‘The Art of Dying’ by Ambrose Parry

Here is my five star review of this fabulous book! This was published in January 2020.

This is the second book in the Will Raven/Sarah Fisher series after the truly excellent 'The Way of All Flesh'.  They are written by a husband and wife team - he's an award-winning thriller writer and she is a medical doctor with an interest in the history of medicine, so they really know their stuff on all fronts.  I could not wait to read this book after loving the first one.

This is a fascinating, pacy and engaging story set in Victorian Edinburgh a while after the first book.  Dr Will Raven has just returned to the city after a period travelling in Europe developing his medical knowledge.  He returns to the house of Dr James Simpson, leading developer of chloroform as an anesthetic, where his former partner in investigations Sarah has been elevated above her status as housemaid and is learning medical skills for herself.  It's an awkward reunion between the two former allies, although they soon have to work together when they notice a worrying pattern of deaths occurring in the city.

This book met all my high expectations.  It's cleverly plotted and brings alive the setting of Victorian Edinburgh, from the hospital wards to consulting rooms, from the wealth of the doctors' lives to the less salubrious areas lived in by some of their patients.  Sarah is a very appealing heroine, fighting for her right to learn medicine in a time and place that denied women such education.  In comparison, Will is a rather infuriating hero who makes bad decisions and whose motives are not always pure, yet he also seems real and flawed and interesting; he definitely developed as a character during this book in a positive way.

I would whole heartedly recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or who has an interest in medical history.  However, the book should have much wider appeal - it is engrossing and well-researched and engaging, albeit a bit graphic in relation to the medical issues.  Anyone and everyone should give it a go!

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Photo by Adrien Olichon from Burst

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