Voices of the Dead
Ambrose Parry
Narrated by Bryan Dick & Cathleen McCarron
Released June 15th, 2023
Audible audio
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This is the fourth book in the wonderful Raven & Fisher medical historical crime series set in 1850s Edinburgh, which features real life people from history like James Simpson alongside the fictional heroes. I definitely recommend reading these in order, although each mystery does stand alone. I’ve loved them all, but this one was a tad predictable – I saw all the twists coming and felt there was rather too much coincidence holding the plot together.
A couple of years on from the events of A Corruption of Blood, Will is now married to Eugenie with a young child and another on the way, but he is struggling to balance his obstetric duties at Dr Simpson’s practice with the demands of family life. When body parts start turning up in unusual locations, he is drawn into the investigation, to the annoyance of Christie the prickly chief surgeon and McLevy the senior detective. Meanwhile Sarah is drawn to the fashionable new phenomenon of mesmerism – she sees the therapeutic possibilities, but its practitioners are all about the spectacle – and the money.
This was the first in the series I’ve tried as an audiobook, and I enjoyed both the story and the narration – there’s a male reading Will Raven’s chapters, and a female voice for Sarah’s perspective. Both have appealing Scottish accents and the different characters were easy to distinguish. As ever, Edinburgh – my former home – stars in all her grit, glamour and gore, and there’s the usual acerbic social commentary. The unresolved romantic tension between Will and Sarah continues, but now she has a new interest that will truly test their friendship. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
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