A Corruption of Blood is the third chapter in this wonderful historical medical mystery series set in Victorian Edinburgh. Although each book is a complete story, the larger and ongoing character arc of Raven and Fisher builds up with each book. I think they should be read in order for the characters and their behaviours to make sense. This was one of the darker ones of the three. Many real historical characters appear on the pages along with Raven and Fisher.

The story picks up a few months after the end of the previous book, Sarah is in Paris to meet Elizabeth Blackwell, famous as the first woman to get a medical degree, in the hope of studying further herself, while Raven is still working as associate assistant to Professor Simpson's and living in his house. Sarah returns home disappointed and then learns that Raven is engaged to Eugenie, daughter of an eminent doctor. We see Raven and Sarah get into different complicated situations which require further investigation. Sarah needs to hide her feelings when they are thrown together in apparently two different investigations - the poisoning of a wealthy person apparently by his son and the discovery of a dead baby wrapped up in a parcel by the Water of Leith. What follows is an investigation through Victorian Edinburgh with its sights and smells. We learn about the dark side of life for women in the Victorian era and the choices or lack thereof forced on them.

While the mysteries are solid, the other compelling reason to read these books is the developing relationship between Will and Sarah. Their character arc builds throughout the three books and it will be interesting to see how their relationship moves forward from this point onwards.

This is the third book in the Raven Fisher Simpson series but the first that I have read. There are some references to things that must have happened in the first two books but this reads perfectly well as a stand alone.
Not an easy subject to read (or write I daresay) but completely compelling so it is well worth it. Set in Victorian Edinburgh, the writing conveys the grimness of the underbelly of society as well as showing how the other half live.
Dr Raven is called upon to prove the innocence of the son of a very wealthy man who is accused of killing his father and along the way makes the connection with the baby that was washed up in Leith with tape around it's neck.
Highly recommend and I will be looking out for the first two books.

I was sent a copy of A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry to read and
review by NetGalley. This is another engaging Victorian yarn by the writing duo known as Ambrose Parry. I always find it to be a welcome reunion to read about Will Raven and Sarah Fisher, with the consistency of the writing and the prior knowledge of the characters personalities and relationships. While this series of novels are not necessarily rip-roaring page turners, page turners they still are – with a complete sense of time and place and an almost quiet sense of urgency about them. I’m already looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

A third outing for Will Raven and Sarah Fisher, and once again I'm loving Ambrose Parry's characters and the story they're living.

Raven and Sarah's mystery to solve this time includes baby farming, the death of a rich yet cruel man, and a plea for innocence. Alongside this, Raven is pursuing a new love interest, and Sarah is trying to establish medical educational opportunities for herself in a world where female doctors do not exist.

I love the medical bits, the grisly bits, and the sense of history - the context provided at the end of the story fleshes out the historical detail even more. Touching and tangible, this is a great read.

‘A Corruption of Blood’ is a beautifully written historical mystery, set in Victorian Edinburgh. Dr Will Raven is drawn into a disturbing case when a package is found floating in the Leith docks. Although used to some gruesome sights in his work, this plays on his mind, and he feels compelled to investigate. His skills are further required when an old student adversary faces the hangman. Will he step in and try to find out the truth? Meanwhile Sarah holds onto her desire to study medicine and travels abroad to meet the first woman to obtain a degree in the subject. Will this persuade her she is on the right path? Or should she listen to those who try to put her off following her dreams?

I loved how history and fiction were intertwined, using recognisable parts of Edinburgh and some real life characters to tell an excellent multi-layered story. And we got to find out about the lives of those at the top of Edinburgh society, as well as those struggling to survive in a harsh and unforgiving city. There were secrets and lies so shocking that some were prepared to kill to keep them hidden. I was gripped from the start and felt compelled to keep reading, as bit-by-bit the story unfolded. I can’t wait to read more in this series. Highly recommended.

I was given this ARC to review.

Third in the excellent series following the trials and tribulations of Dr Will Raven and his “associate” Sarah Fisher as once again they are drawn into investigating the nefarious activities of Edinburgh’s underworld. Poisonings, baby-farmers and primogeniture all feature along with the ongoing “relationship” or lack thereof between Raven and Fisher. A great read that doesn’t rely upon having read the first two but why miss out on such a good series?

This is the third book in Ambrose Parry’s historical mystery series featuring Dr Will Raven and Sarah Fisher. The first two are The Way of All Flesh and The Art of Dying, but if you haven’t read either of those it shouldn’t be a problem – although I would still recommend reading them in order if possible so that you can understand the background of the relationship between Will and Sarah.

Ambrose Parry is a pseudonym used by husband and wife team Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman; Brookmyre is an experienced crime novelist while Haetzman is an anaesthetist and medical historian, which explains why the 19th century world of murder and medicine portrayed in the books feels so real and convincing.

At the beginning of A Corruption of Blood, Sarah travels to Paris and Gräfenberg hoping for a meeting with Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to obtain a medical degree in America and become a doctor. Sarah has an interest in medicine herself and is sure that she could achieve the same as Dr Blackwell if given the chance, but things don’t go as planned and Sarah goes back to Edinburgh feeling disillusioned and frustrated. On returning home, she receives more bad news when she learns that Dr Will Raven has just become engaged to another woman, Eugenie Todd. Sarah has always resented Will for being able to take advantage of the opportunities that have been denied to her because of her gender, but recently they have been on friendlier terms and she is disappointed to hear of his engagement.

Meanwhile, Will is having problems of his own. Through his work with the famous Scottish obstetrician Dr James Simpson, he has become used to witnessing the trauma of childbirth and, sadly, the deaths of children – however, even he is not prepared for the sight of a dead baby wrapped in a parcel being fished out of the Forth River. Soon after this, Will’s new fiancée asks for his help; her friend Gideon has been accused of murdering his father, Sir Ainsley Douglas, and she wants to prove that he is innocent. Will knows and dislikes Gideon from his student days, but agrees to investigate. Could both deaths somehow be connected?

This is such an interesting series, not so much because of the murder mystery aspect (which I don’t think is particularly strong) but because of the Victorian Edinburgh setting and all of the information we are given on the medical science of the period, as well as the challenges faced by women like Sarah and Dr Blackwell who wanted to make a career for themselves in a field dominated by men. This particular novel also includes a storyline involving the unpleasant, distressing but sadly quite common practice of baby farming, where unwanted or illegitimate children were sold to a ‘baby farmer’, who in theory would look after the child in return for a payment, although it was often more profitable for the baby farmer if the child conveniently died while in her care.

It took me a while to get into this book; the pace is very slow at the beginning and it takes a while for the plot to take shape and the different threads of the story to start coming together. Things improve in the second half, though, and there are a few surprises and plot twists that I hadn’t really expected. The relationship between Sarah and Will continues to develop, with the way each of them feels about Eugenie adding some extra interest, and I will look forward to seeing how this progresses in the next book. I hope there is going to be a next book and I hope we don’t have to wait too long for it!

Although this was the third book in this series, it didn’t feel like it at all. It was so well written and drew me in immediately. The descriptions of Edinburgh and the crimes were very good. I throughly enjoyed this book and found it very interesting and compelling. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This is the third outing for Ambrose Parry, the wife and husband team of consultant anaesthetist Dr. Marisa Haetzman and crime writer Chris Brookmyre, and once again I have to admit it’s another absolutely cracking tale of mystery and murder.

This time around, the team of Will Raven, Sarah Fisher, and Dr. James Simpson have to deal with two seemingly unconnected mysteries. First up is the apparent murder of the well-to-do Sir Alastair Douglas by his son Gideon. Much to Raven’s surprise, he is drawn into the mystery when Gideon, an old adversary from his college days, asks him to help prove his innocence. At the same time Sarah, recently returned from Europe, is called upon to find out what happened to the child of the Simpson’s housemaid, an investigation made difficult by the fact the child was anonymously given up for adoption some years before. However, it’s only when the two of them begin to work together on their respective cases that they start to make headway with their investigations. And then there’s the mystery of the gruesome packages being fished out of the water at the Port of Leith.

Compared to the previous two novels, this one gets off to a bit of a slow start. We’re given a fair bit of filler and backstory early on, though unsurprisingly this all bears fruit later in the narrative. However, the pace soon picks up as the two main characters settle into their respective stories, and before long the narrative is fairly galloping along. As with The Way of All Flesh and The Art of Dying, it’s the details that bring the story to life, and there are subtle clues and threads hidden throughout the text, many of which only reveal their relevance as the protagonists piece together their own parts of the puzzle.

One thing that did stand out for me was the development of both Will Raven and Sarah Fisher. They’re still being infuriatingly dense when it comes to expressing their feelings for each other, but their skills as detectives have come along in leaps and bounds from the first two novels. Whereas they almost stumbled blindly into the various clues and answers in the first two books, in this one they seem much more assured of their roles in uncovering the truth of the mysteries they have been presented with. This is even more apparent when they work together, with both of them playing up to the strengths and expectations of their respective social positions.

All in all, this is another great book, and definitely on a par with the first two. If you haven’t sampled the delights of Ambrose Parry yet then I strongly urge you to give the series a try, and if you have already devoured the first two books then I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy this one just as much. I just hope there’s going to be more to come.

Although book 3 in the series , this is the first time for reading Ambrose Parry and it certainly won't be the last! Set in 19th century Victorian Edinburgh, the story tells of the murder of a wealthy resident, but one who has gained many enemies in his life, and although his son is arrested - is he really the guilty party? There are various other stories running alongside this one which are expertly all woven together and even though it is the third book, it reads very well as a standalone too.
I loved the description of old Edinburgh - not just the lifestyles and people who lived there, but also the laws of the time and the moral standings,along with the advancements in medicine. It is certainly a well researched and written book. I would definitely recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

I'm really enjoying this series, there's a wonderful descriptive quality to the writing which brings 1840s Edinburgh to life. It's fascinating to read about the changes being made to the world, both medically and socially.
The characters are great, I love the relationship between Raven and Sarah, and the whole thing is richly written with the resonance of truth, the obvious amount of research done shines through.

A Corruption of Blood is the third instalment in the Raven, Fisher and Simpson series in which a fictional plot is set against the backdrop of Victorian Edinburgh and once again Ambrose Parry have written an exceptional work of historical crime centred around a medical mystery. Dr Will Raven and Simpson’s assistant Sarah Fisher are still currently living and working from 52 Queen Street, the home of Dr James Simpson, a pioneer in the field of chloroform for use in the medical and surgical sphere. Sarah travels to Paris, France, to meet one of the first qualified female doctors, Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, a groundbreaking American woman who Sarah hopes to follow in the footsteps of. But she returns to Britain disheartened and depressed about the struggle she will undoubtedly have to face when entering the male-dominated medical field. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she also has to contend with the sudden shock of Will having asked Eugenie Todd, the daughter of a prominent local physician, for her hand in marriage while she was absent overseas. This adds envy, sadness and a feeling of loss to her already fraught emotional state.

Meanwhile, Will travels to Leith to assist the difficult delivery of twins and is present when a dead infant is fished out of the nearby river; she has been strangled and cruelly discarded. Eugenie also encourages Will, her beau, to investigate the suspicious death of Sir Ainsley Douglas, a powerful yet corrupt man who had met his end recently. Eugenie hopes that Will can prove that her close acquaintance Gideon, son and heir to his father’s fortune, is innocent of his slaying and time is of the essence as he has already been charged and sentenced to hang for the crime. Elsewhere, Sarah lends a hand to Christina, a maid who is devastated after being forced to give up her baby to a woman who later vanished and has not been heard from since. This leads to the discovery of a baby farm, a place in which unmarried or impoverished girls would pay a fee for those in charge to find their offspring a home in which they could thrive. But it didn't always end up with such a happy ending. Sarah and Will work their cases separately before coming together and merging when they realise that the investigations are connected.

The two of them not only discuss the tangled web of deceit, murder, betrayal and corruption they have unearthed but also their feelings for one another, too. This is a riveting and compulsively readable mystery thriller rich in the atmosphere of 1850’s Edinburgh. Built on a fascinating blend of fact and fiction, the plot is multilayered and full of surprises, twists and strategic reveals. It's a powerful, sinister and absorbing read from the start, and although it is very much a slow burner, this allows time for you to reacquaint yourself with the characters and immerse yourself in the exquisitely imagined world with both time and place depicted vividly and authentically. It's a brilliant read with enough drama, mystery, medical shenanigans and stunning description to keep even the most demanding reader satisfied. This is historical fiction at its finest with great attention to detail and nothing left to chance. Well written and beautifully plotted, the atmosphere the husband and wife writing team creates is astonishing; you can almost smell, taste and see all of the delights this era in the Scottish capital had to offer. Highly recommended.

Massacre of the innocents

You can look forward to infanticide, patricide, incest, mental illness and violence.

The third outing for Doctor Will Raven and Sarah Fisher in Victorian Edinburgh is the best yet in this superior mystery series. While Sarah is trying to find out how she can become a doctor herself, Will is planning marriage to a troubled young woman who may have secrets of her own. In addition, Will witnesses the discovery of the body of a murdered baby and on the suspicious death of an arrogant city elder, his son, an old enemy of Will’s, is arrested and seeks his help in establishing his innocence. There is a lot going on in the story and connections between one crime and another are slowly established. The relationship between Will and Sarah is delicately explored, and attention is given to the powerlessness of Victorian women in areas we would take for granted nowadays.

There are a number of mysteries here and their resolution is achieved after an exciting and tense and genuinely surprising climax. I look forward to the next book in the series.

A brilliant addition to this series.

Simply put I love these books & A Corruption of Blood did not disappoint. Being back in 1850s Edinburgh with Will & Sarah was exactly what I wanted. I don't know what it is that makes these books so special, whether it's the descriptions of the city, the way the story is told or the truly fantastic cast of characters.

This is a tale of secrets & crimes - love, friendship & respect - & patricide?

If you enjoy your historical fiction with a criminal twist then you can't go wrong with this series. I cannot wait to travel back in time with this unconventional mystery solving duo again.

A Corruption of Blood is the third in Ambrose Parry's ongoing series of historical mysteries featuring Dr Will Raven and would be medical student Sarah Fisher, and set in Edinburgh in the mid nineteenth century. Fans of the earlier books in the series will be delighted to pick up this latest instalment which picks up soon after the ending of the previous book, The Art of Dying.
The book opens with a very grim discovery at the port of Leith , when a package washes up on the shore and is opened to reveal the remains of an infant. Will is disturbed by the apparent lack of effort the police are putting into finding out who the child was, and who is responsible for disposing of him in such a callous way. His attention is soon divided however when an old adversary from his medical school days reaches out to him in an attempt to prove he is innocent of killing his father, a rich and powerful man who was seen arguing with his son on the night of his death. Will is disinclined to help but when his new bride to be begs him to look into the matter, he reluctantly agrees.
Meanwhile Sarah has travelled to Paris to speak to her heroine, the only woman to obtain a medical degree who is now working in the city. The meeting is something of a let down however and Sarah returns to Edinburgh disheartened. Her mood is not improved when she learns of Will's engagement , as she had been hoping that the timing was finally right for their relationship to develop. She puts her feelings aside to help with the investigation, and soon the pair are enmeshed in a complicated web of lies and secrets that spans Edinburgh society from top to bottom.
As always the historical detail is impeccable, something I have come to expect from this series. This does make for distressing reading at times, particularly when the author describes the common for the time practice of baby farming. I love that the medical aspects of the story remain prominent and it is interesting to see how medical care and practice differed in those days. As always the dynamics between Will and Sarah and the relationship between them is my favourite thing about the book. There is an element of a love triangle to the storyline, which is not something I usually enjoy but I thought it was really well handled here.
The pacing of the book is a little slower than the earlier books, and some readers may find that a little off putting, but those who are familiar with the author's style will not be disappointed, and it does come together very well in the second half of the book. I look forward to seeing where the series goes next.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

What a brilliant series. I love the way fact and fiction meld in these books and this story has a real feel for Edinburgh and environs and the state of medical science and practice at the time.

The research seems to be meticulous as many of the locations seem familiar. I know Edinburgh and Leith and for me, part of the pleasure is being able to place the happenings in a real context. This is the third in a series and Dr Raven is troubled by human remains. The book covers a difficult subject and some detail is quite graphic. There are a few threads to this tale and the murder of a well known Edinburgh resident for which possibly the wrong person is accused. Is at the heart of this murder mystery with a medical twist. Raven and his sidekick Sarah Fisher work really well together. Each has a very different approach and the clues to draw all the strings together are there….but with intricate plotting, not easy to spot.

A really clever blend of fact and fiction, with real people thrown in for good measure. Atmospheric, tense and gripping, I love this series.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

I am such a fan of this series! I would recommend reading the first two before this one, just otherwise you will have no idea about the relationship between Raven and Sarah, which is quite important. However, if you can skip over this, then this book is readable as a standalone.

These books are just such a good read, the characters I feel I know very well, and the storyline just keeps on giving and giving.

An exciting, excellent third book!! More please!!

My thanks to Netgalley and Canongate Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Canongate Books for the ARC.

This is Book#3 in this series and very good it is too. I would advise readers to start from Book#1 to fully understand the main characters' relationships, but each plot can be read as a standalone. The books are set in 1850s Edinburgh; a mix of facts and fiction cleverly woven together. Excellent writing and dialogue taking the reader into atmosphere of Victorian Edinburgh - its wealthy districts and its slums, alongside the disparity of treatment of men and women, encased in the context of the medical profession in those times.

Dr Will Raven, an obstetrician, is assistant to famous Dr James Young Simpson. Will has been in love with Sarah a long time, but he couldn't marry her when she had been a housemaid, and subsequently an assistant at 52 Queen Street because that would harm his professional standing.. Presently she is in Europe seeking out the first woman to have gained a medical degree - Sarah's ambition is to practise medicine, but such a choice was virtually unheard of. But now he has fallen in love with Dr Todd's daughter Eugenie

The storyline takes the reader into the world of adoptions, of "fallen women", brothels and family secrets. Sir Ainsley Douglas, one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the Lothians hosts a fund-raising evening for the Royal Infirmary, at which he announces his engagement to Lucille Chalmers. Will encounters Sir Ainsley's son, Gideon, whom he knew from medical school and they certainly aren't friends. When Sir Ainsley dies suddenly all evidence points to Gideon wanting to get his hands on his inheritance. Gideon reaches out to Will for help in proving his innocence - but is he innocent? Who else has motive?
Meanwhile Lizzie, the new housemaid at the surgery, discloses that she had given birth at the Lock Hospital six months previously, and from there ensues Will's and Sarah's investigation into disappearing babies and the consequences of inheritance laws.

Excellent.

It's always a pleasure reading this books as they are gripping, entertaining and well researched.
There's no sugar coating, there the harsh reality of Edinburgh, the role of the women and their will to improve.
Sarah and Will are two interesting characters. I love Sarah above all as she's strong willed and read to improved, a clever and strong woman.
The mystery is solid, heartbreaking at moments, and kept me turning pages.
I can't wait to read the next instalment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is the third in this Edinburgh based series featuring Dr Will Raven, and it is the best so far. The characters are all well drawn, the knowledge of historical medicine is fascinating, the image of auld Edinburgh which is portrayed is fascinating and the plot excellent. The combination of crime and medicine works very well and the principal case in this story is heart-rending. As always the writing is exemplary. A real pleasure.