The Way of All Flesh

Raven, Fisher and Simpson, Book 1

By: Ambrose Parry

Narrated by: Bryan Dick, Louise Brealey

Edinburgh, 1847. City of Medicine, Money, Murder.

Young women are being discovered dead across the Old Town, all having suffered similarly gruesome ends. In the New Town, medical student Will Raven is about to start his apprenticeship with the brilliant and renowned Dr Simpson.

Simpson's patients range from the richest to the poorest of this divided city. His house is like no other, full of visiting luminaries and daring experiments in the new medical frontier of anaesthesia. It is here that Raven meets housemaid Sarah Fisher, who recognises trouble when she sees it and takes an immediate dislike to him. She has all of his intelligence but none of his privileges, in particular his medical education.

With each having their own motive to look deeper into these deaths, Raven and Sarah find themselves propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh's underworld, where they will have to overcome their differences if they are to make it out alive.

©2018 Ambrose Parry (P)2018 Canongate Books Ltd

Critic reviews

"Parry's Victorian Edinburgh comes vividly alive - and it's a world of pain." (Val McDermid)

"Menacing, witty and ingeniously plotted, Ambrose Parry’s debut draws you into the dark heart of nineteenth-century Edinburgh and won’t let you go until the final page." (S.J. Parris)

"Utterly compelling, this tale of Old Edinburgh is so full of characters and startling incident that I never wanted it to end." (Denise Mina)

I loved this book!

Easily one of the most enjoyable stories and the most intriguing narration I've come across on Audible. The dual narrators add depth to the story, especially with their accents. I love Victorian noir stories especially those involving early medicine and murder mysteries. This novel never disappointed. You grow to care about the deep characters and their plights. A++

Every moment a pleasure

I'm guilty of that much-maligned sin: I listen to audiobooks at an increased speed. But this book was an exception. The story was complex, the characters intriguingly presented and revealed, and the atmosphere was totally engrossing. So I applied the brakes and savored every perfectly narrated word at the recorded speed. And I was so sorry to reach the end! The mystery is solved (there is no cliffhanger), but I was overjoyed to learn that the husband and wife writing team have another volume coming out next year with further adventures/misadventures of physician-in-training Raven and his friend and erstwhile accomplice, Sarah. A return to mid-19th century Edinburgh sounds like the perfect way to start a new year. I can't wait!

Not to be listened before (or at) mealtime :)

Enjoyable though too much gloomy midwifery and other scary medical practices irrelevant to the plot

5 Stars

I rarely give a 5 star review. But this book deserves it. The story was great and the performance was as well. I highly recommend this audiobook. And hope to see more from this author soon.