The Libertus Series by Rosemary Rowe

A long time ago, at a friend's house, I read a murder mystery set in Ancient Rome. I'm not too sure what it was, but I remember enjoying it, and I remember something about blood letting and a bowl of blood. It took me a long time, and I'm still not too sure, but I'm pretty sure that the Libertus series is what I'm looking for. So when I managed to go to the Central Library (the only place with the books), I borrowed about three of them at one go and devoured them.

So for the next few weeks, I'll be trying to catch up on the series, and will be reviewing them every alternate day or two.

There are 13 books in total. Screenshot from Goodreads. 

I'm going to break with tradition and review A Pattern of Blood, the second book in the series, before The Germanicus Mosaic, the true start. Why? Because A Pattern of Blood contains a bowl of blood, and is most similar to the book I remember reading. So I'll start with that, then go on to review the books in chronological order.

But, what I've noticed so far:

The mysteries are largely unrelated to each other. The same few characters appear, but other than that, it seems like you can read them out of order. The only connecting thread is that Libertus is searching for his lost wife. That's the only thing that will not make sense if you read the books outside of chronological order.

Alright, I think all introductions are done. So, enjoy the week of Libertus Mystery reviews~