Blog Tour: The Art of Dying – Ambrose Parry*

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.

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

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.

My thoughts:

This was a cracking historical thriller, as Dr Raven and the super smart Sarah (I hope she gets to medical school, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson graduated from Middlesex in 1865, so there’s hope!) try to solve a series of apparently natural deaths with no obvious symptoms.

They also pursue the truth around an accusation of professional misconduct made against their employer, Dr Simpson, and seek out the thief stealing from the Simpson household. As well as doing their actual jobs!

I really enjoyed this book, and am going to go back and read it’s predecessor, The Way of All Flesh too.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.