The Art of Dying

Starred review from November 11, 2019
Set in 1849 Edinburgh, Parry’s outstanding sequel to 2018’s The Way of All Flesh (the author is the husband-and-wife writing team of Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman) finds Will Raven still apprenticed to real-life surgeon James Simpson. Will and his sometime love interest, Sarah Fisher, who was once Simpson’s maid, join forces to prove Simpson’s innocence after a former assistant and a professor of surgery accuse Simpson of being responsible for the death of a patient through negligence. Simpson’s accusers claim that the woman on whom he performed a procedure (“Something to do with the cervix, I think,” Sarah says) died of a hemorrhage, as evidenced by the bloodstains on the mattress she died on. Simpson maintains that she died of inflammation. No autopsy was done to spare the feelings of the widower, himself a medical man. Chapters from the perspective of the unnamed killer, who expresses amusement that the murder has caused such a controversy, lend dark counterpoint to the inquiry. Fans of David Pirie and Katie Welsh, who likewise have set crime novels in Victorian Edinburgh, will be richly rewarded. Agent: Sophie Scard, United Agents (U.K.).

November 15, 2019
When Will Raven returns to Edinburgh in 1849 as a medical doctor, he finds that sometimes there is no cure for damages inflicted in the past. Raven is cautiously optimistic, and why wouldn't he be? After having studied abroad, he is now the newly appointed assistant to the famous Dr. James Simpson, who pioneered the use of chloroform. Despite problems in his past, Raven hopes his life at Queen Street will settle into a respected routine, but one glance at the woman he left behind when he went on his travels and he knows that's unlikely. Beautiful, intelligent Sarah Fisher was only a housemaid, although her keen intelligence had helped him in the past (The Way of All Flesh, 2018). Feeling the difference in their status would always be a deterrent, Will left her and went abroad. Another man, though, felt no such hesitation. In Raven's absence, a rich doctor fell in love with Sarah, and she is now married. However, when several patients die of unexplained causes and Dr. Simpson's expertise is questioned, Raven and Sarah will again join forces to find out why. The author deftly weaves history into this lively tale, unfolding facts about medicine and misogyny with equal ease. Making Raven and Sarah such stubborn characters only increases their believability, and a twist at the end nicely increases the pleasure of this story. This is historical fiction at its most enjoyable, with facts smoothly blended into a clever plot.

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December 13, 2019

The second historical medical mystery by Parry (a pseudonym for the writing team of Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman) follows The Way of All Flesh with Will Raven back in Edinburgh in 1850, after making a tour abroad and finishing his studies. Officially Dr. Will Raven now, he goes to work as his friend and former colleague Dr. Simpson's assistant in his obstetrics practice. His former love, Sarah Fisher, is still working in Dr. Simpson's household as something between nurse and assistant; her intelligence and efficient abilities in the surgery make her indispensable. Unfortunately, one of Dr. Simpson's rivals spreads rumors about the death of one of Simpson's patients, which prompts Sarah and Will into an investigation to prove their mentor's innocence. In the course of their inquiries, they uncover a number of inexplicable deaths that all seem to connect to one person. Is there a new disease being spread unwittingly, or are the deaths more sinister in nature? As in the first book in the series, readers will find an intriguing mystery balanced with well-researched details and a vividly rendered setting. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy historical or medical mysteries, especially those set in Victorian England.--Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2019
The second in Parry's Will Raven series, following The Way of All Flesh (2018), returns to mid-nineteenth-century Edinburgh, offering a gritty portrayal of the early days of medical experimentation (chloroform is offered at a dinner party here as a kind of cocktail) amid a rising body count. Young doctor Raven and his love, Sarah Fisher, return, but it may be difficult for readers who haven't read the first installment to figure out who they are for quite awhile. Raven fights inner demons, trying to keep his inner Mr. Hyde at bay, and Sarah is now married, complicating Raven's continuing relationship with Sarah. Against a backdrop of mysterious deaths sweeping through Edinburgh, the doctor to whom both Raven, as a former student, and Sarah, as a former housemaid, are connected is accused of murder. The narrative is interrupted by the writings of a sadistic woman detailing her crimes, but that doesn't let the older doctor off the hook. Although the language is sometimes overwrought, this is a solid medical-history mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)