AuthorRuth Downie
NarratorSimon Vance
SeriesThe Medicus, Book 1
Duration11h 50m
CategoriesAdult Fiction, Historical Novels, Crime, Thriller and Mysteries
PublisherTantor Media
VersionUnabridged
Gaius Petrius Ruso is a divorced and down-on-his-luck army doctor who has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. His arrival in Deva (more commonly known as Chester, England) does little to improve his mood, and after a straight thirty-six-hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to a moment of weakness and rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, from the hands of her abusive owner.
Now he has a new problem: a slave who won't talk, can't cook, and drags trouble in her wake. Before he knows it, Ruso is caught in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of prostitutes working out of the local bar. A few years earlier, after he rescued Emperor Trajan from an earthquake in Antioch, Ruso seemed headed for glory; now he's living among heathens in a vermin-infested bachelor pad and must summon all his forensic knowledge to find a killer who may be after him next.
Who are the true barbarians, the conquered or the conquerors? It's up to Ruso—certainly the most likeable sleuth to come out of the Roman Empire—to discover the truth. With a gift for comic timing and historic detail, Ruth Downie has conjured an ancient world as raucous and real as our own.
Dr Alex Gregory Book 2: Hysteria
Author: Lj Ross
Author Lj Ross
Narrator Hugh Dancy
SeriesAlex Gregory, Book 2
Duration 6h 52m
From the International Number 1 Bestselling Author of the DCI Ryan Mysteries. Hysteria is the second instalment in Ross' brand new Dr Alex Gregory series, narrated by actor Hugh Dancy. Recently returned from his last case in Ireland, elite forensic psychologist and criminal profiler Dr Alexander Gregory receives a call from the French police that h...
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Maggie Hope Series Book 7: The King's Justice
Author: Susan Elia MacNeal
Author Susan Elia MacNeal
Narrator Susan Duerden
SeriesMaggie Hope, Book 9
Duration 10h 51m
Maggie Hope started out as Winston Churchill's secretary, but now she's a secret agent-and the only one who can figure out how the missing violin ties into a series of horrifying murders. London, December 1943. As the Russian army repels German forces from Stalingrad, Maggie Hope takes a much-needed break from spying to defuse bombs in London. But...
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Karen Pirie Book 5: Broken Ground
Author: Val Mcdermid
Author Val Mcdermid
Narrator Cathleen Mccarron
SeriesKaren Pirie, Book 5
Duration 12h 57m
When a body is discovered in the remote depths of the Highlands, DCI Karen Pirie finds herself in the right place at the right time. Unearthed with someone's long-buried inheritance, the victim seems to belong to the distant past - until new evidence suggests otherwise, and Karen is called in to unravel a case where nothing is as it seems. It's not...
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Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Book 9: Splinter the Silence
Author: Val Mcdermid
Author Val Mcdermid
Narrator Saul Reichlin
SeriesTony Hill and Carol Jordan, Book 9
Duration 12h 47m
When psychological profiler Tony Hill comes across a series of suicides among women tormented by vicious online predators, he begins to wonder if there is more to these tragedies than meets the eye. Could it be murder? But what kind of serial killer wants his crimes to stay hidden? Tony and DCI Carol Jordan begin the hunt for the most dangerous and...
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Author: Dorothy L Sayers
Author Dorothy L Sayers
Narrator Ian Carmichael
SeriesLord Peter Wimsey, Book 10
Duration 2h 30m
When Harriet Vane attends her Oxford reunion, known as the 'Gaudy', the prim academic setting is haunted by a rash of bizarre pranks: scrawled obscenities, burnt effigies and poison-pen letters - including one that says, 'Ask your boyfriend with the title if he likes arsenic in his soup.' Some of the notes threaten murder and one of them involves a...
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Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Book 11: How the Dead Speak
Author: Val Mcdermid
Author Val Mcdermid
Narrator Saul Reichlin
SeriesTony Hill and Carol Jordan, Book 11
Duration 12h 16m
After an explosive case that forced Tony Hill and Carol Jordan to reassess everything they thought they knew about right and wrong, both are dealing with the fallout in their own separate ways. While Tony must pay the price for his actions, Carol is conducting investigations into suspected miscarriages of justice. But when a shocking discovery is m...
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Alexis Tyler Series Book 2: The Nursery
Author: Asia Mackay
Author Asia Mackay
Narrator Georgia Maguire
SeriesAlexis Tyler, Book 2
Duration 10h 42m
Lex Tyler is trying to have it all. But being a working mother is so much more difficult when you're a secret agent for an underground branch of the security services. Platform Eight have been tasked with tracking down and eliminating the traitor in MI6 who has been selling information to the highest bidder through a headhunting website for the cri...
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The Last Kingdom Book 12: Sword of Kings
Author: Bernard Cornwell
Author Bernard Cornwell
Narrator Matt Bates
SeriesThe Last Kingdom, Book 12
Duration 13h 27m
England is in turmoil as Vikings and Saxons battle for territory. Rumours build about the fatal sickness of the King, and the country awaits an heir. A violent clash at sea forces the warrior lord Uhtred to lead his men from his Northumbrian fortress to London and plunge into the eye of the storm. For two kings claim the empty throne and a new king...
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Author: Katerina Diamond
Author Katerina Diamond
Narrator Stevie Lacey
Duration 10h 38m
When a young woman is found strangled in her own bedroom, DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles are plunged into an investigation to find a twisted serial killer who likes to date his victims before he kills them. Determined to stop the horrific deaths, Imogen is forced to act as bait - but will she get caught in her own trap? As the search for the ki...
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Dr Alex Gregory Book 1: Imposter
Author: Lj Ross
Author Lj Ross
Narrator Hugh Dancy
SeriesAlex Gregory, Book 1
Duration 7h 6m
From the International Number 1 Bestselling Author of the DCI Ryan Mysteries. Impostor is the first instalment in Ross' brand new Dr Alex Gregory series, narrated by actor Hugh Dancy. After an elite criminal profiling unit is shut down amid a storm of scandal and mismanagement, only one person emerges unscathed. Forensic psychiatrist Doctor Alexand...
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Vanessa 6 Aug 2026
Brilliant first book in a great series - Ancient Rome + Detective Fiction combined
Medicus is the first in the Gaius Petrius Ruso series and a personal favourite of mine. We learn about army outposts in Britannia, the medical profession in Ancient Rome, army life, slavery and brothels too. I think it's as good as Lindsey Davis's Falco series. I recommend it to anyone to is interested in Ancient Rome and detective fiction. Ruth Downie deserves to be better known. 5 stars.