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Helen Crowther #2
The Edinburgh Murders: A dark tour-de-force by bestselling historical crime fiction queen
Edinburgh, 1948.
Loud-mouthed nurse Helen Crowther has been in her new job barely a year. She's already made waves - everywhere she goes she dodges looks of disapproval and eyes roll behind her back. Still, she is determined to better the city she loves so dearly.
The last thing she needs is another string of murders to distract her . . .
But when three gentlemen dressed in rags wind up dead in very public places, she can't help but jump straight in. As Helen resolves to find the killer, she is propelled into a darker world of class, revenge and gruesome death, until suspicion falls on someone very close to home.
Loud-mouthed nurse Helen Crowther has been in her new job barely a year. She's already made waves - everywhere she goes she dodges looks of disapproval and eyes roll behind her back. Still, she is determined to better the city she loves so dearly.
The last thing she needs is another string of murders to distract her . . .
But when three gentlemen dressed in rags wind up dead in very public places, she can't help but jump straight in. As Helen resolves to find the killer, she is propelled into a darker world of class, revenge and gruesome death, until suspicion falls on someone very close to home.
289 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 10, 2025
14 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Catriona McPherson
52 books526 followersCatriona McPherson (she/her) was born in Scotland and immigrated to the US in 2010. She writes: preposterous 1930s private-detective stories about a toff; realistic 1940s amateur-sleuth stories about an oik; and contemporary psychothriller standalones. These are all set in Scotland with a lot of Scottish weather. She also writes modern comedies about a Scot-out-of-water in a “fictional” college town in Northern California.
She has won multiple Anthonys, Agathas, Leftys and Macavitys for her work and been shortlisted for an Edgar, three Mary Higgins Clark awards and a UK dagger
Catriona is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime.
She has won multiple Anthonys, Agathas, Leftys and Macavitys for her work and been shortlisted for an Edgar, three Mary Higgins Clark awards and a UK dagger
Catriona is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 22, 2025
This is the second book in Catriona McPherson’s new mystery series set in 1940s Edinburgh, but if you haven’t read the first one (In Place of Fear) it shouldn’t be a problem as both books also work as standalone novels. Those of you who have read In Place of Fear will remember that it introduced us to Helen Crowther, a welfare officer (formally a ‘medical almoner’) in the newly formed National Health Service. This second novel again follows Helen as she carries out her duties for the NHS and becomes embroiled in another mystery.
The novel opens with Helen taking a patient to the public bath house on Caledonian Crescent. As she helps the woman to wash herself, they become aware of a disturbance in one of the men’s cubicles. A man has been found boiled to death in a bath of scalding hot water – but how? Why would he continue to lie there as the water got hotter and hotter? And how could it have reached such a high temperature anyway? Even more worrying for Helen is the fact that she has spotted her father, Mack, at the baths, but when she speaks to him at home later, he tries to deny that he was there. As the bodies of more men are found around Edinburgh, all killed in equally unusual, gruesome ways, Helen becomes convinced that her father knows more about the deaths than he’s admitting to.
When I read In Place of Fear, I felt that the mystery only formed a small part of the book, with more focus being on the historical element and the work of an almoner in the NHS. This book is the opposite – the mystery is much stronger, with the first murder discovered in the opening chapter and several more following soon after. The murders are carried out using imaginative methods and are obviously linked in some way, so Helen needs to decide exactly what the link is in order to identify the killer. It’s quite a dark book, but although the descriptions of the murders are unpleasant, they’re not too gory or graphic.
As with the first novel, there’s a great sense of time and place, bringing the atmosphere of Edinburgh’s Fountainbridge area to life. McPherson uses a lot of dialect and there’s a glossary at the front for those readers who need help with the Scottish words and phrases. I found that there was less time spent describing Helen’s welfare work, though, which was one of the things I thought was particularly interesting in the first novel. Still, I enjoyed meeting her again, as well as the other recurring characters such as the two doctors she works for and her younger sister, known as Teenie. There’s also the beginnings of a possible romance for Helen with her friend Billy, who works at the morgue and helps her investigate the mystery and I’ll look forward to seeing how this develops in the next book.
I still haven’t read any of Catriona McPherson’s other novels, although she seems to have written a lot of them! I should probably investigate while I’m waiting for a third Helen Crowther book.
The novel opens with Helen taking a patient to the public bath house on Caledonian Crescent. As she helps the woman to wash herself, they become aware of a disturbance in one of the men’s cubicles. A man has been found boiled to death in a bath of scalding hot water – but how? Why would he continue to lie there as the water got hotter and hotter? And how could it have reached such a high temperature anyway? Even more worrying for Helen is the fact that she has spotted her father, Mack, at the baths, but when she speaks to him at home later, he tries to deny that he was there. As the bodies of more men are found around Edinburgh, all killed in equally unusual, gruesome ways, Helen becomes convinced that her father knows more about the deaths than he’s admitting to.
When I read In Place of Fear, I felt that the mystery only formed a small part of the book, with more focus being on the historical element and the work of an almoner in the NHS. This book is the opposite – the mystery is much stronger, with the first murder discovered in the opening chapter and several more following soon after. The murders are carried out using imaginative methods and are obviously linked in some way, so Helen needs to decide exactly what the link is in order to identify the killer. It’s quite a dark book, but although the descriptions of the murders are unpleasant, they’re not too gory or graphic.
As with the first novel, there’s a great sense of time and place, bringing the atmosphere of Edinburgh’s Fountainbridge area to life. McPherson uses a lot of dialect and there’s a glossary at the front for those readers who need help with the Scottish words and phrases. I found that there was less time spent describing Helen’s welfare work, though, which was one of the things I thought was particularly interesting in the first novel. Still, I enjoyed meeting her again, as well as the other recurring characters such as the two doctors she works for and her younger sister, known as Teenie. There’s also the beginnings of a possible romance for Helen with her friend Billy, who works at the morgue and helps her investigate the mystery and I’ll look forward to seeing how this develops in the next book.
I still haven’t read any of Catriona McPherson’s other novels, although she seems to have written a lot of them! I should probably investigate while I’m waiting for a third Helen Crowther book.
April 18, 2025
I enjoyed it even though the end was a bit of a cliff hanger! Hence the 3*. However, I really enjoyed the characters, Helen, the Welfare officer, Billy, the morgue attendant and both doctors, Sarah and her husband. They do make a wonderful team with distinctive and intriguing characters. The original and creepy murders showed original creativity from the author. This was very entertaining. The setting of Edinburgh post war makes for an interesting reading as well, and I will definitely read more novels by the author.
I have received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.
I have received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.
April 8, 2025
This is the second book featuring Helen Crowther who we first met in In Place of Fear which if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do to get the background foundation that this book builds on.
It is set in the post war, early days of the NHS, and Helen is a Welfare Officer - which basically means that she is a kind of social worker. She is married but it is in name only, her "husband" living with his male lover in the downstairs flat to where she lives. Needless to say that no one else knows of this arrangement.
She is at the public wash house one day assisting a lady of large proportions to bathe when she discovers a body. A man dressed in a Tanner's apron has been boiled to death in his bath. She also notices that her father is present, although he shies away from her. Obviously given the shenanigans of recent times, she is intrigued by this and luckily has a friend, Billy, who works in the morgue who can assist her interference in the investigation. But this macabre death is only just the beginning as the bodies soon start to pile up. They all have one obvious thing in common that links them, although the police do not appear to be investigating very thoroughly... It's especially weird as no one has identified them, let alone reported them missing, and they all appear to be of a higher station.
I loved this book. I really like Helen as a character. She is good at her job, often going above and beyond even when it gets her in trouble. She is respectful to the doctors she works with, loves her family, warts and all, and she has some good friends. Her tolerance and understanding of her husband's personal life is commendable, especially when it is now affecting her own potential happiness.
And the case she is drawn to in this book is both interesting and intriguing. It held my attention well all the way through, spitting me out at the end mostly satisfied. It was a tough one for Helen as it was a bit close to home at times. But I can understand why she did what she did and how the ending was justified.
I love the setting of this series. Both the time and place have been faithfully (to my knowledge) recreated by the author and it all feels completely real.
All in all, a cracking follow up book, which only leave me hankering more for book three. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
It is set in the post war, early days of the NHS, and Helen is a Welfare Officer - which basically means that she is a kind of social worker. She is married but it is in name only, her "husband" living with his male lover in the downstairs flat to where she lives. Needless to say that no one else knows of this arrangement.
She is at the public wash house one day assisting a lady of large proportions to bathe when she discovers a body. A man dressed in a Tanner's apron has been boiled to death in his bath. She also notices that her father is present, although he shies away from her. Obviously given the shenanigans of recent times, she is intrigued by this and luckily has a friend, Billy, who works in the morgue who can assist her interference in the investigation. But this macabre death is only just the beginning as the bodies soon start to pile up. They all have one obvious thing in common that links them, although the police do not appear to be investigating very thoroughly... It's especially weird as no one has identified them, let alone reported them missing, and they all appear to be of a higher station.
I loved this book. I really like Helen as a character. She is good at her job, often going above and beyond even when it gets her in trouble. She is respectful to the doctors she works with, loves her family, warts and all, and she has some good friends. Her tolerance and understanding of her husband's personal life is commendable, especially when it is now affecting her own potential happiness.
And the case she is drawn to in this book is both interesting and intriguing. It held my attention well all the way through, spitting me out at the end mostly satisfied. It was a tough one for Helen as it was a bit close to home at times. But I can understand why she did what she did and how the ending was justified.
I love the setting of this series. Both the time and place have been faithfully (to my knowledge) recreated by the author and it all feels completely real.
All in all, a cracking follow up book, which only leave me hankering more for book three. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
March 27, 2025
Helen Crowther, a professional welfare officer for the newly formed National Health Service of Scotland, is at the public washhouse helping one of her patients to wash herself when there is a great commotion and it turns out that a corpse has been found in one of the men's changing rooms - he looks to have been boiled alive in his bath and left wearing a Tanner's apron!
What follows are a series of macabre murders. All the victims are well-fed men with no signs of hard work on their hands or bodies. Each is killed in a bizarre fashion and left dressed in some strange piece of clothing that seems to bear no relation to the place or manner of their deaths. One thing that unites the bodies is that they each have evidence that a pinkie ring has been removed from the body, and nobody has claimed them or reported them missing. By some strange chance, Helen is there when several of the bodies are found and she and her friend Billy who works at the morgue are trying to uncover both the identities of the victims and the murderer(s).
I really enjoyed this, my only gripe is that it ended very abruptly. Loving where this series is going, the glimpses into a forgotten world, the clash of the post-WW2 world meeting the pre-War beliefs. Honestly, I have pretty much loved everything Catriona McPherson has written.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
What follows are a series of macabre murders. All the victims are well-fed men with no signs of hard work on their hands or bodies. Each is killed in a bizarre fashion and left dressed in some strange piece of clothing that seems to bear no relation to the place or manner of their deaths. One thing that unites the bodies is that they each have evidence that a pinkie ring has been removed from the body, and nobody has claimed them or reported them missing. By some strange chance, Helen is there when several of the bodies are found and she and her friend Billy who works at the morgue are trying to uncover both the identities of the victims and the murderer(s).
I really enjoyed this, my only gripe is that it ended very abruptly. Loving where this series is going, the glimpses into a forgotten world, the clash of the post-WW2 world meeting the pre-War beliefs. Honestly, I have pretty much loved everything Catriona McPherson has written.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
April 15, 2025
It’s 1948 and Helen Crowther is a welfare almoner for the newly formed NHS in Edinburgh. It’s not an easy or a popular job, and her home life isn’t simple either but she keeps on going. While she’s at the bath house with one of her clients, the body of a man is found boiled to death in one of the cubicles. And then another couple of bodies turn up and Helen finds herself investigating because she’s noticed a few things that are worryingly close to home.
This has a great setting and a cleverly put together mystery to solve. I found Helen a really interesting character, and her job gives her an excellent excuse to be sticking her nose into other people’s lives. There aren’t as many historical mystery series set in the immediate post war period as there are set in the 1930s so that make a really nice change as well as the Edinburgh setting. I’m pretty sure this will work best for you if you’ve already read the first book, but I haven’t and I still enjoyed it! Like with McPherson’s Dandy Gilver series, the mystery is darker than you often find in historical mysteries, but it’s not too graphic although there are a couple of gruesome moments its more implied than right there on the page.
***Copy from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration. All opinions are my own.*****
This has a great setting and a cleverly put together mystery to solve. I found Helen a really interesting character, and her job gives her an excellent excuse to be sticking her nose into other people’s lives. There aren’t as many historical mystery series set in the immediate post war period as there are set in the 1930s so that make a really nice change as well as the Edinburgh setting. I’m pretty sure this will work best for you if you’ve already read the first book, but I haven’t and I still enjoyed it! Like with McPherson’s Dandy Gilver series, the mystery is darker than you often find in historical mysteries, but it’s not too graphic although there are a couple of gruesome moments its more implied than right there on the page.
***Copy from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration. All opinions are my own.*****
July 8, 2025
I really don't understand the author's intention here. The previous novel is the series is a realistic, down-to-earth description of (mostly) working-class life in Edinburgh as the NHS is established. Helen is dealing with an apparently ailing marriage (the reason for her husband Sandy's behaviour also reflects the prejudices of the era: he can't be honest with Helen about his emotions.) and also with her family, who think she's got 'above herself.' Then Helen finds the body of a young woman, a murder victim. Helen investigates, but in a basically desultory and unprofessional way. She's no Dandy Gilver! This novel, 'In Place of Fear' gives the impression it is a one-off. Unfortunately, now we have 'The Edinburgh Murders', in which Helen actively sets out to investigate a series of murders. The realism of the previous novel is thrown out the window; where in the previous novel Helen stumbled on a single victim, and reluctantly got involved in the investigation, in this novel not only does she become actively, even enthusiastically, involved, she stumbles across the dead bodies of TWO victims at separate locales. Any pretence of social realism is lost; this could be a Dandy Gilver investigation. (And all the better for t!)
April 6, 2025
Helen Crowther #2
Edinburgh, 1948. Welfare officer Helen Crowther has enough on her plate between her hectic job, her complicated love life, and her growing reputation as a troublemaker. Last year's scandal did nothing to help with the disapproval she already gets as a woman in her line of work. All she wants now is to focus on helping the poor of Fountainbridge ward in the city of Edinburgh. The last thing they need is another string of murders to distract her....
Helen Crowther is a welfare officer for the newly formed NHS. While helping a patient, a corpse is found in one of the men's changing rooms. But the body count keeps rising.
I quite enjoyed this well-written story. The characters are well-developed, the pace is steady, but it's filled with gruesome deaths - and it's not for the squeamish. I'm looking forward to reading the next Helen Crowther book.
Published 10th May 2025
I would like to thank #NetGalley #HodderStoughton and the author #CtrionaMcPhearson for my ARC of #TheEdinburghMurders in exchange for an honest review.
Edinburgh, 1948. Welfare officer Helen Crowther has enough on her plate between her hectic job, her complicated love life, and her growing reputation as a troublemaker. Last year's scandal did nothing to help with the disapproval she already gets as a woman in her line of work. All she wants now is to focus on helping the poor of Fountainbridge ward in the city of Edinburgh. The last thing they need is another string of murders to distract her....
Helen Crowther is a welfare officer for the newly formed NHS. While helping a patient, a corpse is found in one of the men's changing rooms. But the body count keeps rising.
I quite enjoyed this well-written story. The characters are well-developed, the pace is steady, but it's filled with gruesome deaths - and it's not for the squeamish. I'm looking forward to reading the next Helen Crowther book.
Published 10th May 2025
I would like to thank #NetGalley #HodderStoughton and the author #CtrionaMcPhearson for my ARC of #TheEdinburghMurders in exchange for an honest review.
May 27, 2025
"Edinburgh, 1948.
Loud-mouthed nurse Helen Crowther has been in her new job barely a year. She's already made waves - everywhere she goes she dodges looks of disapproval and eyes roll behind her back. Still, she is determined to better the city she loves so dearly.
The last thing she needs is another string of murders to distract her . . ."
This is the second book in a series and I had not read the first but I really really enjoyed in all the same.
Set in post war Edinburgh Helen Crowther is a welfare officer who lives in unusual circumstances, this is the story of how she solves a series of murders.
I enjoyed the plot and characters who were well rounded and made sense.
I really liked how I got a view of what post war Scotland was like and attitudes and ideals that were changing during this period.
Highly recommend
Loud-mouthed nurse Helen Crowther has been in her new job barely a year. She's already made waves - everywhere she goes she dodges looks of disapproval and eyes roll behind her back. Still, she is determined to better the city she loves so dearly.
The last thing she needs is another string of murders to distract her . . ."
This is the second book in a series and I had not read the first but I really really enjoyed in all the same.
Set in post war Edinburgh Helen Crowther is a welfare officer who lives in unusual circumstances, this is the story of how she solves a series of murders.
I enjoyed the plot and characters who were well rounded and made sense.
I really liked how I got a view of what post war Scotland was like and attitudes and ideals that were changing during this period.
Highly recommend
June 28, 2025
This author is versatile and writes in several different styles (this is the thirty first book of hers which I have read).
The story features Helen Crowther who first appeared in "In place of fear" so I wonder if the author plans to write more books featuring her. Set in Edinburgh in 1948 Helen Crowther is an almoner working for two doctors following the establishment of the National Health Service. This is one of the author's most strange books as not only are there bizarre characters there is moral ambiguity and an unclear resolution. People are murdered in exotic ways and Helen suspects that the police are not investigating properly. I found it a compelling read and I finished the book in one sitting but I was not sure what to make of it at the end.
The story features Helen Crowther who first appeared in "In place of fear" so I wonder if the author plans to write more books featuring her. Set in Edinburgh in 1948 Helen Crowther is an almoner working for two doctors following the establishment of the National Health Service. This is one of the author's most strange books as not only are there bizarre characters there is moral ambiguity and an unclear resolution. People are murdered in exotic ways and Helen suspects that the police are not investigating properly. I found it a compelling read and I finished the book in one sitting but I was not sure what to make of it at the end.
April 28, 2025
A clever and entertaining read
Couldn’t put this one down. Believable, edgy characters and intelligent settings made this ever so slightly gothic story highly satisfying.
I loved the details of Edinburgh and its varied history.
I have enjoyed many of Catriona McPhersons books and was particularly caught up by this one. I made friends with the whole story and cannot wait for more of them. I do so hope the author will write more adventures for Helen and Billy and their feisty community.
Couldn’t put this one down. Believable, edgy characters and intelligent settings made this ever so slightly gothic story highly satisfying.
I loved the details of Edinburgh and its varied history.
I have enjoyed many of Catriona McPhersons books and was particularly caught up by this one. I made friends with the whole story and cannot wait for more of them. I do so hope the author will write more adventures for Helen and Billy and their feisty community.
September 18, 2025
I just finished Catriona McPherson's second book in the Helen Crowther series: The Edinburgh Murders. As frightening and spell-binding as A Gingerbread House, I doubt I could have put it down if the house were on fire, if my cat wasn’t with me. Took me 10 mins. to stop shuddering. But it was so worth it. McPherson’s truly reaching her stride in exposing evil. I think that’s why her horror/crime themes are so powerful: they’re so very possible and much too close for comfort.
Superbly well done!
Superbly well done!
October 5, 2025
Catriona McPherson is one of my favorite authors, but this just didn't work as well for me as her books usually do. Part of it was the non ending, which I always hate. It might also be that I didn't find the characters engaging., especially Helen's family. It might be that I wasn't feeling well, and I needed something to sweep me away from my misery, which this definitely didn't do. I look foward to another Dandy Gilver, or Last Ditch entry, or even a standalone. I don't plan to read any more in this series.
October 6, 2025
I’m sorry is this book a Mandela effect? In all my years reading I’ve never had trouble adding any book I’ve ever read on good reads - even friggin Dramoine fanfic. But this was nigh on impossible. Was it because GR knew I would leave a review that said hey ma’am you forgot to finish your damn book. Or that I would say that this lady is an active beard in the 1940s but doesn’t own pants? WHAT. this unfinished sneeze of a book is right where it belongs in the algorithm… nowhere…
Sorry if this is mean but Christ on a cracker.
Sorry if this is mean but Christ on a cracker.
November 24, 2025
I really enjoyed this book, it was set back in time just after the second world war.
Helen Crowther is a community nurse for a married doctor's practice.
Bodies are being found is unusual circumstances, the deaths are unusual too. Helen notices they all appear to be missing a ring from their pinkie.
Nell is helped by her friend [whose full story shall be revealed in a future book, I feel], Billy at the coroner's and the doctors at her surgery to unravel the mystery of the deaths. I would definitely be keen to read firther books in this series [this is the first].
Helen Crowther is a community nurse for a married doctor's practice.
Bodies are being found is unusual circumstances, the deaths are unusual too. Helen notices they all appear to be missing a ring from their pinkie.
Nell is helped by her friend [whose full story shall be revealed in a future book, I feel], Billy at the coroner's and the doctors at her surgery to unravel the mystery of the deaths. I would definitely be keen to read firther books in this series [this is the first].
August 20, 2025
I like this author, but this was disappointing. From the banal title, to the clues that may as well have been in red ink and capital letters, and yet our plucky heroine missed them completely EVERY time. There was always a 'thought that slipped away' or a distraction that stopped her putting it together. The murders themselves seem to have taken all the author's ingenuity to come up with, that there was nothing left for the plot...
October 25, 2025
I really really wanted to enjoy this but i didnt. It was the 2nd book in the series I have not read the first book so maybe that didnt help as they kept refering to an incident the year before and the plot in the 2nd book would made a bit more sense although i did work out it was based on the seven sins. However i did not know who the culprit was i thought 3 people but was totally way off. I did enjoy the historical bits of the book a mix of real and made up places especially when the Caledonian Road was mentioned as my maternal grandparents lived there just after they got married during 2nd WW. As i said i may have enjoyed it if i had read the first book but i am not in a hurry to read the series.
May 28, 2025
This is my favorite series. Helen Crowther is a force & finding her way.
April 27, 2025
Edinburgh Murders is the brilliant sequel to In Place Of Fear, a murder mystery set in Edinburgh after World War 2, just as the National Health Service comes into being.
Our heroine Helen Crowther is a young married woman, working as a welfare officer in a doctors’ surgery. She is helping a patient in a local bath house when a dreadful murder is discovered. Helen is on the scene and immediately on the case.
A highly recommended read for anyone who loves murder mysteries and/or historical fiction.
Our heroine Helen Crowther is a young married woman, working as a welfare officer in a doctors’ surgery. She is helping a patient in a local bath house when a dreadful murder is discovered. Helen is on the scene and immediately on the case.
A highly recommended read for anyone who loves murder mysteries and/or historical fiction.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews