Tag: historical crime

Blog Tour/Book Review: The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry

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The Way Of All Flesh Blog Tour Poster

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry, the pseudonym of bestselling author, Chris Brookmyre, and consultant anaesthetist, Dr Marisa Haetzman.

The Way of All Flesh is the first in a series of historical crime novels. It has already been optioned by SunnyMarch for film/TV and has sold into seven territories to date.  Raven and Fisher will return in The Art of Dying, due to be published in hardback in August 2019.

My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Canongate for my review copy.  You can read my review below.

The Way of All FleshAbout the Book

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.

Format: Paperback, ebook, audiobook (416 pp.)    Publisher: Canongate
Published: 2nd May 2019    Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Way of All Flesh on Goodreads

My Review

The Way of All Flesh introduces the reader to Will Raven, about to start a prestigious medical apprenticeship but burdened by secrets in his past, an unhealthily close connection to a murder victim, ruthless debt collectors on his trail and a self-confessed dark side to his character.

Despite Raven’s initial determination that the death of a woman he was close to should not become just another unsolved murder of a ‘fallen woman’, readers need to exercise some patience for his investigation into the murder to get fully under way. Not, in fact, until other similar victims start to turn up. It’s some time as well before the initial antagonism between Sarah, housemaid to the Simpson household,and Raven gives way to an uneasy investigative partnership which Sarah is determined should be one of equals. “You will keep nothing from me, and in this endeavour, you will at all times treat me as your equal.”

The authors have created an interesting character in Sarah. Intelligent, independent-minded and keen to better herself, she nevertheless finds her ambitions thwarted by social conventions and preconceptions based on her gender. A theme of the book which the reader will find difficult to miss is the inferior status of women, at all levels of society, and the potential for their mistreatment by men. As Sarah observes, “…it wasn’t only women below stairs who would never be permitted to realise their potential. Those above could aspire to no more than marriage and motherhood.” The latter is exemplified by Mina, unmarried sister-in-law of Dr. Simpson, who finds herself dependent on others for financial support and valueless without the status of wife. And, of course, there’s Sarah who, despite her intelligence and self-acquired knowledge of medicines, finds even the role of druggist’s assistant out of reach because she’s a woman and for customers ‘only a man will do.’

Alongside the crime mystery element, the book conjures up the atmosphere of 19th century Edinburgh, both its gentrified streets and seedy alleyways. It also brings to life a time of medical and scientific experimentation in the search for developments in anaesthesia and surgical techniques. The monetary and reputational rewards for pioneers of such developments may be great and, as becomes clear, not all possess the scruples of others. They may go to any lengths, seeing their actions as ‘a necessary sacrifice on the altar of progress’.

As a historical crime mystery, the book is more of a slow burn than a raging conflagration but the pace does pick up markedly in the final chapters. Making forays into subjects such as photography and homeopathy, it’s nevertheless full of atmosphere and, in Raven and Sarah, introduces an engaging central partnership, that sets things up nicely for future books.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Canongate Books, and NetGalley.

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In three words: Atmospheric, detailed, mystery

Try something similar…The Wages of Sin by Kaite Welsh (read my review here)

Ambrose Perry Author PicAbout the Authors

Ambrose Parry is a pseudonym for a collaboration between Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. The couple are married and live in Scotland. Chris Brookmyre is the international bestselling and multi-award-winning author of over twenty novels, including Black Widow, winner of both the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. Dr Marisa Haetzman is a consultant anaesthetist of twenty years’ experience, whose research for her Master’s degree in the History of Medicine uncovered the material upon which this novel was based. The Way of All Flesh is the first book in the series

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Blog Tour/Book Review: The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby

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I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby, alongside my tour buddy, Rowena at Murder Mayhem & More.   Thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in the tour and to No Exit Press for my advance review copy.

You can read my review below but do also check out the tour banner at the bottom of this post to see the other fabulous book bloggers taking part in the tour.

Praise for The Conviction of Cora Burns

  • ‘Downton Abbey meets Elizabeth Gaskell’ – GJ Minett, author of Lie In Wait and Anything For Her
  • ‘The Conviction of Cora Burns is a striking debut. Rich in gothic darkness and period detail, the brutality of Victorian Britain is exquisitely drawn. A beautifully-written story which enveloped me from first page to last’ – Amanda Jennings, author of The Cliff House and In Her Wake
  • ‘Kirby’s talent shines through her deft prose… I think this is a fantastic novel from an incredibly exciting new voice. I think fans of Sarah Waters would love this bold debut’ – Emily Elgar, author of If You Knew Her
  • ‘A gripping historical thriller with a compelling protagonist. I loved the period detail and can’t wait to read more from Carolyn Kirby’ – Sarah Ward, author of the DC Childs novels

The Conviction of Cora BurnsAbout the Book

Cora was born in a prison. But is this where she belongs?

Birmingham, 1885. Born in a gaol and raised in a workhouse, Cora Burns has always struggled to control the violence inside her.

Haunted by memories of a terrible crime, she seeks a new life working as a servant in the house of scientist Thomas Jerwood.  Here, Cora befriends a young girl, Violet, who seems to be the subject of a living experiment. But is Jerwood also secretly studying Cora…?

Format: Paperback (336 pp.)         Publisher: No Exit Press
Published: 21st March 2019           Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

Purchase Links*
Publisher | Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Conviction of Cora Burns on Goodreads

My Review

In her debut novel, Carolyn Kirby has set herself the ambitious task of handling multiple timelines and introducing the reader to a central character, Cora Burns, who at times exhibits both the best and worst aspects of human nature.   However, to my mind, the author meets this challenge ably.  True, the narrative, frequently shifting back and forth in time over the space of twenty years or so, requires some concentration from the reader but this effort will be amply repaid in my opinion.

The mystery surrounding Cora’s early life and the nature of her crime also demands a willingness on the part of the reader to allow themselves, as it were, to collect all the disparate pieces of the jigsaw and exercise patience for the final picture to be revealed.  To continue my analogy a little further, expect to find you have some of the pieces in entirely the wrong place or to discover they belong in a completely different jigsaw altogether!

I mentioned earlier that Cora’s character involves both light and dark – at times, very dark.  There are examples of tenderness, such as her patient creation of a doll’s gown, or her attempts at friendship with Violet, the young girl growing up in the Jerwood household.   But there is also very dark, such as Cora’s frequent imaginings of violence against others (and sometimes not just imaginings) and her guilt about the terrible crime she fears she may have committed, an act so horrific she has purged it from her memory.  Despite this, the reader (well, this one at least) can’t help rooting for the clever, feisty and spirited Cora, hoping she might be able to move on from her troubled past and make a happier life for herself.  I think the author’s skill is always to make us believe this is a possibility without making us completely sure.

The exploration of the debate between nature versus nurture is a key theme of the book.  There are those, like Thomas Jerwood, who hold fixed views on the matter and whose certainty in the rightness of their position and the ends to which they are prepared to go to prove it are positively frightening and seemingly have no regard for the wellbeing – mental or physical – of others.  The power of social position, financial clout and primitive views about the treatment of prisoners and those suffering with mental illness mean they can get away with just about anything.  On the other hand, there are those, thankfully, who hold more enlightened views.

So we have light and dark again and I was struck by how much duality plays a part in the book.  For example, key to the plot is the use of photography in which negatives are transformed into positives.  And, in a neat touch by the author, the taking of a photograph bookends the novel.

I could go on talking about the themes explored in the book because, aside from the intriguing mystery concerning Cora’s past, The Conviction of Cora Burns has so many other layers. Oh, and you can throw in a few Gothic elements as well.  (Did Mrs. Dix make anyone else think of Grace Poole in Jane Eyre?) It all adds up to an impressive debut and an intensely satisfying read that I can  wholeheartedly recommend to readers who like their historical fiction to have real depth.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, No Exit Press.

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In three words: Clever, compelling, absorbing

Try something similar…The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (read my review here)

Carolyn Kirby Author PicAbout the Author

Originally from Sunderland, Carolyn Kirby studied history at St Hilda’s College, Oxford before working for social housing and then as a teacher of English as a foreign language.

Her novel The Conviction of Cora Burns was begun in 2013 on a writing course at Faber Academy in London. The novel has achieved success in several competitions including as finalist in the 2017 Mslexia Novel Competition and as winner of the inaugural Bluepencilagency Award.

Carolyn has two grown-up daughters and lives with her husband in rural Oxfordshire.

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