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Jem Flockhart #2
Dark Asylum
Set in a crumbling Victorian asylum where a gruesome murder is committed, this sequel to Beloved Poison explores the early science of brain study while giving chilling insight into an asylum's workings.
1851, Angel Meadow Asylum. Dr. Rutherford, principal physician to the insane, is found dead, his head bashed in, his ears cut off, his lips and eyes stitched closed. The police direct their attention towards Angel Meadow's inmates, but to Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain the crime is an act of calculated retribution, rather than of madness.
To discover the truth Jem and Will must pursue the story through the darkest corners of the city—from the depths of a notorious rookery, to the sordid rooms of London's brothels, the gallows, the graveyard, the convict fleet and then back to the asylum. In a world where guilt and innocence, crime and atonement, madness and reason, are bounded by hypocrisy, ambition and betrayal, Jem and Will soon find themselves caught up in a web of dark secrets and hidden identities.
378 pages, Paperback
First published March 7, 2017
63 people are currently reading
1969 people want to read
About the author
E.S. Thomson
7 books276 followersElaine 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
August 30, 2017
Death could come in the most macabre and unexpected way.
And what could be a fate worst than death within the walls of Angel Meadow Asylum? Let it be known that nary an angel treads through these dark and dank hallways.
The chilled autumn London air of September 1852 finds Jem Flockhart, apothecary of the former St. Saviour's, stirring combinations of fine herbs in order to create quality remedies. His assistant, Gabriel Locke, serves as his apprentice as well. Jem has befriended Will Quartermain, a draughtsman, who specializes in the design of drains and sewers along London's streets. The three of them will become all too familiar with the comings and goings within the asylum as the story unfolds.
When one of the asylum's doctors is found dead with callipers sticking out of his head and his eyes stitched shut, Jem and Will are shocked beyond words. Who had access to the doctor's room and why would anyone murder this man? Needless to say, all are under suspicion from the unstable inmates to the medical staff itself.
E.S. Thomson presents the second book in the Jem Flockhart series. (Beloved Poison is Book One.) This one can be read as a standalone. Be prepared for a dark tale encased in graphic details of asylum life, autopsies, and ill-treatment of women during this time period. "The womb, gentlemen, need I say more?"
Thomson creates a very atmospheric view into the known medical treatments of this era. Physicians implemented phrenology with the study of the contours of one's head for medical purposes. Chloroform was newly introduced for sedation and hashish was doled out as a controversial treatment for the mad. Asylum inmates seemed to be at the mercy of sometimes undocumented experimentation.
Jem is the lead voice of the storyline with reflections interspersed from a mysterious female character as well. We will come to know more about the elusive Jem. There are quite a few threads weaving their way throughout this one that keep the reader engaged and intrigued. Most certainly not for the faint of heart, Dark Asylum can really rattle one's chains.
I received a copy of Dark Asylum through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Pegasus Books and to E.S. Thomson for the opportunity.
And what could be a fate worst than death within the walls of Angel Meadow Asylum? Let it be known that nary an angel treads through these dark and dank hallways.
The chilled autumn London air of September 1852 finds Jem Flockhart, apothecary of the former St. Saviour's, stirring combinations of fine herbs in order to create quality remedies. His assistant, Gabriel Locke, serves as his apprentice as well. Jem has befriended Will Quartermain, a draughtsman, who specializes in the design of drains and sewers along London's streets. The three of them will become all too familiar with the comings and goings within the asylum as the story unfolds.
When one of the asylum's doctors is found dead with callipers sticking out of his head and his eyes stitched shut, Jem and Will are shocked beyond words. Who had access to the doctor's room and why would anyone murder this man? Needless to say, all are under suspicion from the unstable inmates to the medical staff itself.
E.S. Thomson presents the second book in the Jem Flockhart series. (Beloved Poison is Book One.) This one can be read as a standalone. Be prepared for a dark tale encased in graphic details of asylum life, autopsies, and ill-treatment of women during this time period. "The womb, gentlemen, need I say more?"
Thomson creates a very atmospheric view into the known medical treatments of this era. Physicians implemented phrenology with the study of the contours of one's head for medical purposes. Chloroform was newly introduced for sedation and hashish was doled out as a controversial treatment for the mad. Asylum inmates seemed to be at the mercy of sometimes undocumented experimentation.
Jem is the lead voice of the storyline with reflections interspersed from a mysterious female character as well. We will come to know more about the elusive Jem. There are quite a few threads weaving their way throughout this one that keep the reader engaged and intrigued. Most certainly not for the faint of heart, Dark Asylum can really rattle one's chains.
I received a copy of Dark Asylum through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Pegasus Books and to E.S. Thomson for the opportunity.
March 4, 2018
Dark Asylum finds Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain investigating the murder of yet another Doctor, this time within the confines of the monstrously repellant Angel Meadow Asylum. {As an aside, if I were in possession of the title 'Dr', I'd seriously consider moving, because their life expectancy is very much under threat from seriously murderous violence in this small area of Victorian London.} In any case, the specifics of the medical profession and contemporary 'scientific' notions of criminality and mental illness are meticulously researched, adding to the gritty, horror-filled realism of life within the asylum. To say that these places are beyond your worst nightmares is hardly to touch the surface of what it would be like to be incarcerated in them. Pain and misery abound, it is hardly surprising that all those within the walls veer towards insanity, and not just the inmates.
Once again, Flockhart steals the show, confounding expectations and offering the kind of snarky wit that's a pleasure to read. Thankfully I already have the next in the series ready to go...
*Apparently there was an Angel Meadow slum in Victorian Manchester, which Engels called 'hell on earth', so the asylum's name is perhaps more apt than it may seem.
Once again, Flockhart steals the show, confounding expectations and offering the kind of snarky wit that's a pleasure to read. Thankfully I already have the next in the series ready to go...
*Apparently there was an Angel Meadow slum in Victorian Manchester, which Engels called 'hell on earth', so the asylum's name is perhaps more apt than it may seem.
October 23, 2017
4 stars ~~ Thank you to NetGalley and Pegasus Books, Ltd. for a chance to read and review this ARC. Publication is scheduled for November 7, 2017.
A great "Who-Dun-It" that could read like a stand alone novel, however is the second book of the Jem Flockhart series.
In the dirty and difficult times of London, 1851, at the Angel Meadow Asylum for the criminally insane, we once again find Jem Flockhart, apothecary and friend Will Quartermain, architect embroiled in a murder. Dr Rutherford, the famous phrenologist, is murdered. In a time when people did not bathe for weeks and clothes were not changed for months at a time, new discoveries were steadily coming to the forefront. Photography was new, anesthetic was becoming popular, cleanliness, mental illness, sanitation and medicine were on the rise. Amongst the slums, the convict ship, the old St Saviour, the cemetery, the brothels and Jem's apothecary shop we traipse through the muck and mire of the old Victorian environment looking for the killer - a person who we least suspect - but who is unveiled by a skull, a ledger and a photo.
E.S. Thomson has done a wonderful job of putting the reader into the gritty slums of London. A time of flea and lice infestations along the smog and grim encrusted back alleys. This novel is broken up between two stories that finally meld together. Once the secondary story fully comes to fruition, it helps to reveal the killer. Great use of plot formation. The characters are very vividly written, as is the atmosphere of the city. You can smell the smells and visualize the people. It is good to know that Thomson is working on the next book of this series.
A great "Who-Dun-It" that could read like a stand alone novel, however is the second book of the Jem Flockhart series.
In the dirty and difficult times of London, 1851, at the Angel Meadow Asylum for the criminally insane, we once again find Jem Flockhart, apothecary and friend Will Quartermain, architect embroiled in a murder. Dr Rutherford, the famous phrenologist, is murdered. In a time when people did not bathe for weeks and clothes were not changed for months at a time, new discoveries were steadily coming to the forefront. Photography was new, anesthetic was becoming popular, cleanliness, mental illness, sanitation and medicine were on the rise. Amongst the slums, the convict ship, the old St Saviour, the cemetery, the brothels and Jem's apothecary shop we traipse through the muck and mire of the old Victorian environment looking for the killer - a person who we least suspect - but who is unveiled by a skull, a ledger and a photo.
E.S. Thomson has done a wonderful job of putting the reader into the gritty slums of London. A time of flea and lice infestations along the smog and grim encrusted back alleys. This novel is broken up between two stories that finally meld together. Once the secondary story fully comes to fruition, it helps to reveal the killer. Great use of plot formation. The characters are very vividly written, as is the atmosphere of the city. You can smell the smells and visualize the people. It is good to know that Thomson is working on the next book of this series.
January 3, 2018
A great follow up to Beloved Poison. I love the mood of these books.
January 19, 2021
This is an excellent historical mystery. I love the Jem Flockhart series and Dark Asylum is the best one so far. Thomson’s writing is incredibly vivid and pungent. The book is meticulously researched and the mystery is constructed well. A joy to read.
April 27, 2018
A Historical rendition written during the Victorian era about an asylum and its staff. It is dark, gloomy, with deviancy and crime, guts and gore, the sane and the insane. The lines between the sane and insane are occasionally blurred. Certain parts of the book are creepy. Certain people are creepy. The asylum is dark, sordid and medieval in nature using strait jackets, miniature cell blocks for punishment and restrictive, torture devices such as shackles, chains, etc.
The Main character is Jem, a female who passes herself off as male (for many reasons). Jem is the individual with medical knowledge and reason in this story, along with friend/sidekick, Will, who is a draughtsman in the House of Corrections. A draughtsman deals with drains, sewers - what would now be a modern day plumber I would guess?
Jem tends a herbal garden and apothecary shop with her assistant Gabriel, and dispenses her formulas for free to the destitute and the hooligans as well as selling to the regular townsfolk. Some atrocious murders are committed in and outside of the asylum that are interconnected by the criminal with secrets of their own and Jem and Will are basically the sleuthing team. There are some creepy individuals who are actually detained in the asylum and others who are also creepy that work at the asylum.
I’m not perfectly sure why I didn’t like this book as much as I expected. There are a lot of good reviews from GR members.
The writing was done as one would expect in the 1800’s foggy, filthy, London times And style. Maybe I’m used to the fast paced modern day mystery thrillers? The “in your face” shock factor? Although there were some gruesome circumstances in this story which would be quite shocking for that time period (and still are now), such as detailed autopsies, brain section removal to make one with violent tendencies more sedate, the beginning discovery and use of chloroform...
Also this was book number 2 of a series, so perhaps I could not relate because I did not read #1?
I finished it, but it took a lot of effort for me to get through certain parts.
The Main character is Jem, a female who passes herself off as male (for many reasons). Jem is the individual with medical knowledge and reason in this story, along with friend/sidekick, Will, who is a draughtsman in the House of Corrections. A draughtsman deals with drains, sewers - what would now be a modern day plumber I would guess?
Jem tends a herbal garden and apothecary shop with her assistant Gabriel, and dispenses her formulas for free to the destitute and the hooligans as well as selling to the regular townsfolk. Some atrocious murders are committed in and outside of the asylum that are interconnected by the criminal with secrets of their own and Jem and Will are basically the sleuthing team. There are some creepy individuals who are actually detained in the asylum and others who are also creepy that work at the asylum.
I’m not perfectly sure why I didn’t like this book as much as I expected. There are a lot of good reviews from GR members.
The writing was done as one would expect in the 1800’s foggy, filthy, London times And style. Maybe I’m used to the fast paced modern day mystery thrillers? The “in your face” shock factor? Although there were some gruesome circumstances in this story which would be quite shocking for that time period (and still are now), such as detailed autopsies, brain section removal to make one with violent tendencies more sedate, the beginning discovery and use of chloroform...
Also this was book number 2 of a series, so perhaps I could not relate because I did not read #1?
I finished it, but it took a lot of effort for me to get through certain parts.
December 22, 2017
Dol op de sfeer die in deze boeken zit, je ruikt het Victoriaanse Londen bijna :-P
January 23, 2020
Enjoyable but somehow not wholly satisfying. There is something missing from these Flockhart and Quartermain mysteries, but I can't precisely identify what. Perhaps it is partly that some of the characters are more Dickensian caricature than the fully rounded folk I would hope for. Otherwise I am not sure. Regardless they are mysterious enough to hold my interest and keep me guessing, and they are well written. I can't help feeling that they could be stunning, though, and yet, sadly I did not find them so.
July 16, 2017
Ooops. Didn't realise this was book 2 when I started it. Never mind didn't stop it being a cracking book. Jem Flockhart gentleman apothecary and friend to several strange doctors who work at an asylum ends up investigating a murder with his friend Will. Jem has powers of deduction and a partner just like another literary detective and there is a shadow of Sherlock at the start but soon you are drawn into a horrible tale of mutilation and murder, lunatics and hangings.
September 28, 2019
Another dark, dangerous and downright dirty read from Thomson. Her description of the darkest places in Victorian London kept me turning each page just to see how far her knowledge and research had gone.
Sometimes the places you visit with Dr Jem and her assistant/friend Will Quartermain seemed too far fetched until you look into them and realise this was how people lived their lives. Just an existence, surviving by whatever means possible, as does Jem herself by deceit, stealth, misdirection and observation.
Each character is so larger than life and well described that the reader feels they are an integral part of their lives even when they have no wish to be.
Loved it and can’t wait for the next one.
Sometimes the places you visit with Dr Jem and her assistant/friend Will Quartermain seemed too far fetched until you look into them and realise this was how people lived their lives. Just an existence, surviving by whatever means possible, as does Jem herself by deceit, stealth, misdirection and observation.
Each character is so larger than life and well described that the reader feels they are an integral part of their lives even when they have no wish to be.
Loved it and can’t wait for the next one.
November 15, 2024
A really interesting and detailed book, very much enjoyed. Not as fast paced as you usually get from thrillers but really detailed, quite graphically depicted scenes (not for people who don’t like gore). Really well done first person account of scenarios and places focusing on what the character is feeling but also what they are sensing (touch, smell, taste, sound and sight) so the reader has quite an immersive experience and feels present in the novel. Set in a historic asylum in 1852 it covers some really important topics of the time such as gender equality (or lack thereof), progression of medicinal science, the judicial system and the division of classes, while also seamlessly blending queer themes such as same sex relationships. Will be reading more from this author!
July 5, 2020
Another great book featuring Jem Flockhart . This time there are two murders and the plot concentrates on the Asylum. The author again gives a very descriptive feel for life in an Asylum in Victorian Britain and the harsh life of the poor outside of it. I am still enjoying the characters as they develop in the series. There is also some female, female romance which I found touching and was perfect for this storyline.
I wasn't quite as invested in the plot as I was in book one,however still an excellent read as I look forward to continuing this series
I wasn't quite as invested in the plot as I was in book one,however still an excellent read as I look forward to continuing this series
November 10, 2017
E.S. Thomson does it again! The Dark Asylum is detailed, beautiful, horrifying, and educational. As in Beloved Poison, Thomson's knowledge of historical medicine shines through every word. Love love love Jem, our protagonist--what a complex, kick-ass, interesting character! I thoroughly enjoyed The Dark Asylum, and I'll be waiting eagerly for the third installment in this series.
January 22, 2019
In one of those odd coincidences, a gallery of photos of female insane asylum inmates from the 1840s and 50s came over my Twitter transom the same day I started this book. Which is set mostly in an insane asylum in London in 1850-something.
The descriptions are so vivid that you can see and hear and *smell* everything.
The descriptions are so vivid that you can see and hear and *smell* everything.
July 10, 2017
Once in a while, you tumble upon a writer you never read before, and you like very much. Thomson is a superb and brilliant author, setting her crime stories in an extremely well researched London of times past, not to mention her knowledge about medical history and the love for her characters. Without a doubt, I can recommend her books about Jem Flockhart to everyone..
March 6, 2017
Love this series! It's full of adventure, friendship, and illusion. We get to know Gem and Will more each novel but they still surprises me each time. The apothecary shop and garden, asylum and London come alive. HIstorical mystery at its finest.
May 13, 2018
Dark Asylum by E. S. Thomson is the second book in the Jem Flockhart series and has me thinking that I really need to hunt down book one. Because if its even half as good as this one is, then it is definitely well worth the read. The hero of our book, Jem, is a woman passing herself off as a man in Victorian England in the year 1851, when the gruesome murder of a prominent doctor in his own insane asylum brings her face to face with a horrifying killer.
"...The first time I saw the devil I was six years old. The vicious thoughts that filled his head were etched upon his face in every line and shadow. I saw greed and malice in his grinning shrivelled lips, lust and death in his black, empty eyes. He gave me nightmares, and the others laughed at me for being so fearful. After all, it was only a crude woodcut on the back of one the boys' penny bloods. Only Goblin understood. He didn't laugh. He said that I should put the image form my mind and that I would soon forget. But I never did. And when I saw the devil again, many years later, I knew exactly who he was..."
In 1851, in the dark rooms of Angel Meadow Asylum, the chief physician to the insane lay murdered. Dr. Rutherford, his head bashed in, his ears cut off and his lips and eyes sewn shut in a black pool of his own blood. Inside his mouth, they would find his ears. The police quickly arrest one of the inmates for this horrible crime but to Jem Flockhart, the apothecary and his friend Will Quartermain the truth is something far more complex. The vicious attention to detail and calculation used to do this deed seems beyond the abilities of the inmates of the asylum. No, to Flockhart and Quartermain, there seems a far more devious and evil mind at work. When a second body is found, another doctor at the asylum, the duo realize there is far more to these murders than what is revealing itself.
"...I crouched at Will's side and put my arms about him. He had buried his face in his hands, unable to look at what lay before us. But I could not allow my emotions to overwhelm me. I had to think clearly, to try to understand what had happened. I forced myself to look at Dr. Golspie, at the blood that pooled about his head, at the way his features had been obliterated, turned into a hideous mockery of a face by a clumsy and cold-blooded hand. Like Dr. Rutherford, he had been stabbed through the head with a medical instrument-in this case I recognized the ebony handle of a curved double-edged amputation knife. Why would Dr. Golspie have such a thing? He was not a surgeon. I looked closer. Was it engraved? Some of the more egotistical surgeons like to stamp their presence on their equipment. I pulled out my handkerchief and wiped the handle. Three letters. R.J.G..."
Now Jem and Will must hunt the killer by delving into the secrets of not only the inmates of the asylum but the very doctors themselves. How far had these men gone in their singular pursuit of science. Untouchable, as they were, had they themselves committed atrocities in the name of science upon the less fortunate who had no voice? And could Jem and Will bring their acts into the light and upon the courts of justice or will they too, be held under the control of the Dark Asylum?
Though slow in some points, Dark Asylum is a terrific tale of class and madness. The phrase, the inmates are running the asylum, may never have been better said. The Doctors, though convincing themselves that they are doing what they do for the betterment of humanity are too often less human than the patients left in their care. The hubris is something very close to that of Victor Frankenstein and if you have ever read the book, you would easily realize that Victor was the monster and not the creature he created.
Dark Asylum is a tale of madness. A madness from years of abuse and degradation and of the society that held men of privilege unaccountable for their actions. It is also a tale of a woman, raised since childhood to hide herself so that she may claim her place in this very society. It is also the tale of others who never had the chance and whose suffering is a sign of madness and not of those whose lives have been destroyed by a darker purpose.
A terrific book that should not be missed.
"...The first time I saw the devil I was six years old. The vicious thoughts that filled his head were etched upon his face in every line and shadow. I saw greed and malice in his grinning shrivelled lips, lust and death in his black, empty eyes. He gave me nightmares, and the others laughed at me for being so fearful. After all, it was only a crude woodcut on the back of one the boys' penny bloods. Only Goblin understood. He didn't laugh. He said that I should put the image form my mind and that I would soon forget. But I never did. And when I saw the devil again, many years later, I knew exactly who he was..."
In 1851, in the dark rooms of Angel Meadow Asylum, the chief physician to the insane lay murdered. Dr. Rutherford, his head bashed in, his ears cut off and his lips and eyes sewn shut in a black pool of his own blood. Inside his mouth, they would find his ears. The police quickly arrest one of the inmates for this horrible crime but to Jem Flockhart, the apothecary and his friend Will Quartermain the truth is something far more complex. The vicious attention to detail and calculation used to do this deed seems beyond the abilities of the inmates of the asylum. No, to Flockhart and Quartermain, there seems a far more devious and evil mind at work. When a second body is found, another doctor at the asylum, the duo realize there is far more to these murders than what is revealing itself.
"...I crouched at Will's side and put my arms about him. He had buried his face in his hands, unable to look at what lay before us. But I could not allow my emotions to overwhelm me. I had to think clearly, to try to understand what had happened. I forced myself to look at Dr. Golspie, at the blood that pooled about his head, at the way his features had been obliterated, turned into a hideous mockery of a face by a clumsy and cold-blooded hand. Like Dr. Rutherford, he had been stabbed through the head with a medical instrument-in this case I recognized the ebony handle of a curved double-edged amputation knife. Why would Dr. Golspie have such a thing? He was not a surgeon. I looked closer. Was it engraved? Some of the more egotistical surgeons like to stamp their presence on their equipment. I pulled out my handkerchief and wiped the handle. Three letters. R.J.G..."
Now Jem and Will must hunt the killer by delving into the secrets of not only the inmates of the asylum but the very doctors themselves. How far had these men gone in their singular pursuit of science. Untouchable, as they were, had they themselves committed atrocities in the name of science upon the less fortunate who had no voice? And could Jem and Will bring their acts into the light and upon the courts of justice or will they too, be held under the control of the Dark Asylum?
Though slow in some points, Dark Asylum is a terrific tale of class and madness. The phrase, the inmates are running the asylum, may never have been better said. The Doctors, though convincing themselves that they are doing what they do for the betterment of humanity are too often less human than the patients left in their care. The hubris is something very close to that of Victor Frankenstein and if you have ever read the book, you would easily realize that Victor was the monster and not the creature he created.
Dark Asylum is a tale of madness. A madness from years of abuse and degradation and of the society that held men of privilege unaccountable for their actions. It is also a tale of a woman, raised since childhood to hide herself so that she may claim her place in this very society. It is also the tale of others who never had the chance and whose suffering is a sign of madness and not of those whose lives have been destroyed by a darker purpose.
A terrific book that should not be missed.
November 16, 2017
The gruesome opening of this second in Thomson's Jem Flockhart series may put off those who prefer to ignore the gore and horror of murder in their mysteries. But persevere reader. The story is worth enduring a few shivers.
In the first novel Jem escorted us inside a decaying Victorian London hospital where everyone had secrets, some leading to murder. This time our venue is a lunatic asylum just down the street from the former edifice, which has now been razed. Jem has chosen not to follow St. Saviour's Infirmary to its new location south of the Thames and maintains trade as supplier of "fine herbs and quality remedies" on Fishbait Lane.
Jem, a woman, has been forced to take on the guise of a man to maintain independence and follow her father's trade as apothecary "...concealed beneath shirt and britches--and behind a port-wine birthmark that covers my eyes and nose like a Venetian courtesan's mask."
Jem's trade takes her and her friend Will Quartermain behind the walls of Angel Meadow Asylum where Dr. Rutherford, a phrenologist and collector of skulls, has been brutally murdered, a pair of callipers driven through his temple, his ears sliced off and his lips stitched shut. There's a quick assumption by those in authority the murder is the work of an inmate. Jem and Will are soon to see a thread of premeditation indicating an act of revenge, which leads them to investigate the thin line between sanity and insanity. And there will be more murder.
Their investigation offers glimpses into the often cruel treatment of those afflicted with mental disease at the time, the lack of compassion for the poor and other aspects of Victorian life as it propels Jem toward a dangerous threat to her own life.
Jem's double life, her loneliness and desire for love, her ambivalent relationship with Will, and her fear of a hereditary trait which may eventually make her an inmate of the asylum. are at the heart of the novel. But the other regular characters are equally intriguing. Will, who is her confident and friend, though it is never made clear whether he is aware of her sex; Gabriel, Jem's apprentice, who has grown since the previous novel, and some others who have been carried over from the first story.
There's a colorful array of other characters--the bombastic Dr. Mothersole who, despite his derision of his daughter and other women, takes a philanthropic interest in the welfare of his patients; Dr. Stiven (who also disguises his truth identity) and his ward Susan Chance, a reformed murderess; Dr. Golspie whose drug experiments lead to trouble, and Pole, the creepy attendant, and Mrs. Lunge, the matron who is constantly tugging at her collar.
An alternate narrative between chapters provides a glimpse into the motive behind the murders.
I'm enjoying this series and look forward to Thomson's promised third novel featuring Jem and Will.
In the first novel Jem escorted us inside a decaying Victorian London hospital where everyone had secrets, some leading to murder. This time our venue is a lunatic asylum just down the street from the former edifice, which has now been razed. Jem has chosen not to follow St. Saviour's Infirmary to its new location south of the Thames and maintains trade as supplier of "fine herbs and quality remedies" on Fishbait Lane.
Jem, a woman, has been forced to take on the guise of a man to maintain independence and follow her father's trade as apothecary "...concealed beneath shirt and britches--and behind a port-wine birthmark that covers my eyes and nose like a Venetian courtesan's mask."
Jem's trade takes her and her friend Will Quartermain behind the walls of Angel Meadow Asylum where Dr. Rutherford, a phrenologist and collector of skulls, has been brutally murdered, a pair of callipers driven through his temple, his ears sliced off and his lips stitched shut. There's a quick assumption by those in authority the murder is the work of an inmate. Jem and Will are soon to see a thread of premeditation indicating an act of revenge, which leads them to investigate the thin line between sanity and insanity. And there will be more murder.
Their investigation offers glimpses into the often cruel treatment of those afflicted with mental disease at the time, the lack of compassion for the poor and other aspects of Victorian life as it propels Jem toward a dangerous threat to her own life.
Jem's double life, her loneliness and desire for love, her ambivalent relationship with Will, and her fear of a hereditary trait which may eventually make her an inmate of the asylum. are at the heart of the novel. But the other regular characters are equally intriguing. Will, who is her confident and friend, though it is never made clear whether he is aware of her sex; Gabriel, Jem's apprentice, who has grown since the previous novel, and some others who have been carried over from the first story.
There's a colorful array of other characters--the bombastic Dr. Mothersole who, despite his derision of his daughter and other women, takes a philanthropic interest in the welfare of his patients; Dr. Stiven (who also disguises his truth identity) and his ward Susan Chance, a reformed murderess; Dr. Golspie whose drug experiments lead to trouble, and Pole, the creepy attendant, and Mrs. Lunge, the matron who is constantly tugging at her collar.
An alternate narrative between chapters provides a glimpse into the motive behind the murders.
I'm enjoying this series and look forward to Thomson's promised third novel featuring Jem and Will.
January 20, 2019
The second in the Jem Flockhart series, and it certainly lived up to my expectations from the first. E S Thomson has created a fabulous, filthy, dark and intriguing world in the environs of a lunatic asylum, complete with a decrepit church and sinking/stinking graveyard (and truly horrific character in the sexton), a stinking gaol being renovated to be only slightly less stinking, a rookery that you enter at your peril - and if you do, probably don't come out - and the ruins of an infirmary being used to build the massive railway viaduct that towers over the whole setting, the 'new' world over the old. In amongst all this is Jem, apothecary, a woman playing a man, and trying - in this case not so successfully - to solve a crime. What's not to love!
Ms Thomson's cast are fabulous. The crimes this time, I felt, were rather over complicated and at the end I was struggling to keep up with the (in my view unnecessary0 twists and turns. For me, a bit less plot and a little more of Jem would have been a better balance, but I do understand that the author has to keep some of Jem back to be explored in the next book(s). I'm just being greedy.
This is a murder mystery. It's a character study. It's a diatribe on the hypocrisy of Victorian values, and the analogies are too clearly drawn for it not also to be a diatribe on today's. I really enjoyed this, and am already looking forward to the next one.
Ms Thomson's cast are fabulous. The crimes this time, I felt, were rather over complicated and at the end I was struggling to keep up with the (in my view unnecessary0 twists and turns. For me, a bit less plot and a little more of Jem would have been a better balance, but I do understand that the author has to keep some of Jem back to be explored in the next book(s). I'm just being greedy.
This is a murder mystery. It's a character study. It's a diatribe on the hypocrisy of Victorian values, and the analogies are too clearly drawn for it not also to be a diatribe on today's. I really enjoyed this, and am already looking forward to the next one.
November 19, 2018
"No one looked up at the asylum. Silent and impassive in their midst it was seen but unseen, a great black rock against which the city foamed, and broke, like the sea."
From the very beginning my senses awoke to a stage so vividly foul I was convinced I’d disturbed a mouth full of rotten tooth stumps dowsed with gin, while stepping in something as equally disagreeable.
Along the way I found myself wading through the bowels of Victorian street life and witnessing the crude progression of medicine. As I became immersed a world overcast by the increasing absence of moral code I was relieved to be greeted by a few familiar and needy faces from Beloved Poison (book one), most possessing a cracking and inventive surname.
Without being at all preachy Dark Asylum pools archaic attitudes to public and mental health, gender, and crime and punishment into a plausible and compelling tale. Before the halfway stage I was already seeking out the next book in the series so I could see what other challenges await our enterprising Apothecary, Jem Flockhart.
A brilliant read – can’t wait to dive into the next instalment.
October 11, 2025
I wasn’t sure whether to give this book three or four stars but because I enjoyed most of the book I’ve decided to give it four stars
It wasn’t as good as the first one that’s for sure, like the first one it was slightly too long and the brief tryst between Jem and one of the minor characters did nothing for the story, it just didn’t add anything to it
I’m also beginning to find Jem to be quite selfish, a character flaw I didn’t feel she had in the first book
And I absolutely hated that ending, it was not good
It wasn’t as good as the first one that’s for sure, like the first one it was slightly too long and the brief tryst between Jem and one of the minor characters did nothing for the story, it just didn’t add anything to it
I’m also beginning to find Jem to be quite selfish, a character flaw I didn’t feel she had in the first book
And I absolutely hated that ending, it was not good
December 21, 2017
Book 2 in the Jem Flockhart series, sees Jem and Will Quartermain investigate the death of Dr Rutherford the principal physician to the insane at the Angel Meadow Asylum. He has been found with his head bashed in, his ears cut off and his eyes and mouth stitched shut. Jem and Will soon find themselves in grave danger as they uncover some deep dark secrets.
March 15, 2019
“the room filled with the acrid reek of hot bone as the circular saw sliced through; and then we saw that pearlescent organ, the soul and centre of our very being, pale and glistening, exposed to the world. how little we knew of its mysteries, i thought, and how dare we assume we might change human nature by slicing it up like a piece of fruit.”
maybe a little slower, a little heavier than beloved poison, but still so clever, so grimy, so sharp-edged and sharp-eyed.
maybe a little slower, a little heavier than beloved poison, but still so clever, so grimy, so sharp-edged and sharp-eyed.
August 17, 2017
Dark Asylum is an atmospheric historical mystery set in Victorian London. There is a truly grim mental asylum as well as suspects and red herrings galore, but at the center of it all there is the fascinating apothecary Jem Flockhart with a talent for ferreting out the truth. Jem and architect Will Quartermain chase down leads from the asylum to the cemetery to the convict fleets and beyond. This is the second book in the series and a treat for mystery fans looking for an evocative setting and a unique amateur detective. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with this advance reading copy.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with this advance reading copy.
Read
February 16, 2020DNF - I found this a little bit confusing and it just wasn’t holding my interest.
September 10, 2023
4.5 stars
January 23, 2024
3.75 stars
October 13, 2019
4.5 stars. *taps mic* I’m here to announce that we have decided to stan. Queer women, cross dressing, soft boys, wholesome friendships, creepy mysteries, Victorian London setting, this series has it all.
October 27, 2017
3.5 stars. There's a lot I enjoyed about "Dark Asylum": the unconventional protagonist, the settings both macro (early Victorian London) and micro (an apothecary, a home for the mentally ill), the writing, the fact that I didn't figure out the mystery right away. But as is often the case with this genre, the coincidences seemed to pile up too fast and furiously, and the relationship between the two main characters was a bit unclear to me. We know that Jem is a woman who has been living as a man, but does Will, her roommate? And I'd have liked more about the mechanics of living that way—perhaps in lieu of what seemed to be an incongruous and unlikely sexual encounter (I'm not at all against sex in books, but this one just seemed flung in here for no good reason).
I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Pegasus Books.
I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Pegasus Books.
January 27, 2021
2.5 stars.
Thomson continues to write vividly about London in the mid-1800s, and specifically about the state of medical knowledge and practice at the time. If you're coming to this after reading Beloved Poison then keep your scented sachets and aromatherapy diffuser at the ready because once again the grit, grime, and noxious smells of the environment Thomas describes will feel like they're lodging right up your nose and on your skin.
Thomson is no less attentive to detail when it comes to characters, particularly the supporting case of attendants, asylum workers, religious do-gooders, and a host of other disreputable men and women cramming the tenements and slums of London (here it would be advisable to have a good stock of soap on hand because when you're done cleaning the air you'll want to hop in the shower and scrub until your skin is pink...then throw everything you have into the laundry).
The story felt like it suffered a bit from an excess of these characters, though, particularly the medical staff. I flipped back a few times to sort out the doctors but then again, I often have trouble remembering names and it doesn't take too many of them before I've lost track of who's who. In these types of whodunnit stories there usually are those who you know will have some major part to play in the central mystery while others will lurk on the fringe, with the odd red herring tossed in for misdirection. I thought, though, that Dark Asylum had a few more on top of all that and the narrative just felt crowded and sometimes muddied.
Thomson is ever mindful of and focused on the experience of women at this time regardless of class. She does not sugar coat the misogyny, the extreme narrowness of their world, the restrictions under which they could move and interact within society, the razor-thin line they had to walk in order to maintain "respectability" while doing so. Dark Asylum makes its point clearly that the "rules" which defined what a "good" woman was were so narrow that being anything other than meek, subservient, undemanding, and not wanting anything other than what they were told they should have could be seen as problematic, evidence of brain disorders and mental instability.
Jem is a great character with which to examine these conditions and I've liked the allusions Jem has made in both books about there being others like her, women who did not fit that small mold and who were existing in society in ways not at all befitting what a woman should be and do. Through Jem we get a peek into the fascinating lives of women who lived as men while also highlighting what surely had to be the loneliness and frustration some would have experienced. In this,
It doesn't help that after this scene the whole thing seems to be dropped from the narrative entirely. So that also doesn't help with seeing the scene as being organic to the story; it just felt a bit tacked on then discarded when the point was made.
Additionally, while I have liked the grimness and bleakness that infuses every bit of Thomson's writing, I have to say I thought Dark Asylum went a bit over the top with it.
Speaking of the doctors, I was surprised at
Here's the thing: if Jem had not been raised as a man, would she have been able to train and become an apothecary? What would have happened to her following the death of her father? There's seemingly no other family and it's extremely unlikely she'd be able to run the business herself, no matter how capable she was. As a woman at that time, it's a pretty good bet that if she hadn't married at that point she'd have no means with which to support herself and would have found herself in the same ugly situation as anyone else in the slums. Jem is entirely clear on how women are constricted in society because of their gender, and how her own life as a man has given her freedoms and opportunities she never would have had otherwise. I really did expect Jem to
So yeah, I wasn't quite feeling Dark Asylum as much as Beloved Poison but the series itself is continuing to prove interesting and intriguing.
Thomson continues to write vividly about London in the mid-1800s, and specifically about the state of medical knowledge and practice at the time. If you're coming to this after reading Beloved Poison then keep your scented sachets and aromatherapy diffuser at the ready because once again the grit, grime, and noxious smells of the environment Thomas describes will feel like they're lodging right up your nose and on your skin.
Thomson is no less attentive to detail when it comes to characters, particularly the supporting case of attendants, asylum workers, religious do-gooders, and a host of other disreputable men and women cramming the tenements and slums of London (here it would be advisable to have a good stock of soap on hand because when you're done cleaning the air you'll want to hop in the shower and scrub until your skin is pink...then throw everything you have into the laundry).
The story felt like it suffered a bit from an excess of these characters, though, particularly the medical staff. I flipped back a few times to sort out the doctors but then again, I often have trouble remembering names and it doesn't take too many of them before I've lost track of who's who. In these types of whodunnit stories there usually are those who you know will have some major part to play in the central mystery while others will lurk on the fringe, with the odd red herring tossed in for misdirection. I thought, though, that Dark Asylum had a few more on top of all that and the narrative just felt crowded and sometimes muddied.
Thomson is ever mindful of and focused on the experience of women at this time regardless of class. She does not sugar coat the misogyny, the extreme narrowness of their world, the restrictions under which they could move and interact within society, the razor-thin line they had to walk in order to maintain "respectability" while doing so. Dark Asylum makes its point clearly that the "rules" which defined what a "good" woman was were so narrow that being anything other than meek, subservient, undemanding, and not wanting anything other than what they were told they should have could be seen as problematic, evidence of brain disorders and mental instability.
Jem is a great character with which to examine these conditions and I've liked the allusions Jem has made in both books about there being others like her, women who did not fit that small mold and who were existing in society in ways not at all befitting what a woman should be and do. Through Jem we get a peek into the fascinating lives of women who lived as men while also highlighting what surely had to be the loneliness and frustration some would have experienced. In this,
It doesn't help that after this scene the whole thing seems to be dropped from the narrative entirely. So that also doesn't help with seeing the scene as being organic to the story; it just felt a bit tacked on then discarded when the point was made.
Additionally, while I have liked the grimness and bleakness that infuses every bit of Thomson's writing, I have to say I thought Dark Asylum went a bit over the top with it.
Speaking of the doctors, I was surprised at
Here's the thing: if Jem had not been raised as a man, would she have been able to train and become an apothecary? What would have happened to her following the death of her father? There's seemingly no other family and it's extremely unlikely she'd be able to run the business herself, no matter how capable she was. As a woman at that time, it's a pretty good bet that if she hadn't married at that point she'd have no means with which to support herself and would have found herself in the same ugly situation as anyone else in the slums. Jem is entirely clear on how women are constricted in society because of their gender, and how her own life as a man has given her freedoms and opportunities she never would have had otherwise. I really did expect Jem to
So yeah, I wasn't quite feeling Dark Asylum as much as Beloved Poison but the series itself is continuing to prove interesting and intriguing.
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