Surgeons’ Hall

Jem Flockhart #4

by E.S. Thomson

What secret grips Corvus Hall?
Visiting the Great Exhibition to view the wax anatomical models of the famous but reclusive Dr Silas Strangeway, Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain find a severed hand, perfectly dissected and laid out amongst the exhibits. Assuming it to be a prank by medical students they return it to Dr Strangeway, who works at Corvus Hall, a private anatomy school run by Dr Alexander Crowe - once one of Edinburgh's most revered anatomists. Jem's persistence reveals that a body does indeed lie in the school's mortuary, minus its right hand. The body has no provenance. More macabre still, its face has been dissected making identification impossible.
All is not as it should be at Corvus Hall. Dr Crowe's daughter, Lilith, visits the mortuary in the dead of night. Her twin sisters, Sorrow and Silence - one blind and one deaf - exert a malign influence over the students. Organs, freshly dissected, appear in the anatomical museum. Fear grips lecturers and students, even as something unseen binds them in a bloody pact of silence.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Victorian, LGBT, Audiobook

368 pages, paperback

First published March 21, 2019

About the author

Elaine Thomson has a PhD in the history of medicine and works as a university lecturer in Edinburgh. She was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book Award and the Scottish Arts Council First Book Award. Elaine lives in Edinburgh with her two sons.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

ES Thomson returns us to the gruesome and macabre world of Victorian Medicine in this excellent historical mystery series featuring medic Jem Flockhart, and Will Quatermain, the able draughtsman working for architects. In this brilliant novel, Jem is to get hold of items that relate to her mother, a mother she has scarce knowledge as she died giving birth to Jem, but is Jem ready to face up to the possibility of it destabilising the picture she has of her mother? Additionally, Jem is feeling the need for a new challenge and aware that the role of the apothecary is being downgraded, the lure of mainstream medicine has her in its thrall. Only the widespread misogyny of the profession and society combine to exclude women, despite many, who like Jem, and the Crowe sisters are head and shoulders more gifted than most of their male counterparts. The relationship Jem has with Will is threatened as he becomes enamoured with Lilith, will their friendship, that verges on family, survive?

Jem discovers a dissected hand left at the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace featuring the work of Dr Silas Strangeway, with his extraordinary wax anatomical modelling. Being Jem, the search is on for the person to which the hand belongs, only to find herself thrust in the middle of chilling and menacing goings on at Corvus Hall, a private anatomy school aiming to train surgeons. Corvus Hall is run by the eminent Dr Crowe, with the help of his daughters, Lilith, the blind Sorrow and the deaf Silence, women with extraordinary abilities but who terrify the male students, many of whom are simply not cut out to be surgeons. Will is hired by Dr Crowe to use his draughtsman's abilities to illustrate the good doctor's latest medical tome. Jem finds the body to which the hand belongs, but despite her identification of the victim, no-one believes her. Death is the currency of Corvus Hall, so the horror that occurs there feels almost dangerously normal within this setting and Jem has her work cut out to find a killer.

A conspiracy of silence has been maintained by a group going back decades to events that occurred back in Edinburgh in 1830, accounts of what happened are related through the form of precognitions. However, the past refuses to remain buried as a killer seeks vengeance. Thomson evokes the atmosphere of the Victorian era, London and the grotesque state of medicine of the period beautifully. There are elements of the gothic in the story, not to mention the weird, along with the lack of ethics in the acquisition of corpses by the medical profession. It is the characters of the incomparable Jem with her port wine facial birthmark, and the Crowe sisters that hold centre stage, although the host of supporting characters such as Mrs Roseplucker and Mrs Speedicut make this an unmissable piece of historical fiction. A fantastic and gloriously compelling read that I have no hesitation in recommending highly. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars This is the 4th book of the Jem Flockhart series.

This is a series that I just love. It is historical, medical and grisly! This is the fourth book of the series. My only problem is now I have to wait for the next book in the series and they never come quickly enough!

Thomson has taken us back into the 1800's when medicine was practiced much differently than today. We have come through St Savior's Infirmary, Angel Meadow Asylum, and Seaman's Floating Hospital in past books, only to find ourselves in Corvus Hall. Corvus Hall, a castle like monstrosity, home of an anatomy school which also houses a wax anatomical modelling, along with a museum of preserved anomalies, and their very own mortuary.

Jem Flockhart, female, but passing as male, is the owner of an apothecary. Her best friend Will Quartermain is an architect. They are again pertinent to the story as is Drs Crowe, Strangeway and Cruikshank, who make up the senior instructors at the Corvus Hall Anatomy School. Along with all the medical goings on many other secrets encompass Corvus Hall and it's godforsaken, wretched, inhabitants.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Jem Flockhart series and Surgeons' Hall is magnificent - macabre, gruesome, steeped in its historical setting, fascinating and so beautifully written. Outstanding. Review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights.

[Vasilis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth book of the Jem Flockhard series.
I found the book to be deeply atmospheric, set in Victorian times when medicine was making a lot of progress and this resulted in a great demand for bodies.
The story is interesting, but a bit confusing at the start. I also found the characters difficult to differentiate at times and the back and forth in time confused me a bit.
Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable book and worth a read.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me three years between reading the first book of this series and now the fourth. No, I do not believe I will go back and pick up on the 2nd and 3rd because it is so thoroughly and minutely detailed in all that is macabre regarding the most heinous of crimes that can be exercised on the human anatomy by those with sharp knives. And then there were the impossible to survive scenes of destruction and fire, etc. But our very intelligent and gifted lady in disguise and her friend do live to continue work in the apothecary for yet another day. I saw another book will be published soon, so I wanted to revisit. I admit to being a tad curious about a couple of open problems...so I might go for the next. The series features a couple unique characters.

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely dark and atmospheric novel that evokes the same sense of macabre as the grisly Jack the Ripper killings. The setting was incredible: the gruesome beginnings of surgery and dissection amidst gritty Victorian London during the Great Exhibition. Our main character, the apothecary Jem, is a woman who has posed her entire life as a man and moves about her social and professional circles undetected. After a casual visit to the Crystal Palace where she stumbles upon a shocking discovery, she is swept up in a grotesque murder that leads her down a path filled with even more horrifying secrets.

The book was delightfully ghastly and definitely not for the weak of heart. The author perfectly captured this period of history and filled Jem's dark, gory world with a wonderful set of characters, namely the enigmatic Crowe sisters. Jem was very compelling as well. Since I haven't read any of the other books in this series, I'm not sure I identified as much with some of the supporting characters I suspect I was meant to be familiar with. At times not having read the other books did make me feel like I was at a disadvantage which is why I'm probably one of the few readers to rate this less than 5 stars.

I also wish more of the book had taken place at the Great Exhibition. It's such a fascinating event in British history that has lent itself to many fantastical stories so what a disappointment that it didn't really feature much within this book. I still thought this was a cracking good read, though! Do yourself a favor and pick this up, but make sure you've eaten your lunch first.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

[Ygraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

surgeons' hall is, i think, another clever, ghoulish, sensitive instalment in a series that has been impressively consistent in its cleverness, ghoulishness and sensitivity; it follows jem flockhart, now firmly settled both in an apothecary practice and in partnership with draughtsman, will quartermain, their discovery of a severed and partially dissected hand with an attached calling card, and the gory trail that leads them back to the site of their first mystery, home to old secrets and new horrors.

in previous reviews, i've struggled to give more than a sort of sense-impression of thomson's writing, because these are tightly plotted, carefully researched, atmospherically rich books, and this holds true - their strength is in the poise, the attunement, between elements, absurdity and melodrama with self-awareness, penny dreadful premises with substantial characterisation and real care, emotional weight with lightness of touch. they just work.

i received an advanced review copy of this book courtesy of constable, little, brown and netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 4 in the Jem Flockhart series.

This is a dark Victorian thriller set in Corvus Hall - a private school of anatomy. It's rich and evocative and has all the right ingredients for a gothic story - murder, creepy twin sisters and lots of bodies.
Jem and Will Quartermain find a perfectly dissected human hand in amongst an exhibition of wax anatomy by Dr Strangeway. Between the fingers is a card and written on it are the words, Et mortui sua acrana narrabunt... And the dead shall reveal their secrets.

I love this series it just keeps getting better and better.

[Lise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adored this book. As a medical professional in training with a huge love for everything Victorian, this book was truly wonderful to read! Will definitely read more of Thomson's work!

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, how I have adored this series from the very first book. Each one introduces me to a fresh stench of reality in the twisted gut of 19th century London.

*** Full review to follow closer to publication date. ***

[The Book Nook · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my friend read the synopsis of Surgeons’ Hall to me, and my wee eyes lit up with excitement. I’ve always had a morbid fascination with historical anatomy schools and their relationship with grave-robbers. I didn’t actually realise until I was about half way through this that it is part of a series, because it works so well as a standalone novel. It satisfied all of the gruesome curiosity within me, and yet the novel’s macabre subject matter did not overshadow Thomson’s masterfully constructed plot. She jumps masterfully between Burke and Hare’s Edinburgh and London anatomy schools to craft a mystery which I found gripping until the very end. Not to mention her array of complex characters. Twin sisters Sorrow and Silence, one blind and one deaf, will stay with me for a long time. Warning: this one is not for the faint hearted.

https://thebooknookstirling.co.uk/jas...

[Catherine Pinkett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one so far in this series. Not for the feint hearted though as it is quite gruesome and as it is centred around an anatomy school, plenty of body parts play a huge role!!!!!! Excellent complex plot and of course Jem and Will are heav ily involved. In my opinion you dont get a sense of their characters as much in this one.,however this is part of a series that is best read in order. Cannot wait for the next installment out this October.

[Alma (retirement at last) · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRILLIANT. What more can I say

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHYYYY ARE THESE BOOKS SO GOOD I NEED MOOORE

[Courtney Mlotek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books so much. They’re perfect.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best one in the series! I so appreciate the research put into this. Not only a thrilling story with wonderful narration but also a wealth of insight given into the lives of anatomists and Victorian medicine.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm loving this series, and this was a great addition to it. There were plenty of twists and red herrings thrown in to lull the reader into thinking they knew all the answers but everything was turned on it's head in the end.

[donna_ehm · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

In rating this below a three, I acknowledge and accept the risk that either Mrs. Roseplucker or Mrs. Speedicut (or, heaven forbid, both of them) may show up at my door to give me shit about it.

I did like Thomson's latest but I had notes, as the saying goes. Mostly I just wasn't as engaged with the story or the characters like I have been with the other books. Some of this is down to the pacing of the story itself while the rest comes from Jem seeming to be following behind the plot and not being out front driving it.

So, the pacing: about halfway through, as I finished up a chapter and set the book down, I realized that Jem (and by extension the plot itself) was at the same point as when the book started. She started out investigating the origin and circumstances of a hand she and Will found set in an exhibit at the Crystal Palace. One hundred and seventy or so pages later, Jem felt she'd identified its owner, a medical student named Wilson who, it must be said, never appears in the story. He's one of a few students noted as being absent from the school when Jem and Will first turn up to ask about the hand.

But that's as far as one hundred and seventy or so pages of poking around Corvus Hall has taken her. Neither she nor the reader are any further along in finding out anything that's going on. It's not like a murder mystery has to start with a body being found and then hit some kind of acceptable rate of additional murders and/or discoveries. A story should play out as it needs to play out so in one sense I wasn't put out by the pacing of the plot.

But the fact I noticed the seeming lack of progression fed into my feeling that Jem seemed to be a supporting character in the story. Her actions felt passive - she's just going around trying to find someone to tell her more about the hand. Jem's task seems to always be the same no matter what's going on around her. And Thomson certainly had enough of a cast to keep Jem on the go, introducing a whole host of characters of the doctor/surgeon/medical student variety (as has been her habit in this series). On top of that she had two timelines going which I didn't realize at first. It's therefore easy to mix up names and forget who is who (and when is when, if you will). Towards the end, for example, I felt sure that there was a student in the present timeline named Franklyn who clearly must have had some connection with the Franklyn from past one, but was mistaken.).

I think Jem's backseat positioning in this story is further emphasized when, at the end, she basically ends up explaining the whole thing by pointing out the clues in a series of letters given to her by the perpetrator. It just feels like in this book we don't get much of her actively digging into the case, making connections, finding things out as compared to the previous books.

And then there's the big expository wrap up at the end where first Halliday explains the how and why of everything he did. We really have no insight into a side of his personality - or any extended information about his life in general - that hints at a darker side or a troubled mind. Up until that point Halliday is presented as a good dude, basically.

And I get the idea of whipping back a curtain and having a big ta-da! reveal moment but in this case suddenly finding out he's actually the younger brother of the aforementioned Franklyn from the past timeline (who was wrongfully accused of a murder and died basically as a result of the accusation), not to mention his extended monologue, was jarring and didn't feel earned. It was just the author telling me Halliday was now this other person, and then having the character just dump out what he did and why.

Needless to say, I felt at a remove from it. A moment that should have been shocking and/or surprising was instead one where I simply sat back, read it and thought, 'Sure, okay. Why not?'

Then later there's more exposition as Jem explains how all the clues were right there in the letters Halliday (conveniently) gave to her before his big confession. "No see, it says here that..." etc. Again, I felt at a remove and not there with Jem being excited or thrilled at her discoveries or deductions.

There were also odd moments and bits that kind of low-key puzzled/annoyed me, like the fact that, at the beginning, it's stated to Jem that Dr. Silas Strangway "...don't see no one, everyone knows that" when she and Will arrive at the Hall to talk to Silas (as they had found the hand with some of his exhibits they figure he might have some insight as to its provenance). And for a good chunk of time Silas is basically presented as this kind of mysterious ghost who no one ever sees around Corvus Hall, and no one can get to see, despite clearly still working on his models and going out into London.

'Might we see Dr. Strangway?'

'Oh, I don't think that will be necessary.' A frown creased his brow.

'Dr. Strangway doesn't like visitors,' said Lilith.

'Dr. Strangway is a very private person,' said Sorrow.

It got to the point where I started to question whether or not he was alive - or even existed at all - when, at page 150, Will blithely tells Jem, who has come to the Hall to return Strangway's knives, that 'I think he's upstairs,' he said. 'His workshop is beside the anatomy museum.' And just as easy as that, he and Jem find themselves two pages later with Dr. Strangway and they all have a (relatively, it must be said) rational and normal conversation. I mean, clearly Strangway isn't as difficult to find and access as all that. I don't know why it seemed to be such a big deal that he was this Phantom of the Opera type character.

And Will was with Jem when they first came to the Hall to find Silas and ask about the hand (and were told the whole "...don't see no one" bit) but the vibe of Will's later comment struck me as, "Oh, you wanted to see Silas? Sure, he's in his office, over there. I'll take you." like he didn't already know Jem wanted to speak to Silas. Not only that but Will had also been with Jem when they were forced to hide with some corpses in the dead house when none other than Silas turned up. That Will having to reveal himself to Silas was the reason Silas dropped his knives in the first place, which Jem then took with her, makes his easy-breezy Oh, you want to see Silas? attitude feel even stranger. I would have thought he'd have reached out to Jem to tell her where to find Silas, rather than Jem having a chance encounter with Will that then leads her to Silas.

Really, my dissatisfaction with Surgeon's Hall is more the result of a number of smaller annoyances than with the book itself as a whole. Having said that, I feel I cannot end this without giving a big tip of the hat to at least one bit that I genuinely enjoyed and made me laugh out loud: Mrs. Roseplucker basically coming back from the dead like the boss she is:

And then, just as the noise reached a climax of laughter and singing, the door to the apothecary crashed open. The night swirled in, dank and dark, bringing with it the smell of refuse, night soil and the river at low tide. The flames of the candles guttered and shrank, those nearest the door snuffing out altogether to trail wraiths of sticky black smoke. On the threshold was a figure, short and broad as a barrel, a pair of muddy, ill-fitting boots projecting from beneath a dirty, trailing nightshirt. 'So that's what you want to do to me, is it?' Her voice was thunderous as she waddled forward, kicking the door closed with the heel of her boot.

In short: I'M BACK, BITCHES.

I mean, it's a tremendous scene and probably the one that will always come to mind when I think of this book.

I'm absolutely looking forward to what comes next for Jem, Will, and the gang, though. Surgeon's Hall is just one slightly wobbly entry in an otherwise excellent and well-written series. Thomson clearly has more in store for our intrepid crew. I liked the ideas she puts into this story, such as Jem considering medical school and Will getting into medical illustration. We'll see what comes to pass, especially the former. I think that'd be a great development for Jem, and a challenging one, too, just given her situation.

[Marguerite Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have loved the previous three books in this series, but I have to (reluctantly) admit that I found ths one disappointing.

Jem's apothecary garden backs onto an old house which has just been opened up as an anatomy school. It's the year of the Great Exhibition (1851) and Jem finds a severed hand in one of the exhibits which she then takes to the anatomy school on the assumption that it was a student prank. From the start, the link seemed to me very tenuous, and Jem's subsequent involvement in uncovering and then resolving the murder continued to me to seem very flimsy. Why was she allowed to wander about the school without being challenged, and why did people feel they had to answer her questions? Yes, Will had a legit reason for being there, but she didn't. There's a back story set in Surgeon's Hall in Edinburgh that was well done - and I've been there, and I'm fascinated by anything Edinburgh so I loved that bit - but somehow the front and back story didn't gel for me either. I simply couldn't engage with it, and I kept losing track of who the various doctors were.

Jem is a fascinating character though, and I was as interested in her and Will as ever. I love her inconsistencies, the fact that she's a woman in disguise making a stand for women, and yet when she comes across other women doing the same she's quite equivocal in her reactions. Is there a future romance with one of the strange twins from this story? (And on a side note the twins, Sorrow and Silence, reminded me of the terrifying twins from the black comedy series, The League of Gentlemen, which didn't help with me taking them seriously in this book.)

I don't know why I didn't engage with this book as much. Perhaps it's a symptom of the times we are in - I am certainly struggling to concentrate. Perhaps the series has slightly run its course? And yet I do want to see more of Jem and Will. So maybe I'll read this one again in better days and hope to find it more rewarding.

[Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was recommended to me because I live in Edinburgh and some of the book is set here. There's even an old map of Edinburgh on the inside first few pages. The trouble was that, most of the time, I couldn't tell when we were in London and when we were in Edinburgh. I kept looking for Corvus Hall on the map of Edinburgh – we could have done with a map of London, too.

But that wasn't the only part of the book that confused me. I know these novels are supposed to keep you guessing, but it was clear that this wasn't the first book in the series and there are bits of information that it helps to know beforehand.*

Anyway, the idea is that the central characters Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain find themselves trying to solve a puzzle featuring a series of cadavers minus their faces and right hands, an adventure that takes them backwards and forwards between the Scottish and English capital cities. The plot weaves through the Great Exhibition and the Burke and Hare quite convincingly, but I felt that the solution was a bit unsatisfactory. For me, a good crime novel should leave the reader feeling, 'That's clever, how did I not spot those obvious clues?' You know, like that moment in Silver Blaze where Sherlock Holmes says, "Then there was the curious incident of the dog barking in the night"? That didn't happen for me here.

To be fair, I'm not a great fan of historical fiction; the dialogue always seems wooden to me. And perhaps I just got unlucky. Not every book will do it for me, and E. S. Thomson must have landed a series publishing contract for a reason.

(*I think we're supposed to know that Jem Flockhart is a woman in disguise – there are loads of hints – although it's never actually spelled out. E. S. Thomson is a woman, a lecturer in the history of medicine in Edinburgh. It's a fabulous conceit for a series of crime novels, actually.)

[Booksendcoffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever fell in love with a book before even reading it? Well, this book gave me that feeling 😊
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This is my second book of Jem Flockhart's adventure, written by E.S Thompson. The first one was Beloved Poison, which I enjoyed immensely, leading me into buying this second book. There is two more books however, still out there, waiting for me to grab it, then only I can be at ease (exageration level 100 🤣).
.
Surgeons' Hall is a follow up of Jem's investigation with her bestfriend Will Quantermaim. This is ES Thomson 4th book of the series (I didn't buy it in chronological orders, I just grab this one first as it is the only one available). Jem's an apothecary, disguising herself to be a man so that she could take over her father's business (tough world in London 1950). One day, they visited the Great Exhibition that had just opened, that shows anatomical models by the famous Dr Silas Strangeway (great name btw). Among the anatomical wax models, they stumbled upon a perfectly dissected severed hand, laid among the wax exhibit. Assuming it to be a prank by medical students, they decided to return it to Dr. Strangeway, who works at Corvus Hall, a private anatomy school run by Dr Alexander Crowe. Jem and Will soon find themeselves (again) investigating the serial of murders that soon to follow.
.
I mention again this is my second book by the series. As I love the series so much, I don't even care about the logical side of why Jem, an apothecary, have the rights and needs to involve herself with investigating these murders. And why people would let her investigate is beyond my understanding. I mean she's not even a private investigator. Where's the po-po?? 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️
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Anyway, 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ because I loved it.

[Booksendcoffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever fell in love with a book before even reading it? Well, this book gave me that feeling 😊
.
This is my second book of Jem Flockhart's adventure, written by E.S Thompson. The first one was Beloved Poison, which I enjoyed immensely, leading me into buying this second book. There is two more books however, still out there, waiting for me to grab it, then only I can be at ease (exageration level 100 🤣).
.
Surgeons' Hall is a follow up of Jem's investigation with her bestfriend Will Quantermaim. This is ES Thomson 4th book of the series (I didn't buy it in chronological orders, I just grab this one first as it is the only one available). Jem's an apothecary, disguising herself to be a man so that she could take over her father's business (tough world in London 1850). One day, they visited the Great Exhibition that had just opened, that shows anatomical models by the famous Dr Silas Strangeway (great name btw). Among the anatomical wax models, they stumbled upon a perfectly dissected severed hand, laid among the wax exhibit. Assuming it to be a prank by medical students, they decided to return it to Dr. Strangeway, who works at Corvus Hall, a private anatomy school run by Dr Alexander Crowe. Jem and Will soon find themeselves (again) investigating the serial of murders that soon to follow.
.
I mention again this is my second book by the series. As I love the series so much, I don't even care about the logical side of why Jem, an apothecary, have the rights and needs to involve herself with investigating these murders. And why people would let her investigate is beyond my understanding. I mean she's not even a private investigator. Where's the po-po?? 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

[Dan Bassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an excellent story dripping in Gothic authenticity and I was hooked! The story follows Jem and Will who happen upon chance, a severed right hand that has been placed in amongst exhibits of a similar nature. Jem knows just where the body which the hand belongs to should be, and that is Corvus Hall the newly opened Anatomists school. However upon finally finding the body that this lost hand originates from, it is unidentifiable as the face has been dissected! And the the real mystery begins! I loved the characters of the three Crowe sisters (Lilith who is beyond compare great with a surgeons knife. Sorrow who is blind but knows everything and anything there is to know. And Silence who is deaf and never leaves Sorrow's side.) These sisters are ones to watch and I loved how the story kept me drawn in with side story of a murder that had taken place many years before hand..... which may or may not have something to do with what is happening at Corvus Hall..... This is a fantastic detective story which didn't feel as drudged as some detective stories I have read before which was so refreshing! I was very impressed throughout this book and the ending was perfect and left me satisfied and wanting more Jem!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Who we are and what we have done is etched upon the flesh."

Dripping with a decadent gothic atmosphere, Surgeon's Hall is a dark and grisly historical mystery novel following the ever amazing Jem Flockhart. In this installment in the series, the intensity, and the amount of utterly gruesome scenes, seems to have really ramped up. The advancement of medical science during the era is on full display, including the increased demand for bodies, and the less than ethical means of obtaining them.

Each book in this series is fantastically researched, a fact that becomes clearer with every book that you read. Throughout the novel, the author has delicately scattered tiny clues as to the nature of the mystery, and by the end, you almost feel as if you can figure out just what happened, and yet, somehow, you still end up utterly blindsided.

This book makes for an amazing puzzle of a novel, and is a worthwhile read for any historical fiction fan.

"I accept my fate, when it comes, but I ask you to look to my nieces, Flockhart, to help Lilith and her sisters, and protect them from whoever, from whatever, awaits them in the darkness."

[Barbara L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just finished this book, which is the third one I have read in the series. ( I started with The Blood, then read Dark Asylum before this one. That's completely out of order but there's always enough backstory for them to stand alone. )
I'm lucky enough to live in the South London area and to have have visited some of the museums that tell the real history ~ Wellcome Collection, small institutional museums at St Barts and the London Hospitals and the Museum of London Docklands. I've been a bit squeamish about the Old Operating Theatre (which was part of St Thomas's before it was moved by the building of London Bridge railway station) and the Hunterian.
All this is to say how awesome I find the clever interweaving of real medical and social history into these thrillers. This one teases with the thought that medical discoveries are "in the air" (or more exactly, in the water) but their time has not quite come because personal and professional feuds are rife.
Very good plotting too.

[AngelaC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Jem Flockhart novel. Indeed, I was unaware that there were others. This is a perfectly good standalone narrative.
Be warned - this is not a novel for the faint-hearted! Set in a Victorian College of Anatomy, it creates a chillingly macabre atmosphere, the stuff that horror films are made of!
As a whodunnit (and who continues to do it), it is excellent. We are kept waiting until the last few pages to discover the dark secrets that link several of the characters.
It is also an interesting look at women's place in Victorian society. They were considered to be too weak to undertake medical studies yet the main character is a female apothecary (in masculine guise) and the three sisters in the story are all skilled in some aspect of medicine and/or anatomy.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, with the above proviso. It is uncompromising in its descriptions of anatomical studies.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all this book should come with a warning! in so much that if your faint hearted then don't read this book!! as there is a lot description of anatomy and dissection and the murders are the most gruesome yet. that being said i loved it, Jem and Will are back as always solving a murder. they have gone to the great exhibition and are looking around the exhibits when one case has an actual human hand in the case. Jem notices and before we know she is at the anatomy school asking questions and the ride begins. we have the normal characters, Mrs Speedicut, Gabriel, Jenny and Mrs Roseplucker and they always bring something to the party as they say! this is a good page turner of a book and i am so glad i came across this series. this is my favourite so far and Will and Jem's relationship has took on a deeper meaning, E S Thomson really gets you to feel the emotion between these two characters. Can't wait to read Nightshade.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't decide between 3 or 4 stars. Half way through I realised that I couldn't diferentiate between any of the characters, of which there are plenty, or even describe the main characters. By the end it became clear, but at the same time it didn't really matter as the main characters were almost in a narator role. I'm unsure if this is the author's intention or not. Most books I read bring the character to life and without this mental image it was hard to track where the story was going. That being said the twists and turns in the latter half made up for it and proved to be an enjoyable read overall. Still considering whether to try out another book by E S Thompson though.

[Karen Keane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. A superb piece of historical fiction set in the Victorian world of medical training hospitals and the macabre and gruesome practices that happened there. Brilliantly descriptive, I could almost smell the stench of the dead corpses. Another book in the Jem Flockhart series where Jem and her friend Will set out to solve the mysterious deaths at the medical training school next door.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books keeps getting better and better. The author is a PhD in the History of Medicine and her knowledge and research causes these books to shine even more. The bibliography in the back of the books is always interesting and a good source of other reading material. Her character development is excellent and they become more familiar through each book. If you have any interest in the history of medicine learned through a detective story these are the books for you!