The Way of All Flesh
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4.4 • 16 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 McILVANNEY PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR
A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
A Raven and Fisher Mystery: Book 1
Edinburgh, 1847. Will Raven is a medical student, apprenticing for the brilliant and renowned Dr Simpson. Sarah Fisher is Simpson’s housemaid, and has all of Raven’s intelligence but none of his privileges.
As bodies begin to appear across the Old Town, Raven and Sarah find themselves propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh’s underworld. And if either of them are to make it out alive, they will have to work together to find out who’s responsible for the gruesome deaths.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Edinburgh in 1847, this captivating series launch from the pseudonymous Parry (the husband-wife writing team of Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman) introduces 20-year-old Will Raven, a medical student apprenticed to James Simpson, a revered professor of midwifery. The evening before Will is to assume his new duties, he calls on a prostitute he's befriended, Evie Lawson, in her garret room. There he finds her cold body, horribly contorted in her bedsheets. The bodies of other young women soon turn up in the same distressing condition as Evie's. Will joins forces with Simpson's resourceful housemaid, Sarah Fisher, to discover who's responsible. Parry provides a fascinating look at how medicine was practiced at a period when anesthetics were still not widely used or understood, as well as certain things that have changed little over time: mansplaining, the subservience expected of women of any social class, and religious leaders demanding their God-given right to control reproductive health. Readers will eagerly await the sequel.
Customer Reviews
An Amazing Suspense
Edinburgh 1847 I have never read anything by this author, but when I read the blurb I was very intrigued. I have always been fascinated by Jack the Ripper and I wondered if this would follow along those lines. Well it was much more, bringing the new blossoming scientific and medical experiments to light which was often gruesome and with no care to the person.
Medical student Will Raven starts his apprenticeship with obstetrician Dr. Simpson. But Will is soon faced with the death of his friend Evie, a prostitute. He takes Sarah, his housemaid along to search in Edinburgh's dark underworld to try to find the killer.
This author brought the characters and the surroundings to life and at times it was almost too much. Some of the medical procedures passages were tough to read, but it brought the suspense and mystery of the story together.
As more bodies and missing women start turning up, they become frantic in trying to find the murderer. Do yourself a favor. When you pick this book up, be sure you have the time to finish it because even after I closed the last page, I know this is one I will remember. Cannot wait to read the next story by fabulous duo. I read this through NetGallery.