla, now newlyweds, have moved back to Britannia, where Ruso's old friend and colleague Valens has promised to help him find work. But it isn't the kind of work he'd had in mind - Ruso is tasked with hunting down a missing tax man named Julius Asper. Of course, there's also something else missing: money. And the council of the town of Verulamium is bickering over what's become of it. Compelled to delve deeper by a threat from his old sparring partner, Metellus, Ruso discovers that the good townsfolk may not be as loyal to Rome as they like to appear.

While Tilla tries to comfort Asper's wife, an anonymous well-wisher is busy warning the couple to get away from the case before they get hurt. Despite our hero's best efforts to get himself fired as investigator, he and his bride find themselves trapped at the heart of an increasingly treacherous conspiracy involving theft, forgery, buried treasure, and the legacy of Boudica, the Rebel Queen.

©2010 Ruth Downie (P)2011 Tantor Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Mystery Fiction
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Critic reviews

"Downie excels in bringing the ancient world to life as well as making the attitudes and customs of its inhabitants accessible to a modern audience." ( Publishers Weekly)
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Would you consider the audio edition of Caveat Emptor: A Novel of the Roman Empire to be better than the print version?
I haven't read the print version, so can't compare the two.

What did you like best about this story?
The bored Empress, Sabina made me laugh.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances? How does this one compare?
This is the 5th Ruso book I've listened to, narrated by Simon Vance. His delivery is consistently very good but his accent's let him down a bit.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Too long to listen to in a oner. It took 2/3 sittings.

Any additional comments?
I really enjoy the good nature and long suffering Ruso getting himself into a mess and finding his way out again.

Ruso gets in it deeper and deeper.

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As with the rest if the series, it’s a fun and interesting read. I especially enjoyed the references to the Boudicca rebellion. But I think it would help other readers to read up about that a little bit first, even if you get fed small pieces of info through the story.

Another fun read.

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Perhaps her previous offerings have given me very high expectations but there were just too many twists and turns in this one. I found myself going back and forth amongst all the new characters trying to figure out who was who. The characters are still finely drawn, the historical details fascinating and the plot intriguing but so many new characters with Roman tags on their names was a few too many for me. I’m still off to get the next one though. Russo and Tilla are wonderful characters.

Good but not brilliant

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I didn't think that books on Roman Britain would hold my interest, but they have, and now I can't wait to hear a further book in this fascinating series. I highly recommend.

Another interesting tale

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Another fine piece of story telling with humour and sympathy set against a recreation of Roman Britain.

Well told story - believable characters

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