Publishers Weekly
★ 11/11/2019
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.). (Jan.)
The Times
The central characters and their relationship are the book's strengths . . . worth a read - the characters and setting are wonderful
VAL McDERMID
PRAISE FOR THE WAY OF ALL FLESH: Parry's Victorian Edinburgh comes vividly alive - and it's a world of pain
Sunday Express
A gripping Victorian thriller
iNews
A menacing tale of murder amid the medical experiments of mid-19th century Edinburgh
JESS KIDD
Dark and visceral, gritty and charming, with a twisting plot and compelling characters - not least, Victorian Edinburgh at her deadliest. The immersive world of Ambrose Parry just gets better and better
Scotland on Sunday
Offers more of the alluring combination of crime fiction and historical fact seen in last year's The Way of All Flesh . . . The reader may need a tiny dose of chloroform to relax after all of these thrills. . . For any reader in need of a swift-acting tonic, I prescribe picking up this thriller as soon as possible
Big Issue
Gleeful, romping . . . The fog and stench of Edinburgh's Old Town definitely jump off the page . . . The central relationship between loveable rogue Raven and proto-feminist Fisher is the beating heart of The Art of Dying. Both characters are drawn with real empathy and nuance, and their complicated feelings for each other drive the book as much as the smart storylines. A great piece of storytelling
i
Intriguing
Evening Times
Full of twists and turns - a great read
Financial Times
Some gore (historical gore doesn't count) but mostly nice historical detail (reminding you that doctors never do know everything) with a little overlay of romantic tension and a side of old-fashioned feminism. Compelling
From the Publisher
PRAISE FOR The Way of All Flesh:
“Parry's Victorian Edinburgh comes vividly alive – and it's a world of pain” VAL MCDERMID
“A rip-roaring tale of murder amid the medical experiments of 19th-century Edinburgh. The book brings both city and period to colourful life and is a joy to read” IAN RANKIN, Guardian
“Menacing, witty and ingeniously plotted, Ambrose Parry’s debut draws you into the dark heart of nineteenth-century Edinburgh and won’t let you go until the final page” S.J. PARRIS
“An astonishing debut. The dark and dangerous past is brought thrillingly to life. I can’t wait to read more of Raven and Sarah” MARK BILLINGHAM
“Utterly compelling, this tale of Old Edinburgh is so full of characters and startling incident that I never wanted it to end” DENISE MINA
“A thoroughly entertaining tale of murder and misadventure in 1840s Edinburgh” Sunday Times
“A dynamic new arrival . . . Ambrose Parry’s The Way of All Flesh is set in an 1840s Edinburgh where new science and old beliefs rub shoulders. Its twisty gothic plot is based on grisly real events” Observer
"Outstanding . . . Fans of David Pirie and Katie Welsh . . . will be richly rewarded" Publishers Weekly
“Historical fiction at its most enjoyable, with facts smoothly blended into a clever plot” Kirkus Review
“A gritty portrayal of the early days of medical experimentation . . . a solid medical-history mystery” Booklist
Library Journal
12/13/2019
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
Kirkus Reviews
2019-10-28
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.
