Tag: historical mystery

#BookReview The Art of Dying (Raven, Fisher and Simpson 2) by Ambrose Parry @blackthornbks @RandomTTours

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Art of Dying Graphic

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry. My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Black Thorn Books for my digital review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Angi at Books’n’Banter and Amy at The Shelf Of Unread Books.

The Art of Dying coverAbout the Book

Edinburgh, 1849. Hordes of patients are dying all across the city, with doctors finding their remedies powerless. And a campaign seeks to paint Dr James Simpson, pioneer of medical chloroform, as a murderer.

Determined to clear Simpson’s name, his protégé Will Raven and former housemaid Sarah Fisher must plunge into Edinburgh’s deadliest streets and find out who or what is behind the deaths. Soon they discover that the cause of the deaths has evaded detection purely because it is so unthinkable.

Format: Paperback (416 pages)         Publisher: Black Thorn Books
Publication date: 7th January 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Crime

Find The Art of Dying (Raven, Fisher, and Simpson, #2) on Goodreads

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My Review

I enjoyed the first book in the series, The Way of All Flesh, but recall thinking it lacked a little pace, especially in the early part of the book. No such criticism can be levelled at The Art of Dying.  The inclusion of that device much beloved by authors of contemporary thrillers – a chilling prologue and occasional chapters by a mystery narrator – inject a real sense of tension.  At the same time, The Art of Dying retains all the period atmosphere that was such an admirable feature of its predecessor.

For Will Raven and Sarah Fisher much has changed since the first book. After a year spent studying in Europe, Will is now Dr. Raven and is no longer Dr. James Simpson’s apprentice but his assistant. And Sarah is no longer a servant in the Simpson household but helps Dr. Simpson with the patients who attend his clinic. The changes in her personal life have been no less significant.

However, much has also stayed the same. Will still battles to control ‘the devil inside him’ and his fear he is destined to meet a violent end. Oh, and his return to Edinburgh has not escaped the notice of a rather formidable former enemy. When it comes to the world of medicine however, Will is disappointed to find a reluctance to embrace some of the new surgical practices he learned about during his time abroad. As for Sarah, she still retains her thirst for knowledge and chafes at the constraints she perceives society imposes on independent-minded women like herself who yearn to pursue a career. As she observes, “She was a conundrum, representing a deviation from the norm that seemed to cause a degree of disquiet in the bosoms of those wedded to the notion of a rigorously imposed social hierarchy”.

I’m pleased to say what definitely hasn’t changed is the spark of attraction between Will and Sarah that looked likely to ignite in the first book but was seemingly snuffed out by the then difference in their social status. However, Will and Sarah are united in their feelings of loyalty to Dr. Simpson and are soon engaged in investigating a series of unexplained deaths. Since one of the victims was a patient of Dr. Simpson, it has  given rise to accusations of malpractice against him. As their enquiries progress, the reader may believe they know exactly who the culprit is but there are times when it’s wise to wait for a second opinion or to revisit your initial diagnosis.

The Art of Dying is a skilful combination of intricately plotted mystery, engaging leading characters and great period atmosphere. Just what the doctor ordered! In fact, I’m hoping for a repeat prescription before too long.

In three words: Suspenseful, ingenious, atmospheric

Try something similar: The Figure in the Photograph by Kevin Sullivan

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Ambrose Parry Author PicAbout the Authors

Ambrose Parry is the pseudonym of 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. 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 series, which began with The Way of All Flesh, is based.

The Way of All Flesh was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year and longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.

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#BookReview The Diabolical Bones (The Bronte Mysteries #2) by Bella Ellis @HodderBooks

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The Diabolical BonesAbout the Book

It’s Christmas 1845 and Haworth is in the grip of a freezing winter. Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë are rather losing interest in detecting until they hear of a shocking discovery: the bones of a child have been found interred within the walls of a local house, Top Withens Hall, home to the scandalous and brutish Bradshaw family.

When the sisters set off to find out more, they are confronted with an increasingly complex and sinister case, which leads them into the dark world of orphanages, and onto the trail of other lost, and likely murdered children. After another local boy goes missing, Charlotte, Emily and Anne vow to find him before it’s too late.

But in order to do so, they must face their most despicable and wicked adversary yet – one that would not hesitate to cause them the gravest of harm…

Format: Hardcover (352 pages)              Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication date: 5th November 2020 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Mystery

Find The Diabolical Bones on Goodreads

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My Review

As with the first book in the series The Vanished Bride, the prologue to The Diabolical Bones sees Charlotte, now the last surviving member of the Brontë family, looking back on her and her sisters’ lives before they became famous authors.  It underlines how tragically short those lives were, Emily having died in 1848 and Anne in 1849.  Charlotte herself was to die in 1855.

The book reprises the inventive premise of its predecessor, namely that the Brontë sisters were enterprising ‘detectors’ before they were novelists – with the assistance, from time to time of their brother, Branwell. The Diabolical Bones represents their second case, undertaken in 1846, (before the publication of Wuthering Heights in 1847, the relevance of which will become apparent).

The narrative alternates between the point of view of the three sisters, allowing the reader to appreciate their different strengths when it comes to the art of ‘detecting’. Together they make a formidable team. As Anne observes: “Charlotte, you have a gift for reading people and drawing them out of themselves. Emily, you see connections and clues that a mind inferior to yours would simply not be able to fathom… As for myself, I keep our minds focused on the reasons behind it all: the human reasons… Branwell allows us access into rooms where lone women might not otherwise go, and sometimes provides a fairly adequate distraction. When we are together, we are stronger and we are safer.”

They may be stronger together but are they safer? It soon becomes evident they are hunting an individual so convinced of their own superiority they are prepared to engage the sisters in ‘a battle of wits’, even leaving clues for them to find. Throughout the story there’s a sense of the Gothic from the ‘dense and sorrowful atmosphere’ of the Bradshaw house to local talk of evil stalking the neighbourhood when the moon is dark. The sisters’ investigation even includes a visit to a witch, although this does involve crossing the border from their beloved Yorkshire into Lancashire. “Oh well,” Emily said. “Needs must.”

The battle of wits eventually becomes a battle of a more deadly kind requiring the Brontës to draw on all their courage and ingenuity as they pit themselves against a formidable foe, whilst all the time the clock is ticking until the monster strikes again.

Admirers of the Brontës will enjoy the references to events in their lives and have fun spotting places said to have inspired locations in their novels. Indeed, returning from a visit to the house where the bones were discovered, Emily enthuses, “I had a vision of a story, and I wanted to write it all down before I forgot it. It is a marvellous, ferocious storm of a story. I shall set it at Top Withens…” The author also gives some of the secondary characters names reminiscent of those in the Brontë sisters’ novels. I spotted Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall but there may be more.

Readers who enjoyed the first Brontë mystery will be delighted to see the sisters return for a second foray into ‘detecting’. But you don’t need to be a fan of the Brontës to enjoy this skillfully crafted historical mystery. As Bella Ellis notes in her Acknowledgements, ‘We all need a good story in our lives now, more than ever.’ Amen to that.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley.

In three words: Engaging, suspenseful, atmospheric

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Rowan ColemanAbout the Author

Bella Ellis is the Brontë-esque pseudonym of Rowan Coleman, an acclaimed author of numerous novels for adults and children. She first visited the former home of the Brontë sisters when she was ten years old. From the moment she stepped over the threshold she was hooked, and embarked on a lifelong love affair with Charlotte, Emily, and Anne; their life; their literature; and their remarkable legacy. (Photo credit: Goodreads author page)

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