A special mention for Gregor, who has become far more than the vicious thug his first appearance would have us believe. I really enjoy the atmosphere, the way it is written, the plots that accompany the common thread of the story, the common thread of the story and of course, the protagonists. Raven and Sarah won't let you drop the book.

Simpson’s patients range from the poorest to the richest in this divided city. His house isn’t like any other, full of daring experiments in the new medical frontier of anesthesia, as well as visiting luminaries. Raven meets Sarah Fisher (a housemaid), who is able to recognize trouble when she sees it and immediately does not like him. She has got all of his intelligence, but not a single one of his privileges, like his medical education. Marisa was the one that realized they were keeping themselves from making it a crime story and for no good reason either. Chris says that she has always had a lot of input on his other work, like coming up with the plot for his first novel, called “Quite Ugly One Morning”. It's not just the solid three main characters who I like more with each book, or indeed the lesser characters who are often surprising.Three of Brookmyre's novels feature the character of counterterrorism officer Angelique de Xavia: A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away, The Sacred Art of Stealing, and A Snowball in Hell. A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away and A Snowball in Hell pit Xavia against international terrorist-for-hire Simon Darcourt. A Snowball in Hell was originally due to be titled The Great Grease-Tailed Shaven Pig Hunt. [6] [7] Jasmine Sharp and Catherine McLeod [ edit ] Also, the supposed sexual tension scenes that are thrown in to coincide with the love story don't fare well to me, they just caused a couple of eye rolls. The whodunnit part was good , did guess at some parts but there were enough surprises and twists to make the ending exciting. With the possible exceptions of Pandaemonium and Bedlam, Brookmyre's books are all set in the same "universe" and contain a number of recurring characters, especially the appearance or mention of major characters (such as Parlabane) in incidental roles in other stories. Some of the recurring characters are listed below:

The story gradually unfurls as Raven looks into the apparent poisoning of the prominent man, met at every turn with high profile peoples' unwillingness to have any scandal revealed, and Sarah tries to locate the woman who had been charged with looking after babies. CID Officers Catherine McLeod, Anthony "Beano" Thompson and Laura Geddes appear in the three "Jasmine Sharp" novels and also play minor roles in Dead Girl Walking. This provides the first strong link between the "Sharp" and "Parlabane" story arcs. (However, note that whereas Beano is a DC - Detective Constable - in the "Jasmine Sharp" novels, he is described in Dead Girl Walking as a DI - Detective Inspector - in three locations, and never as a DC. Catherine McLeod is a Detective Superintendent in both environments.) Catherine McLeod is also mentioned in a closing chapter of Fallen Angel, as investigating the death of a character.Award-winning crime writer Chris Brookmyre and anaesthetist Dr Marisa Haetzman have paired up under the pseudonym of Ambrose Parry to deliver a vividly-drawn historical novel - our unputdownable Thriller of the Month, The Way of All Flesh. Discover it here. Raven has enough on his hands as it is. Body parts have been found at Surgeons Hall, and they’re not anatomy specimens. In a city still haunted by the crimes of Burke and Hare, he is tasked with heading off a scandal. The men-only club that was the medical fraternity is dealt with, especially in light of the trend for new discoveries such as hypnotism and mesmerism and the rush to adopt popular but untired therapies. There's even a bit of Burke-and-Hare bodysnatching. This was a surprisingly disappointing read, and as it was a book I bought new, I feel even worse about not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped to. This appears to have been well researched in the historical side of things and that I found to be rather interesting, but as for knowing who our killer is, well...I knew that answer not too far into the book. It was too obvious, even for me.

This is another lively entertaining caper to add to this very good series. It’s a good blend of a mystery or two with some magic set alongside the factual. It’s excellent on historical context and the medical detail of the day which has long fascinated me. The storytelling is colourful which makes it easy to connect with the plot. The style it’s written in is appropriate to the times and I like this touch. The characterisation is so good and has been throughout the series with Will and Sarah being such likeable central protagonists and their complicated dynamics especially with Will’s wife Eugenie in the mix, adds an interesting edge. James Simpson is more peripheral in this but the authors bring this medical legend to life. All across the USA, people are showing up dead. The deaths don't appear to be connected in any way until one particular death occurs and gets the Secretary of Defense's attention. He arranges for a task force to investigate. Sarah is jealous of Raven's new romantic interest, which adds to her disillusionment of becoming a practicing doctor. A request from a maid sets her on the path of discovering a 'baby farm'. Unmarried girls and impoverished parents believed they were ensuring a bright future for their babies by paying a woman to find good homes for them. Some of the babies were, in turn, sold to unknown homes, but many died from neglect or were killed. Dr Simpson swept in through the front door. His expression of irritation and curiosity turned to one of confusion and dismay as he took in the scene that greeted him: his housemaid in another man's home after dark, his apprentice bruised and bleeding, and both of them standing over the trussed-up figure of his sister-in-law's betrothed.His day job is demanding enough, striving to make his name as an obstetrician, and his home life with a second child on the way is exhausting. But Will usually finds the company of his colleague Sarah Fisher, a young widow and fellow-trainee, reviving. She is unrepentantly curious about all things: medicine, upcoming scientific advances like mesmerism, and details of this strange crime. So what is it about this killing that is beginning to turn Will into a man he doesn't recognise? The author has brought 19th century Edinburgh very much to life, in particular, the medical experiments of this period. Descriptions of medical procedures won’t be for everyone, particularly those involving difficult births, these proved to be particularly gruesome, and remember, this was a time when these procedures were carried out without the use of anaesthetics! Although some doctors were experimenting with ether and chloroform, Scotland’s religious leaders were denouncing such methods as going against God. Reverend Grissom from a local church is campaigning against the use of ether in childbirth. He believes the Bible verse: “in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” and is advocating against the practice of ether. Además este libro toca un tema que por mucho que pasen los años y los siglos sigue siendo un tema controvertido y nada fácil de tratar socialmente, la dificultad de las mujeres a la hora de lidiar con embarazos no deseados y las consecuencias de las practicas espantosas de aquellos que se aprovechan de la necesidad de estas mujeres, como de lo mucho que la sociedad tiene que ver con empujar a estas mujeres a buscar remedios espantosos y terribles, si bien me podr I must say, I found our two main protagonists to be very engaging, and descriptions of Old Edinburgh with it’s cobbled streets and dark and dirty alleyways, along with some really fascinating facts , lent great atmosphere to the proceedings.