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The Anatomists
If they want to truly learn about the human body, London medical students Edward Montague and Jean-Claude Legard have no choice but to become common criminals. The authorities have long looked the other way as budding anatomists dug up fresh graves. But Edward and Jean-Claude still greet the task of defiling the final resting place of Abigail Darcy with unease, especially when they discover that the cadaver stolen from the graveyard is not the late Mrs. Darcy but a man--and that he's been murdered!Utterly baffled and seeking justice, Edward and Jean-Claude begin an investigation into Mrs. Darcy's life and death, hoping to find out how a young man met his terrible fate and ended his days in her coffin. It's a search that leads to adultery, betrayal, and more than one suspicious death--and a final, paralyzing encounter with a cold-blooded killer.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 25, 2008
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62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 7, 2013
I honestly did not know how to rate this. The book started out so well then finished up as a cliché. Shame, the writer showed great potential, and it was only the conclusion of the mystery that sank this pretty boat. It was quite clever up to the end. Hopefully, McDonald will keep writing but with more time for rewrites and a good editor.
February 6, 2023
Thoroughly charming and full of Victorian intrigue. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery kept me guessing.
January 1, 2023
1824, Victorian England
Edward Montague and Jean-Claude Legard are studying at St. Alban’s Medical School. The end result was to be able to practice medicine, but the path wasn’t easy. The study of the human body required bodies to study. The only way to get one was to dig it up.
Montague and Legard visit a cemetery, in the night, and dig up their body. It is a freshly buried lady — they expect. When they get it back to their lab, they find it is a man. This makes no sense so they set out to discover the identity of the man and what has happened to the woman who was to be in the grave.
While trying to solve the mystery, they are also dealing with their studies and keeping the police and citizenry from discovering their “corpse.”
In their search for answers, they make the acquaintance of Madeline Worthington, sister to the lady who was supposed to be in the grave. Montague takes a fancy to her, but Legare is suspicious.
Duplicity, intrigue, and greed are all parts of the story line that moves at a good pace, with characters who are interesting and humorous.
Edward Montague and Jean-Claude Legard are studying at St. Alban’s Medical School. The end result was to be able to practice medicine, but the path wasn’t easy. The study of the human body required bodies to study. The only way to get one was to dig it up.
Montague and Legard visit a cemetery, in the night, and dig up their body. It is a freshly buried lady — they expect. When they get it back to their lab, they find it is a man. This makes no sense so they set out to discover the identity of the man and what has happened to the woman who was to be in the grave.
While trying to solve the mystery, they are also dealing with their studies and keeping the police and citizenry from discovering their “corpse.”
In their search for answers, they make the acquaintance of Madeline Worthington, sister to the lady who was supposed to be in the grave. Montague takes a fancy to her, but Legare is suspicious.
Duplicity, intrigue, and greed are all parts of the story line that moves at a good pace, with characters who are interesting and humorous.
August 28, 2018
The Anatomists was written by Hal McDonald as an entry in the "Search for the Next Great Crime Writer" contest organized by truTV. It takes place in London during the reign of Queen Victoria and features two medical students, anatomists, who happen on a suspicious death while searching for a body they can use for anatomical dissections. Thus begins a baffling case which engages the two men and almost results in their deaths.
July 3, 2008
Story:
Jean and Edward are your typical medical students circa the early 1800's in London. Having studied for some time at St. Albans medical school they have come to the point of having to do their own "hands on" research. Unfortunatley in this time there is no such thing as medically donated cadavers and they have to procure a recentley deceased body from the local "resurrectionist". They employ a local lad who does the deed but they notice that the body they received died by someone's hand and not natural causes. In an attempt to bring what they thing think is a common thug to justice, they track down the man that found the body for them and and find themselves in the middle of mystery that could leave them with a case of rigor mortis if they aren't very careful.
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To start off I did enjoy this book by the end of it. It was just the getting there that was the problem. The characters talk like they proably would have talked back them, very verbose, very big words thrown in there and a *lot* of speculation back and forth between the two main characters. The idea (and I'm sure it was the point) is that this is a slightly more moderen sherlock and watson, which can be slightly annoying sometimes when it gets to be obvious that Jean is the fast / smart one and Edward is the slow / everyman one. For the most part it works and there a bunch of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and the last two chapters make up for the long road it took to get there. I would recommend this book to those who like the History in their Historical mystery books and for those like their mysteries to have a lot of twists and turns in them.
m.a.c
Jean and Edward are your typical medical students circa the early 1800's in London. Having studied for some time at St. Albans medical school they have come to the point of having to do their own "hands on" research. Unfortunatley in this time there is no such thing as medically donated cadavers and they have to procure a recentley deceased body from the local "resurrectionist". They employ a local lad who does the deed but they notice that the body they received died by someone's hand and not natural causes. In an attempt to bring what they thing think is a common thug to justice, they track down the man that found the body for them and and find themselves in the middle of mystery that could leave them with a case of rigor mortis if they aren't very careful.
-------
To start off I did enjoy this book by the end of it. It was just the getting there that was the problem. The characters talk like they proably would have talked back them, very verbose, very big words thrown in there and a *lot* of speculation back and forth between the two main characters. The idea (and I'm sure it was the point) is that this is a slightly more moderen sherlock and watson, which can be slightly annoying sometimes when it gets to be obvious that Jean is the fast / smart one and Edward is the slow / everyman one. For the most part it works and there a bunch of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and the last two chapters make up for the long road it took to get there. I would recommend this book to those who like the History in their Historical mystery books and for those like their mysteries to have a lot of twists and turns in them.
m.a.c
June 4, 2008
THE ANATOMISTS (Hist/Trad. Myst-Edward Montague / John-Claude Legard-England-1824) – Ok
McDonald, Hal – 1st book
Harper Mystery, 2008, US Paperback – ISBN: 9780061443756
First Sentence: As Queen Victoria prepares to enter her fifth decade upon the throne, I stand poised upon the threshold of my own momentous milestone—namely, retirement.
Edward Montague and Jean-Claude Legard are students at St. Alben’s Medical School. As such, it is incumbent upon them to procure a corpse to facilitate their study of anatomy. They discover the body they obtained had not died of natural causes but had, in fact, been murdered. Even more intriguing, the coffin from which the body was obtained should have contained the remains of Mrs. Darcy, the young widow of a well-know collector of antiquities.
Once you get past the silly premise and massive coincidences, plod through the expansive language and interminable exposition, you’ve made it through a decent story. I did keep turning the pages and thought the murder weapon clever. I also appreciated the author providing the reader with the important clue. It was okay but there are better books about medical schools and resurrectionists of the period.
McDonald, Hal – 1st book
Harper Mystery, 2008, US Paperback – ISBN: 9780061443756
First Sentence: As Queen Victoria prepares to enter her fifth decade upon the throne, I stand poised upon the threshold of my own momentous milestone—namely, retirement.
Edward Montague and Jean-Claude Legard are students at St. Alben’s Medical School. As such, it is incumbent upon them to procure a corpse to facilitate their study of anatomy. They discover the body they obtained had not died of natural causes but had, in fact, been murdered. Even more intriguing, the coffin from which the body was obtained should have contained the remains of Mrs. Darcy, the young widow of a well-know collector of antiquities.
Once you get past the silly premise and massive coincidences, plod through the expansive language and interminable exposition, you’ve made it through a decent story. I did keep turning the pages and thought the murder weapon clever. I also appreciated the author providing the reader with the important clue. It was okay but there are better books about medical schools and resurrectionists of the period.
October 14, 2011
This novel is the winner of the tru-V “Search for the Next Great Crime Writer.” I had never heard of tru-TV before I bought this book. Research told me that before 2008, it was known as Court TV. That I’d heard of. Armed with this knowledge, I was prepared to plunge into the story.
What starts out as a simple mystery quickly become a triple murder complicated by a conspiracy of false identities and medical students Jean-Claud and Edward are stuck in the midst of it. Jean-Claude is the more adroit of the pair of young sleuths in discovering clues; Edward, the narrator is slower to grasp points in his role as Watson to Legrand’s Holmes, but the two are engaging, young, and sincere in their desire to discover the crime which had made them the recipients of a murdered body. The conclusion is a trifle convoluted but in the end, “all is made clear.” The Anatomists, while not as dark or as realistically gruesome as some other stories set in this same time period, is a stark reminder of the days when doctors were forced to become little more than grave-robbers to learn their profession, and “Resurrection Men” plied their trades in abundance. This is a very entertaining book, both for the story and its historical significance.
August 28, 2008
If they want to truly learn about the human body, London medical students Edward Montague and Jean-Claude Legard have no choice but to become common criminals. The authorities have long looked the other way as budding anatomists dug up fresh graves. But Edward and Jean-Claude still greet the task of defiling the final resting place of Abigail Darcy with unease, especially when they discover that the cadaver stolen from the graveyard is not the late Mrs. Darcy but a man—and that he's been murdered!
Utterly baffled and seeking justice, Edward and Jean-Claude begin an investigation into Mrs. Darcy's life and death, hoping to find out how a young man met his terrible fate and ended his days in her coffin. It's a search that leads to adultery, betrayal, and more than one suspicious death—and a final, paralyzing encounter with a cold-blooded killer
Utterly baffled and seeking justice, Edward and Jean-Claude begin an investigation into Mrs. Darcy's life and death, hoping to find out how a young man met his terrible fate and ended his days in her coffin. It's a search that leads to adultery, betrayal, and more than one suspicious death—and a final, paralyzing encounter with a cold-blooded killer
July 9, 2015
The premise of this book is interesting, so it really is a shame that I couldn't get into the story more. This is a short novel, but it took long to read. There was simply too much talking about hypotheticals and not enough mystery-solving. The last twenty or so pages is composed entirely of the murderer's confession, but there was very little hype or buildup preceding it to make the reader really excited about the big reveal. I also agree with other reviewers in that the language is dense. It read like Frankenstein or a Dickens's novel. This is not necessarily a bad thing depending on one's taste, but I was expecting a thriller and instead experienced a read reminiscent of those I was forced to get through on my high school reading list.
October 10, 2008
I did however really enjoy this book! It was the winner of TruTV's contest to find the next great crime writer & I really do think they picked a winner. It's about two men studying to be doctors in a time where schools were not allowed to use cadavers to further their medical knowledge, so they employ grave diggers to get them a body to secretly use. Well, these two men happen upon a murder mystery after obtaining a body. The book is a fast read & very engaging. I recommend it!
October 16, 2008
For a first novel, this is pretty good. This book is the result of a contest held by the TruTV network, and the author happens to be the son of someone by boss knows very well. So it was interesting to know that a "normal" person wrote this and not a seasoned mystery writer. While the story ties up pretty quickly and easily at the end, it's a quick read and very enjoyable.
August 17, 2010
Yet another story of 19th century medical students and the body snatching necessary to their study of anatomy. This version adds a wacky Frenchman, a mysterious beauty, and a grisly murder. A good quick read with several plot twists and only a few instances where you need to suspend believability for a moment and let the story flow. Not a terribly satisfying ending, but worthwhile overall.
June 6, 2008
i love these kinds of books - the setting/time period/language. this one was a good story and a quick read. the story moved along well. i enjoyed the humor scattered throughout and the relationship between the main characters.
March 27, 2009
Only OK. This book was one of the shortest I have read in a long time but it took longer than when I was forced to read Crime and Punishment. It had good elements but read like the publishing deadline was rapidly approaching and the editors had to forgo good for done.
September 10, 2009
I haven't read a good mystery in a while. This reminded me a lot of a Sherlock Holmes story. I have to admit, I was able to guess "whodunit" but didn't know how or how it would be discovered. This was a great story with a plotline that kept you interested with its twists and turns.
Want to read
May 10, 200805/09/08 purchase at MOTB
October 20, 2008
Entertaining victorian body snatchers murder mystery. engaging but ulitmately too easy. owes a lot to conan doyle. also, author has irritating way of overusing quotes for tone.
November 28, 2010
I liked this one okay. I am not a mystery reader by nature, but I loved the cover and the idea of this story. It was not the best thing I have ever read, but not the worst either.
March 7, 2011
An interesting story. I read this awhile ago and don't remember all of the details. It is well worth reading is a 'historical novel'.
June 5, 2014
Was a pretty good read. Got a little slow in the middle then picked back up. I did not guess who done it so I liked and would recommend
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews