Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I did not realise, until I started reading this, that its part of a series where Jem Flockhart investigates.

I was attracted to this mainly due to the title: Surgeon’s Hall is now a museum in Edinburgh, but anyone familiar with its history knows that its linked to the medical anatomists and resurrectionists of Victorian Edinburgh. Not mention the gruesome exhibits still contained in the museum. I knew when I requested this that it was going to be a grisly, dark, Victorian novel. Let’s say I wasn’t disappointed.

For those of you whose stomach churn at the thought of blood and gore, then this novel is not for you. The descriptions of the dissected bodies are not for the squeamish. This however does not detract from this excellent novel.

Whilst visiting the Great Exhibition Jem discovers a severed hand in one of the displays. Fearing a student prank, the path to the owner of the hand leads her to Corvus Hall, anatomy school in London.

What Jem encounters is a wall of silence, seemingly dating back to evens in Surgeons Hall, Edinburgh 30 years before. The investigation is only part of the novel though. Part of the themes is the patriarchal society of Victorian Britain, were “delicate women” were not allowed to practice medicine. Also, more horrifically the attitude of the medical men, and anatomists, to the lower classes, and the procurement of fresh bodies.

Add to this good characters that Jem encounters, the mysterious sisters Silence, Sorrow and Lilith Crowe, and the hilarious Mrs Roseplucker and Mrs Speedicut this makes an altogether excellent Victorian investigation into the goings on in an Anatomy School.

Its not for the squeamish though.

It would be easy just to sum up ‘Surgeons Hall’ as a witty romp, an irreverent glimpse into Victorian London. That would be to do this evocative, beautifully character driven novel a disservice. Jem Flockhart, a dynamic apothecary ,is whip smart and eminently likeable. Twins Sorrow and Silence Crowe - one blind, one deaf- are chilling and fascinating in equal measure.

Set against the backdrop of the Great Exhibition, Flockhart has to draw upon her tenacity and her wits to get to the bottom of a superbly plotted mystery. The sights she confronts are deliciously depicted- and if you don’t share her strong stomach to begin with, you certainly will by the end!

A severed hand, complete with a calling card, is discovered by Victorian apothecary, Jem Flockhart. Her investigations lead her to a mysterious anatomy school and a body without a hand or a face.Jem quickly finds that all is not as it should be at Corvus Hall.

First of all I need to inform that this the 4th in a series of books revolving around Jem Flockheart. Set in Victorian London, Jem finds herself a woman in a mans world and she won’t play by the rules. Desperate to conceal her identity in order protect her profession as a surgeon she goes by the name and identity of MR Flockhart. Confusing? Yes, especially if you hadn’t read the previous books.

It’s a grisly thriller set in a brilliantly evoked Victorian London. Most of the book takes place in Corvus Hall, an anatomy school. It’s here that the author excels in creating a true house of horror, dripping with blood and secrets. It’s dark, dank, dirty and creepy as hell.

Jem, as in the previous books, leads the novel through its twists and turns. She appears to be quite a beloved character from fans of the series. She is complex, formidable and clever but unfortunately I didn’t warm to her. Perhaps due to not investing in her by reading the previous novels. I enjoyed far more the supporting cast, the aspiring surgeons jostling for position and the ‘weird sisters’, Silence and Sorrow, who were chilling.

I enjoyed the book’s dark, brooding atmosphere and its grisly nature but felt lost and a little confused. This is by no means the fault of the novel or the author but my coming to a series 4 books in. Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy this and I may be tempted to start from book 1.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC, in return for an honest review

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 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 the only reader so far to not give this five 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.

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.

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.

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.

Once again Jem Flockhart, apothecary to the socially defeated, succeeds in concealing her gender among her peers. In a profession dominated by men, Flockhart and the recently pre-occupied Will Quartermain root out the answers to questions that no one else dares (nor cares) to answer.

This one is particularly fine example of Flockhart’s professional and personal conviction. With no reason to doubt her abilities she begins to question her role among ‘modern’ medical practice and wonders how long she will be content to dispense cough drops and salves instead of advancing her career.

But medical school is not for ‘delicate ladies’, or so the male doctors of the period have convinced themselves. Flockhart could trounce most of them, but make way for the ‘twisted sisters’, Sorrow, Silence and Lilith Crowe. Encouraged by their doctor father they glide about the Surgeons' Hall anatomising body parts and constructing models of the human form, mostly unnerving the male students with their peculiar and accomplished routines.

Meanwhile a surplus body part in a museum display begs further scrutiny from Flockhart, even though the ‘professionals’ are already knee deep in pickled cadaverous novelties and do not appear openly perturbed by the event…

The furtive antics of brilliant minds and the return of a few old, eccentric favourites will spark a shiver and raise a smile throughout. Do look out for Mrs Roseplucker’s expiry, which is as devious as it is hilarious, as is Mrs Speedicut’s attempts to siphon off the alcohol used to preserve the museum’s specimens. LOVED IT!