A Pattern of Blood

Libertus Mystery of Roman Britain #2

by Rosemary Rowe

Libertus witnesses the stabbing of Quintus Ulpius, a wealthy decurion—but he is not fatally wounded. Libertus is commanded by his wealthy patron Marcus to investigate the attack, but Quintus is soon found dead. When one of his enemies is found with blood stains on his toga, for Marcus the case is closed. But Libertus thinks otherwise.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Historical, Roman, Crime

284 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

A pseudonym used by Rosemary Aitken

Series:
* Libertus Mystery of Roman Britain

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in 2011, and its the 2nd volume of the wonderful "Libertus" series.

In this tale Libertus, freedman and pavement-maker, is summoned by his patron, Marcus Septimus, to accompany him to Corinium (modern Cirencester) to investigate a threat against a Decurion, Quintus Ulpius.

When Libertus starts to investigate he will end up in political murky waters that can result of him being brought down into this morass of dirty politics.

Not able to refuse his patron, Libertus will make enemies through his investigations, and rather sooner than later he will come into trouble himself.

What will follow is an amazingly thrilling Roman mystery, in which Libertus will need to watch his step before he can make accusations, but some twists and turns, followed by a very well executed plot Libertus will be able to reveal the culprit, and at the same time rescue himself.

Highly recommended, for this is a splendid addition to this superb series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "An Intriguing Pattern!

[Mary Heron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my, as you might expect from a man who makes his living piecing together small pieces of mosaic to make a pattern these mysteries are not easy to solve. In fact they are very convoluted. Libertus is an ex slave, in his fifties with a patron, Marcus, who is a high status Roman, not that this does much for Libertus's fortune. He also owns his own slave Junio, a young lad who is being taught not just pavement making but also his Libertus solved his mysteries. There is a missing wife, Libertus was a free Celt with his own roundhouse and servants, he has quite a high status before the Romans took him and sold him into slavery over twenty years earlier and he has not seen his wife Gallus since that dreadful day, though he keeps looking. A Decurion was stabbed while coming home from a dayattheraces, fortuitous Libertus happened to be in the area and saw it happen, the man Quintus survived the attack (though he was severely injured) and Libertus thought no more about it. Now, a month later Marcus is on his way to visit with Quintus and insists on Libertus coming with him there's been a worrying development in the stabbing case and it.May have been political. Marcus wants Libertus to do his thing and get answers. The men travel to.Quintus house but before they can even be introduced to.Quintus the man is found bleeding out.from a stab wound. Marcus immediately orders all the entrances and exits to the property locked and forbids anyone from leaving, the murderer must still be in the building. There are several suspects, a disgruntled son, a beautiful wife, her ex husband, a political rival and a bondsman, if not then then maybe one of the slaves did it..........who knows but whatever Marcus thinks he has it solved within hours but Libertus is not convinced......................... This series is very entertaining, I've read a few Roman mystery series now and all of them deal.with Roman citizens, some wealthy, some poor but all.citizens which bestows a certain cache onto a person. Libertus is different, here we see the other side of.Roman society, he has been the lowest of the.low, a slave, and he knows what a slave suffers, he is also aware that even though he is free now, with a patron, that one wrong word of gesture could see it all disappear. He may be a citizen now but he is still a Felt and an ex slave scrabbling for a living dependent on the whims of his patron...............not an easy place to be...

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celtic mosaic-maker and former slave Libertus goes with his patron Marcus, the representative of the governor Pertinax, to Corinium (present day Cirencester), because Marcus wants him to investigate the non-fatal stabbing of a decurion named Quintus. Libertus hopes to be able to combine this official mission with a personal one: to find his wife, Gwella, who was forcibly separated from him 20 years ago and sold off, like Libertus, to be a slave.

Libertus arrives with Marcus at Quintus’s palatial home, and has not even had the chance to meet Quintus when the man is stabbed again—and this time fatally. While Quintus’s arrogant but stupid son Maxmilian blusters about and Quintus’s beautiful widow Julia turns to the self-assured and handsome surgeon Sollers, her husband’s friend and personal physician, Libertus tries to discover who actually murdered Quintus.

I have liked whatever I’ve read of Rosemary Rowe’s Libertus mysteries before this, and A Pattern of Blood was no different. The mystery angle of it is excellent: good clues and red herrings, and valid deductions. The history angle of it is equally good, with Rowe doing a superb job of recreating Roman Britain: the social order, the life, the death (I had no idea that Romans held funerals at night). The way she deftly (but never tediously) weaves into the narrative details of daily life, food, clothing, medicine, even public baths, is impressive.

Plus, Libertus is a very likeable protagonist. Kind, intelligent, humble, and with a fine sense of humour.

[Steve Caudle · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review of "The Germanicus Mosaic" by the same author.

[Emily]

Libertus was slow to pick up on the clues....

[margaret chalmers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting pattern

A well deserved four star. This series is improving. Our regulars are established, our native Celtic detective is growing ever more sympathetic. In this tale he gets a possible clue to his lost wife 's whereabouts. Interestingly she was sold with a male companion. Perhaps a son? During his search our hero sees a stabbing and then his patron takes him to meet victim with a view to a mosaic commission. Victim is stabbed again. This time fatally. Who done it? Along the way we are painlessly given great detail on everyday life in a Roman city. Fascinating.. This series shows great promise. I recommend it if you like historical mysteries.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series tends to focus on the dynamics of slavery in Roman culture, so it is fitting that the protagonist is a former slave who has been freed and become a citizen, appropriately named Libertus. When he was captured he was separated from his wife, who was also sold as a slave. Ever since he has had a longing to find her again and is glad to have an excuse to visit Corinium to look for her. Unfortunately, when a rich aristocrat is murdered, his patron Marcus insists that Libertus investigate. A well-researched portrait of Roman Britain with interesting characters and plot.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than the first in the series, possibly because the characterisation was a little deeper, and it really does have good pacing. The Upstairs/Downstairs nature of the household was engaging, as that sort of thing often is. The culprit was both obvious and yet, lacking in rational motive (but less so that the first installment, so yay?). This is more engaging-enough-fiction-in-my-fave genre to keep reading, but it isn't in the top tier of that genre, or anywhere near it.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Pattern of Blood is the second mystery in the series by Rosemary Rowe that is fast becoming one of my favorite series. The story is fun, the characters engaging, and the setting is delightful. It is also a pretty good mystery. I thought I had figured out whodunit fairly early in the story. As it turns out I was right, but for all the wrong reasons, so I'm not sure that counts. Anyway, a thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pleasant enough mystery, but not compelling enough to interest me to search for the numerous other books in this series.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid mystery set in Roman Britian. An intelligent and sympathetic main character with a patron he knows how to humor and a slave he respects.

[Claire Binkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that has a startling ending! I like this series better now that I'm reading them in order.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Pattern of Blood is the 2nd book in the Libertus Series. As I mentioned before, I'll be starting with this book because of nostalgia.

A Pattern of Blood follows Libertus as he's sent to investigate an attack on a decurion named Quintus Ulpius (which he coincidentally witnessed while looking for his wife). Unfortunately, Quintus is successfully murdered before Libertus can even talk to him. Libertus's patron Marcus is convinced he knows who the murderer is, but Libertus isn't convinced. And so, he starts investigating.

This was a really fun murder mystery, if the word fun is even appropriate. I enjoyed following Libertus about as he investigated, and reading about how he manages to persuade people to give him information, or twist his patron around so that he gets more time to investigate.

Plus, like a proper mystery, the identity of the murderer is deduced, not found out when the 'detective' 'accidentally' stumbles into something that oh-so-conveniently reveals the identity of the murder (I'm looking at you, ending of If Books Could Kill (Link needed), and all the other books like you).

While this book is set in the time of ancient Rome, the place is Corinium (modern Cirencester). So it's technically in the UK. There are lots of references to how this isn't like Rome, but all that talk of togas had me thinking in terms of the Colosseum and hot weather, which I'm guessing is quite far off the mark. That's what my brain gets for jumping to conclusions.

In conclusion, I really liked this book. From the foreword, it appears that the author has taken pains to be as accurate as possible. I liked how the setting pulled me into another world, and I enjoyed the mystery as well.

This review was first posted to Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[Graham Crawford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another one of those formula Crime books - Medieval Miss Marple/ Roman Poirot. They are starting to be called "cozy murders" - in this case maybe toasty because they have hypocausts :-)

I wouldn't say it's a bad book, but I predicted who dunnit in the paragraph where the murderer was first introduced....I just had to wait for all the usual contorted antics and red herrings to get to a motive and means. There is an overlay of a roman history lecture, but it still feels like midsumer murders in togas.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second in the Libertus series, later Roman Briton. A decurion is murdered, mysteriously, Libertus investigates with his powerful patron. After the usual twists and turns, the truth, with its usual myriad complexities, is revealed. The doctor did it, for money and a woman!
Entertaining. The glimpses Libertus provides of his life are interesting. His search for his 20 year lost wife.

[Catherine Khalili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this series. It is about a freed slave in Roman Briton who is adept at solving crimes. He is often forced into it by his Patron. I enjoy the history and the mystery that each book has. Unfortunately, my library doesn't carry this series so I am buying it on my kindle.

[Lollyletsgo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice read. I thought I figured it out, but there was a nice little twist at the end. Again, Well, played Rosemary Rowe, well played.

[Lizzie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read!

[Katharine Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roman crime novels are my guilty pleasure and this series hits the spot nicely.

[Cynthiaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libertus is not Marcus Didius, but then....Still, an entertaining whodunnit. Definitelyenough to keep me in the series.