Book Review: A Roman Ransom

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

A Roman Ransom     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Rosemary Rowe
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical   Kidnapping
Series: Libertus Mysteries
Headline, $34.95 hardcover, 337 pages

Libertus the pavement-maker is just recovering from a terrible fever when his patron insists on seeing him, despite the medicus’s advice. Marcus Septimus, senior magistrate in Britannia, is a desperate man. His wife Julia and their baby son have disappeared, as if into thin air, and now he is in receipt of a ransom note, instructing him to release one Lallius or he shall never see either his son or his wife again.

Libertus understands his dilemma: deal with the kidnappers and lose his reputation as a fair and incorruptible magistrate, or defy them and risk the lives of his family. Libertus also suspects that releasing Lallius won’t solve Marcus’s problems. He’s proved correct, when, following Lallius’s release, the baby is returned but Julia remains a prisoner. Libertus knows that the only way of solving this mystery is to flush out the kidnappers, but he’s still weak from his illness, and he’s made a powerful enemy in Philades the medicus. It will take all of his Celtic cunning to disprove Philades’s rumours about him and for Libertus to save his patron’s wife.

I have a great fondness for historical mysteries. I’ve read several set in ancient Rome, but this is the first I’ve encountered that is set in the Roman Empire’s most distant province. Rowe captures the period—more than a hundred years after Boudicca’s revolt and almost 300 years before the legions left—very well. I like as well that her “detective” is a Briton, not a Roman, and a former slave. Libertus is a keen observer of human nature. He uses this skill to solve the mysteries that come his way. A Roman Ransom is a good solid mystery.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM