Prima Facie

Fans of Ruth Downie's Roman Empire mystery series will be sorry only that this audiobook is so short. Simon Vance does his usual elegant work creating a world so far from our own yet so psychologically familiar. Downie's sleuth, Ruso, has returned to Gaul to help out with some family business, only to find that his niece, Flora, has run off and her boyfriend, accused of killing a patrician lout at a party, is missing. Ruso and his British partner, Tilla, a wonderful character seen by the Romans as an auslander barbarian, must sort out who is lying and why. The details of the social order and mise en scene are wonderful, and Vance's performance is smooth, sensitive to nuance, and delightfully effective. B.G. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine