The Art Of Dying (Raven, Fisher and Simpson Book Two) by Ambrose Parry

 

The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry.

Published in paperback 7th January 2021 by Black Thorn.

From the cover of the book:

A gripping historical novel of medicine and murder from bestselling author Chris Brookmyre and consultant anaesthetist Dr Marisa Haetzman, set in nineteenth-century Edinburgh.

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.

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The Art of Dying is the second book in the medicine and murder themed Raven, Fisher and Simpson series, set in mid-nineteenth century Edinburgh.

These are the days of the pioneers of modern medicine, on the cutting edge (pardon the pun) of experimental practice, laying the foundations for the medical profession that we know today - and this is not an easy task in a city still rife with old fashioned 'quacks' who view the new procedures with suspicion and contempt. It doesn't help that many of the new breed of doctors are also competing against each other to make their name in the new age of medicine, encouraging division in their ranks.

Dr Simpson, is one such doctor on the cusp of the new age, and in fact a real life one too who was a pioneer in the use of chloroform, and through him our authors introduce the fascinating medical advances being made at the time - and show us much of the controversy that went hand in hand with them.

But Edinburgh is also a city of many faces, and a good number of these are dark and sinister. There is a terrifying 'Angel of Death' plying her trade here and someone needs to do something about it. This task falls to our fictional characters - the young Doctor Raven and his erstwhile lover Sarah Fisher, who are both assisting Dr Simpson in his endeavours. Through them we follow a twisty and dangerous path to the truth of the mysterious deaths in the city and the identity of the murderess herself - they also help out Dr Simpson with some of his difficulties and have their own medical adventures along the way too.

I really enjoyed the way our authors entwine historical fact and fiction in this book, combining them together to produce a slick murder mystery tale filled with fascinating medical details. Dr Simpson is our real life anchor of the piece, helping to drag medicine into the modern age, with his assistants at his side. Dr Raven takes the part of the romantic hero daring to go beyond the bounds of acceptable behaviour, both professionally and personally, in the pursuit of good, even if he considers himself to be dark at heart - and Sarah Fisher holds her own as the ambitious young women keen to take up the banner for women's rights and carve a path through the rigid societal strictures laid out for the female sex.

The mystery serial killer in this book is inspired by 19th-century nurse and ‘Angel of Death’ Jane Toppan, which makes it all the more fascinating and I love the fact that Sarah Fisher's part here represents the growth of the women’s movement which led to the formation of the Edinburgh Seven: the first women to enrol in university in the UK. 

I did find it hard to get into the story and the rhythm of the writing at first, mainly because I had not read the first book in the series, The Way Of All Flesh, but there is such a gloriously gritty Gothic horror feel to the whole piece that it soon pulled me in. There are some holes in the back story of the characters that I do still need to fill, but since I now have a copy of book one this will soon be remedied (sorry for another medicinal pun, dear reader!).

If you like your historical crime darkly delicious, with a nice mix of fact and fiction - and with a feel of the dawning of a new age  - then this is going to be the book for you. It's creepy and compelling in equal measure, with great characters, a vivid setting, and a plot that will keep you turning the pages all the way to the end. What more do you need?

The Art Of Dying is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer, or from Bookshop.org HERE.

Thank you to Black Thorn/Canongate for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About 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. 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.

The Art of Dying is the second book in the series.

The series has been optioned by Benedict Cumberpatch’s production company SunnyMarch for a Sky TV series.