The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris

Was Edward's death natural or was it murder?

Kensington Books sent me an ARC of this book for review.  It has been published as a trade paperback this month, so you may check with your local bookstore to grab a copy.

This is the first Dr. Thomas Silkstone mystery and it's a really tangled tale.  Set in eighteenth century England, forensics is not a developed science yet.  Lydia's brother's death was horrible and she's just not sure that he wasn't poisoned.  So she approaches an anatomist and asks him to see what he can find.

Thomas has to work with a dessicated body, but he gets samples to test for various chemical reactions in an effort to determine cause of death.  What he finds out is that he's proven the known causes of death have not happened.  But he also believes Edward didn't die naturally. 

Ms. Harris does a wonderful job of muddying up the water and giving you no real leads.  Even a confession by a suspected murderer does not lead to where it should.  What she did, didn't kill him.  As the story moves along, more people die.  And there is more than one murderer...

This is very interesting tale with evil all about.  The characters are well developed and have many layers of personality.  Edwards' killer was not even on my suspect list and the method of murder was was impossible to detect in that era.

If you like a good twisted tale this one will keep you going.  Grab yourself a copy and sit down for a good read.

If you'd like to read my ARC, leave a comment here on my blog and email at info at bookfaerie.com with your NAME & ADDRESS and tell me why you'd want to read it.  I'll do a drawing for it in about a week.

Happy reading.