Tabula Rasa cover art

Tabula Rasa

Roman Empire Series, Book 6

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Tabula Rasa

By: Ruth Downie
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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About this listen

The medicus Ruso and his wife, Tilla, are back in the borderlands of Britannia, this time helping to tend the builders of Hadrian's Great Wall. Having been forced to move off their land, the Britons are distinctly on edge. Then Ruso's recently arrived clerk, Candidus, goes missing. A native boy thinks he sees a body being hidden inside the wall's half-finished stonework, and a worrying rumor begins to spread. When soldiers ransack the nearby farms looking for Candidus, Tilla's tentative friendship with a local family turns to anger and disappointment. Tensions only increase when Branan, the family's youngest son, also vanishes. As Ruso and Tilla try to solve the mystery of the two disappearances - while at the same time struggling to keep the peace between the Britons and the Romans - an intricate scheme involving slavery, changed identities, and fur trappers emerges, and it becomes imperative that Ruso find Branan before it's too late.

©2014 Ruth Downie (P)2014 Tantor Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Mystery Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Like the other titles in the series, Downie's latest mixes an engaging story line, provocative characters, and a satisfying evocation of time and place." ( Library Journal)
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Dramatic change in Russo’s old clerk and Tillas cousin and husbands voice grated a bit. Shame really

Excellent story and narration but why did Russo’s old clerks voice change?

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So far each book in this series has been better than the previous. (and I'm pretty sure I gave the first one a 5 star rating!)
A great way of stepping back into a fictional past and putting a fictional story into history. A great story, kept me looking forward to picking up the story from where I had to leave off.

A great way of enjoying the past

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another ripping yarn about the adventures of Rouso and Tilla. fast paced and engaging, giving a glimpse of what life might have been like in Roman Britain for the Romans and British people alike.

The hapless roman in another adventure

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Simon Vance wasn't on form for this book. It was like a long running radio drama (e.g. The Archers) with new actors in crucial parts, without efforts towards continuity- Brian Aldridge turns Australian overnight or Joe Grundy becomes Norwegian!- Albanus in particular seems to have developed an accent which could be considered of lower status than in previous books. Tilla too sounds different and overall I feel there's less subtlety in vocal characterisation.
The story is interesting, and having recently repeated that journey "over the top" home out of England I can appreciate the bleak conditions exper

Good story but narration below par

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Albarnus seems to have developed a strange accent, and I was so glad this character had reappeared. That is the only very small negative I can find. Otherwise a great story with the characters that I have come to like a great deal.

Great again, with a small caveat

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Russo and Tilla are the odd couple of the Roman era, fun and intriguing, highly recommend.

Fabulous

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Like the rest of the series, a thorough and entertaining book from start to finish. Using the same narrator is a nice touch for the singularity of the books. Not much more to add.
Solid book as always.

Another enjoyable ride with Ruso.

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I have enjoyed the accents and characters so far but was unhappy Albanus became German!

disappointed with with the accent change!

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I cannot recommend this audio book highly enough. I am a big fan of Ruth Downie and her Ruso series. Thrilled to get this on audio. Thank you Ruth Downie for writing it and Audible for making it available on audio.

Throughly enjoyable

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I like Ruso and Tilla and I enjoyed Tabula Rasa very much. In fact, I read it in almost one sitting because it was so hard to put it down. I’m a bit odd in that I don’t read mysteries primarily for the mystery or crime to be solved; I read them for the same reasons I read any other novel. Ruso and Tilla are three-dimensional characters and the problems they face coming from different cultures are realistically portrayed. Downie does an excellent job of recreating Roman Britain during the reign of Hadrian, which is another reason I enjoy the Ruso mysteries. In the case of Tabula Rasa, it was the crimes to be solved that held my attention and made it so difficult to put the book down. I think if a reader enjoys historical mysteries, then he or she should enjoy this novel, but it is the latest in a series and I highly recommend reading the previous books first to understand how Ruso and Tilla’s relationship has evolved over time.

I should mention one of my favorite scenes is when Russo is trying to recite the Aeneid from memory and gets help from Valens and Albanus. Really funny!

Another excellent adventure with Ruso and Tilla

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