I Read Books: A Corruption Of Blood

 

A Corruption Of Blood

Dr Will Raven and Sarah Fisher (fictional) work with/for Dr John Simpson (historical, a pioneer in the use of chloroform as an anaesthetic). It’s Edinburgh 1850, Fisher is considering trying to qualify as a doctor, Raven getting married and setting up his own practice. They’re distracted by having to solve murders!

Raven finds himself involved when a number of dead infants are found in the river. Baby farmers; people who take in unwanted babies, they claim to place them with childless families and sometimes they do but… not always. On another end of the scale, Dr Simpson takes him to a party with a powerful local magnate. Afterwards said magnate is poisoned and the chief suspect is his son, a former medical student. Raven knows him, and cordially dislikes him; however his fiancée is convinced of his innocence so he investigates.

The period details – including forensics and medicine – are fascinating enough to almost cover the coincidences. It seems that Edinburgh is a very small world, not just the medical community, or the rich and fashionable, but also the servants. Still, everything links more or less back to the baby farmers and Simpson (and Raven) are obstetricians so it doesn’t insult my credulity. The interlocking mysteries come together nicely. As might be expected from a murder mystery that begins with multiple child deaths the details of the various crimes range from sordid to harrowing.

Read This: An interesting period medicine-flavoured murder mystery
Don’t Read This: Horrible things happen to children, also everything comes together very neatly, almost dropping answers onto their laps