Persona Non Grata (Gaius Petreius Ruso Series #3)

by Ruth Downie

Overview

At long last, Gaius Petreius Ruso and his companion, Tilla, are headed home-to Gaul. Having received a note consisting only of the words "COME HOME!" Ruso has (reluctantly, of course) pulled up stakes and brought Tilla to meet his family.

But the reception there is not what Ruso has hoped for: no one will admit to sending for him, and his brother Lucius is hoping he'll leave. With Tilla getting icy greetings from his relatives, Lucius' brother-in-law mysteriously drowned at sea, and the whole Ruso family being sued for bankruptcy, it's hard to imagine an unhappier reunion. That is, until Severus, the plaintiff in the bankruptcy suit, winds up dead, and the real trouble begins...

Engrossing, intricate, and-as always-wonderfully comic, Ruth Downie's latest is a brilliant new installment in this irresistible series. This is everything we've come to expect from our charming, luckless hero.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608191116
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	07/14/2009
Series:	Gaius Petreius Ruso Series , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Ruth Downie is the author of the New York Times bestselling Medicus and Terra Incognita. She is married with two sons and lives in Milton Keynes, England.
Ruth Downie is the author of the New York Times bestselling Medicus, Terra Incognita, Persona Non Grata, and Caveat Emptor. She is married with two sons and lives in Devon, England.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Persona Non Grata brims with the complex characters and rich detail that have made this series a must for period mystery buffs." —-Booklist

Editorial Reviews

A third deftly plotted puzzler starring Roman battlefield physician Gaius Petreius Ruso and his former house servant-and present lover-Tilla (Terra Incognita, 2008, etc.). The body count is small, but the intrigue is thick and suitably baffling as the action moves from Roman-occupied Britain to the home front in Gaul, to which Ruso is unexpectedly summoned by his endlessly demanding family. A letter supposedly sent by his curmudgeonly brother Lucius informs the medicus, who's recuperating from an accidental injury, that his relatives are suspects in the presumed murder of Severus, the greedy creditor who was threatening to bust their assets. Astutely misdirecting us, Downie opens with a scene set aboard a burning merchant ship, on which Ruso's brother-in-law Justinus is held captive. Then the scene shifts to Ruso's homecoming, accompanied by Tilla, and the resumption of frayed relations with his snotty stepmother Arria, various half-sisters and other family and their ubiquitous naked toddlers, a wily senator (Fuscus) intent on turning the Rusos' new ill-fame to his advantage, a lovesick gladiator (Tertius) and Gaius' combative ex Claudia, more recently Severus' spouse and possibly "the bitch" identified as his poisoner by the deceased's final words. Nobody seems upset that Severus has been iced, but crisscrossing investigations produce ever more embarrassing disclosures as the mayhem evolves into something very like an extended episode of Everybody Loves Raymond with togas and guest appearances by the Marx brothers. Ruso's sullen wit is dependably delightful ("the beheading of unruly relatives seemed a little harsh, but obviously one would exercise discretion"). And when the unquenchablycurious Tilla encounters acolytes of the odd new faith called Christianity, we know Downie is sharpening her knives for Ruso's next surgically precise adventure. Enormous fun: another lively winner from a newly established mistress of the genre.

Kirkus Reviews

"Persona Non Grata brims with the complex characters and rich detail that have made this series a must for period mystery buffs." ---Booklist

From the Publisher