An exciting new novel in the series featuring Dr Will Raven and Sarah Fisher. Raven continues to deliver babies in Edinburgh whilst Sarah has gone abroad to further her medical knowledge. There has always been a suggestion of possible romance between the two of them but when Sarah returns to Scotland she finds that Raven has formed an attachment to doctor’s daughter Eugenie Todd who might have secrets in her past which she is reluctant to reveal.

This is one thread of the closely woven novel but the main storylines concern the sudden death of a man hated by many, including his family, and the disappearance of babies whose mothers have sadly had to give them into care. Raven is drawn into investigating these two mysteries with the help of Sarah.
What makes Ambrose Parry’s novels really interesting to read is the way true historical events are merged into fiction. The vivid description of Edinburgh, suspense, great hero and villain characters all produce a gripping and immersive read: the best in the series so far.

A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry is the third novel in the historical crime fiction series. You won't NEED to have read the first two books to pick this one up, but I would recommend it as the relationships, particularly between Will and Sarah will be easier to follow if you have.

Ambrose Parry is the writing pseudonym for husband and wife writing team, Christopher Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. I was already a fan of Christopher Brookmyre before I realised he was part of the writing team behind this series and I have loved the previous two novels. The partnership obviously works well and both the main protaganists in the books have become much loved characters of mine.

In book three, we find Will still in Edinburgh, continuing his medical practice under the tutelage of Professor James Simpson. Sarah is now a widow and is travelling around Europe in the hope of meeting Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in the hope of finding some encouragement and advice to pursue her own medical career.

There are two seemingly unrelated crimes in this book, the discovery of a murdered baby in the harbour at Leith and the death by poison of wealthy potentate, Sir Ainsley Douglas. There is also the ongoing "will they, won't they" relationship between Will and Sarah.

As with any good historical fiction, the research and period detail form the bones of the novel and the characters and plot provide the flesh. The book is rich in historical detail, bringing 19th century Edinburgh vividly to live with the inclusion of real life characters such as Professor James Simpson. This was an age where medicine and science were making regular, astounding breakthroughs and the pace of progress and ambition is apparent in the book. However, the curbs on that progress, including the denial of university places to women are also laid bare. This is no rose tinted glasses look at the past, as the plight of those crushed under the wheels of such dramatic and fast progress is also held up to the reader's eye here. Will and Sarah provide excellent foils for this drama.

This is a great addition to the Raven, Fisher, Simpson series and I can't wait to read the next installment.

I can't recommend this novel highly enough. A Corruption of Blood is the third in this historical series featuring Will Raven and Sarah Fisher at its heart. Like the earlier two, it has Will and Sarah working together to solve some of the distressing crimes that go on behind the seemingly respectable doors of Edinburgh society. This time the crimes are infanticide and patricide.

It starts with Will's discovery of a dead baby wrapped up in a parcel. The child has been strangled. The police man in charge is keen to solve the case and before long a poor woman is arrested and charged. No sooner than has Will dealt with this than an erstwhile enemy of his, Gideon, is arrested for the murder of his father. Will and Sarah have to work hard to find the links between these two cases and to ensure that the wrong people do not face the gallows.

This series gets better and better. I love the way Sarah is allowed to be her own person and how, in spite of Will and Sarah's mutual attraction, the obvious outcome is not the one reached. I also love the parallels between life today and life in Victorian Edinburgh. For example Will muses on the unfairness of how 'fallen' women are treated and how they are expected to change their ways whereas men turn their backs on them. There's also an pertinent reference to statues when Will talks to Sarah about how a particularly obnoxious (one might even say wicked) man will undoubtedly one day have a statue dedicated to him. It's all very relevant to today.

I also love the juxtaposition of fiction and non-fiction. Some of the characters are real, some not. Some of the incidents actually happened, some didn't. Parry makes it clear in notes at the end of the book which are which.

Finally a shout out for the descriptions of Edinburgh. These set the scene brilliantly and you feel as though you've been transported back in time to the dirt and smells of this outwardly respectable city which hid so much, Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the ARC.

This is the third in a series. It can probably be read as a standalone - the plot is self contained, and an alert reader will be able to sketch the relationships between characters for themselves. Like the other books, it is set in mid-nineteenth century Edinburgh, a milieu that is evoked with skill, from the households of the great and good to the less salubrious. The USP of these books is that they mix the history of medicine with the traditional crime format, and it’s an involving cocktail. This one starts with two seemingly unrelated deaths, and goes to some very dark places on the way to resolution. Extremely readable, as ever.

This is the third book in the series set in 19th century Edinburgh and featuring Sarah Fisher and Will Raven as the cental fictional characters in a novel populated with real and created characters from the world of medicine, science and law (both sides of the latter). The two main characters live in the household of Professor Simpson the real lilfe obstetrician and discoverer of the medical powers of chloroform. Sarah was initially a housemaid but is now a valued assistant to Professor Simpson and with his encouragement and support wishes to pursue a medical career of her own, an uncommon career path for a woman in the 1850s. Will came as an apprentice to Professor Simpson and is now on the cusp of setting up his own practice. Both characters love Professor Simpson dearly and he is a paternal figure to both of them, in sharp contrast to Will's own father and indeed to the fathers of two of the new fictitious characters in this novel: Gideon Douglas and Eugenie Todd. Familial relationships and parenting are a central theme of 'A Corruption of Blood', the title of which comes from the legal situation whereby criminals convicted of capital crime forefit their right to either inheritance or to pass on their wealth to descendants. In this story Will and Sarah are investigating a case of susected patricide and the whereabouts of a missing child. There are many twists and turns on the road to solution and considerable danger for both main protagonists.
As with the earlier two novels in this series I read this with great enjoyment and have already urged friends and family to look out for it on its publication in August. Ambrose Parry is the pseudonym for Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman writing together, utilising Haetzman's research for her Master’s degree in the History of Medicine to create this wonderful world of intrigue which captured my imagination from the start of the first book in the series and continues to excite me. In the process of reading I have also learned about the history of medicine and the position of women in Victorian society.
I highly recommend A Corruption of Blood and the whole series and am already looking forward to the next in the series. My thanks to the publisher, Canongate, for sending me a complimentary ARC of this title via Net Galley in return for an honest review.

Well this is fast becoming a huge favourite of mine. The characters, setting, gothic overtones and oh just everything really....Add Ambrose Parry's dark writing, the mix of fact and fiction and the dark dark tones of the medical world and this is gripping stuff. Recommended!!