Ruth Downie Books in Order
Ruth Downie has written 10 books, published between 2006 and 2019. The first book is Medicus / Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls (2006) and the newest is Prima Facie (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 10
- Published
- 2006–2019
- Pages on record
- 2,766 in 8 of 10 books
- Reading time
- 46–69 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,766 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 8 of 10 titles with a page count on record.
Gaius Petreius Ruso, a reluctant sleuth in the Roman world, is the figure Ruth Downie's mysteries follow. Downie, an English author born in 1955, has 10 catalogued books in the Medicus Investigation series, opening with Medicus (2006) and closing with Prima Facie (2019). Several titles carry a second name: Terra Incognita also appears as Ruso and the Demented Doctor, and Caveat Emptor as Ruso and the River of Darkness. Physicians, Rome, Britain and historical crime make up the subjects.
How many Ruth Downie books are there?
Ruth Downie has 10 books, released between 2006 and 2019. 9 of them belong to the Medicus Investigation series.
Ruth Downie Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 10 Ruth Downie books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Medicus / Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing GirlsMedicus Investigation #12006 · 416 pages · confirmed 2/420064162/4
- 22008–2/4
- 3Persona Non Grata / Ruso and the Root of All EvilsMedicus Investigation #32009 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/420093682/4
- 4Caveat Emptor / Ruso and the River of DarknessMedicus Investigation #42010 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/420103522/4
- 520133522/4
- 620143322/4
- 720163842/4
- 8The Bear and the Wolf2017 · confirmed 2/42017–2/4
- 920184082/4
- 1020191542/4
Ruth Downie books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Medicus Investigation in order
9 booksStandalone books
1 book1 Ruth Downie title here is not listed as part of any series.
Ruth Downie Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Ruth Downie books run from Medicus / Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls (2006) to Prima Facie (2019), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Ruth Downie in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Ruth Downie books in order?
You only need to read Ruth Downie books in order within the Medicus Investigation series, which holds 9 of the 10 Ruth Downie books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Ruth Downie
Start with Medicus / Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls (2006), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Ruth Downie book?
Prima Facie (2019) is the newest Ruth Downie book released so far.
Is there a new Ruth Downie book coming?
No next Ruth Downie book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Ruth Downie at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Ruth Downie title on record dates from 2019, 7 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Ruth Downie books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 2,766 pages across the 8 of 10 books with a recorded length, a median of 360 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Ruth Downie books, 7 of 10, were published in the 2010s.
What the Ruth Downie books are about
9 of the 10 Ruth Downie books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: physicians is tagged on 7 of 9. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Physicians 7 of 9 books
- Mystery & detective 6 of 9 books
- Great Britain 4 of 9 books
- History 4 of 9 books
- Rome 4 of 9 books
- Crime 3 of 9 books
- Romans 3 of 9 books
- Historical fiction 2 of 9 books
- Mystery & detective, historical 2 of 9 books