![]() She presents a picture of Roman Britain that doesn't shout "anachronism" at the relatively well-informed reader. It should also present sympathetic characters and wind up the reader's emotions.Īs I've already mentioned, Downie does a very good job of tying the reader's stomach in knots. Good historical fiction pays close attention to the details of the setting, striving to make it historically plausible. But mystery fiction that is re-readable has to offer more, especially since lots of people try to out-detect the sleuth. Good mystery fiction throws in clues along the way, but doesn't give it all away before the climax - at least to mystery readers like me who enjoy being kept in suspense until the last minute. A year's break let me remember who the bad guy was and that the good guy got a break in the end, but I forgot most details. I don't think the passage was supposed to seem interminable, so perhaps my second read was the right one. True: Passages I remembered had made me anxious because I wanted the section to come to an end quickly passed more comfortably the second time. I was reluctant to read it again because there should be no suspense. Not well enough to describe, yet it is a murder mystery and as such had an ending that I knew. Trouble was, I couldn't remember it well enough. Read a page here and there thinking maybe I'd get the needed inspiration for a review. A new one is due out any time, so it is now or never if I am going to review it. ![]() Ruth Downie's first novel, Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire came out in 2006. ![]()
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