Ruth Downie (Author of Medicus)

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Ruth Downie

欧宝娱乐 Author

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Genre

Historical Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers

Member Since

February 2009

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Ruth is the author of nine mysteries* featuring Roman Army medic Gaius Petreius Ruso and his British partner Tilla. The latest is a novella, PRIMA FACIE. She lives in Devon, England. A combination of nosiness and a childish fascination with mud means she is never happier than when wielding an archaeological trowel.

She is sometimes called R.S. Downie, but she isn't the person with the same name who writes medical textbooks, and recommends that readers should never, ever take health advice from a two thousand year old man who prescribes mouse droppings.

*The first four books have all had two titles. Ruth is still wondering how this ever seemed like a good idea. Since she is unable to wind back time, British readers may find it useful to kno ...more

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Ruth Downie鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.96 · 28,447 ratings · 2,864 reviews · 22 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	Medicus (Gaius Petreius Ruso, #1) 3.76 avg rating — 9,326 ratings — published 2006 — 48 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Terra Incognita (Gaius Petreius Ruso, #2) 3.92 avg rating — 4,169 ratings — published 2008 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Persona Non Grata (Gaius Petreius Ruso, #3) 4.03 avg rating — 3,447 ratings — published 2008 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Caveat Emptor (Gaius Petreius Ruso, #4) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,721 ratings — published 2010 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Semper Fidelis (Gaius Petreius Ruso, #5) 4.10 avg rating — 2,124 ratings — published 2013 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tabula Rasa (Gaius Petreius Ruso, #6) 4.16 avg rating — 1,793 ratings — published 2014 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vita Brevis (Gaius Petreius Ruso #7) 4.13 avg rating — 1,433 ratings — published 2016 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Memento Mori (Gaius Petreius Ruso #8) 4.18 avg rating — 1,236 ratings — published 2018 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Year of Ravens by Ruth Downie (欧宝娱乐 Author), Kate Quinn (欧宝娱乐 Author), Stephanie Dray (欧宝娱乐 Author) 4.13 avg rating — 1,199 ratings — published 2015 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Prima Facie (Gaius Petreius Ruso #7.5) 4.18 avg rating — 693 ratings — published 2019 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Ruth Downie…

152 posts
Ruth Downie's Blog

Joining the 21st century

My thanks to Rob Cain of 鈥淎ncient Rome Refocused鈥� for the chance to venture into the world of the podcast. This would have happened some years back but Rob has only now managed to wrestle the recording from the grip of a malevolent computer. I鈥檇 forgotten how interesting the conversation was, and was pleasantly surprised to find I didn鈥檛 sound as nervous as I鈥檇 felt. As an added bonus

Series by Ruth Downie

Gaius Petreius Ruso (8 books)
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Ruth Downie (欧宝娱乐 Author)

3.95 avg rating — 26,938 ratings

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Ruth Downie is currently reading

Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well

by Tim Spector

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Aug 12, 2023 05:41AM

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Bring Them Home (Detective Karen Hart, #1)

by D.S. Butler (欧宝娱乐 Author)

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Dec 30, 2021 11:59PM

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Ruth鈥檚 Recent Updates

Ruth Downie made a comment in the group Devon Book Club — Poetry June 2024 topic " I'm a bit clueless about poetry but we heard the late Michael Donaghy read many years ago and very much enjoyed it. Here's a link to one of my favouri ...more "
Jun 26, 2024 07:35AM
Ruth Downie is now friends with Julie
Jun 07, 2024 01:53PM · like
Ruth Downie is currently reading Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well by Tim Spector	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Quotes by Ruth Downie (?)

“One of the many difficult things about women was that they tended to pick the most unsuitable times to tell you something they considered to be important, and then became irrationally upset when you failed to remember it.”
― Ruth Downie, Terra Incognita

tags: kindlehighlight

16 likes

“I seem to remember sitting on a golden bench, and she started chattering about the sunset, or something. She seemed quite happy so I let her get on with it. Then she got hold of my hand and asked me what I was thinking about. So I said, "The treatment of anal fistulae".”
― Ruth Downie, Terra Incognita

tags: ruso, ruth-downie, terra-incognita

11 likes

“Back from where? you're not going out again and leaving me here are you?? Holy Hercules I sound like somebody's wife”
― Ruth Downie, Terra Incognita

tags: funny, ruth-downie, terra-incognita, valens

9 likes

See all Ruth Downie's quotes »

Polls

Who's the best writer of Roman historical-fiction?
Feel free to add your own options.

Conn Iggulden

89 votes, 7.4%

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84 votes, 7.0%

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80 votes, 6.6%

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74 votes, 6.1%

I'm sorry. I haven't read much if any on the subject (write-in)

73 votes, 6.1%

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46 votes, 3.8%

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45 votes, 3.7%

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44 votes, 3.7%

Robert Graves (write-in)

38 votes, 3.2%

Simon Scarrow

36 votes, 3.0%

Santiago Posteguillo (write-in)

35 votes, 2.9%

Kate Quinn (write-in)

34 votes, 2.8%

conn iggulden (write-in)

30 votes, 2.5%

Ben Kane

28 votes, 2.3%

Robert Harris

28 votes, 2.3%

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28 votes, 2.3%

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28 votes, 2.3%

Colleen McCullough (write-in)

26 votes, 2.2%

Simon Scarrow (write-in)

23 votes, 1.9%

Anthony Riches

20 votes, 1.7%

Steven Pressfield (write-in)

20 votes, 1.7%

Harry Sidebottom

18 votes, 1.5%

Ben Kane (write-in)

18 votes, 1.5%

S.J.A. Turney

17 votes, 1.4%

Ruth Downie (write-in)

17 votes, 1.4%

Robert Fabbri (write-in)

16 votes, 1.3%

Chuck Norris

15 votes, 1.2%

Rosemary Sutcliffe (write-in)

14 votes, 1.2%

Christian Cameron (write-in)

13 votes, 1.1%

M.C. Scott

12 votes, 1.0%

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11 votes, 0.9%

Douglas Jackson

10 votes, 0.8%

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10 votes, 0.8%

Wallace Breem

9 votes, 0.7%

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9 votes, 0.7%

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9 votes, 0.7%

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8 votes, 0.7%

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8 votes, 0.7%

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8 votes, 0.7%

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8 votes, 0.7%

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8 votes, 0.7%

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7 votes, 0.6%

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6 votes, 0.5%

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5 votes, 0.4%

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5 votes, 0.4%

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4 votes, 0.3%

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4 votes, 0.3%

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4 votes, 0.3%

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3 votes, 0.2%

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3 votes, 0.2%

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2 votes, 0.2%

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2 votes, 0.2%

1204 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Readers and Reading: July 2010 reads	30	110	Aug 21, 2010 02:49PM
Mystery/Thriller ...: july 2010 - sandi	6	36	Aug 22, 2010 08:15PM
The Mystery, Crim...: Winner Chosen: Dec 2010-Jan 2011 Group Read	45	322	Dec 02, 2010 07:40PM
The Seasonal Read...: 15.1 - The Land Down Under	26	109	Mar 28, 2011 05:19PM
The History Book ...: STEVEN'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2011	10	64	Jun 21, 2011 06:36AM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2011 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC!	2251	784	Nov 30, 2011 09:05PM
Challenge: 50 Books: Vicki's 2011 Books	13	61	Dec 10, 2011 06:01AM
Readers and Reading: December 2011 reads	16	18	Jan 02, 2012 02:50PM

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Ruth鈥檚 Quotes

“If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”
― Socrates

1160 likes

“Running a close second [as a writing lesson] was the realization that stopping a piece of work just because it's hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.”
― Stephen King

tags: on-writing

278 likes

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Ruth Downie

欧宝娱乐 Author

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