Their first novel, called “The Way of All Flesh”, was released in the year 2018. It is the first of their “Ways of All Flesh” series of historical mysteries.

Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives as it’s so well written. This is a worthy addition to the series and I look forward to the next one. This is another lively entertaining caper to add to this very good series. It’s a good blend of a mystery or two with some magic set alongside the factual. It’s excellent on historical context and the medical detail of the day which has long fascinated me. The storytelling is colourful which makes it easy to connect with the plot. The style it’s written in is appropriate to the times and I like this touch. The characterisation is so good and has been throughout the series with Will and Sarah being such likeable central protagonists and their complicated dynamics especially with Will’s wife Eugenie in the mix, adds an interesting edge. James Simpson is more peripheral in this but the authors bring this medical legend to life. I will certainly read more books in this series. I'm really curious to see how relations between Sarah, Raven and Eugenie will develop. And whether Eugenie would join in solving mysteries with the two of them. I think she could bring another interesting element to their investigations. When body parts begin turning up across Edinburgh, Raven finds himself drawn into a series of grisly murders. With an increasing workload and still struggling to move from under Simpson's shadow, he is reluctant, but is persuaded to investigate. Sarah meanwhile, has begun to take an interest in the latest medical phenomenon of mesmerism. This historical novel set in Edinburgh in 1847 has one of the best opening paragraphs I’ve come across in a while. It immediately sets the tone: realistic, sly, and somewhat seedy. If the title sounds familiar, it’s because it’s borrowed from Samuel Butler’s gloomy 1903 meditation on sin and salvation in several generations of a Victorian family. I remember trudging through it on a weekend break to Strasbourg during my year abroad.Once they had the tone all ironed out and set it as a crime story, it became much easier to divide up the scenes between the two of them. Despite they would subsequently revise one another’s work to iron out any stylistic irregularities that might exist. Simpson likes to think of medicine as more than pure science,’ [Raven] countered. ‘There must also be empathy, concern, a human connection.’ ‘I suggest that both elements are required,’ offered Henry. ‘Scientific principles married to creativity. Science and art.’ If it is an art, it is at times a dark one, Raven thought, though he chose to keep this observation to himself.” This is a compelling historical novel with a vivid sense of place. Set in Edinburgh in the 1840’s, it imparts an authentic picture of medical practice and research at the time. We get a sense of the city with its dark alleys, the privileged, wealthy New Town in contrast to the impoverished Old Town with its poor citizens and its criminal element. The plot blurb I read didn’t mention it, but the doctors mentioned are actually “male midwives” as one says at one point, early OBGYNs who make emergency house visits for childbirth crises. One note – trigger warning for extreme detail in women’s health issues, from birthing, to birthing difficulties, to early abortion methods and some pretty grisly medical tactics for, uh, saving the mother rather than the pregnancy. I appreciated that it didn’t shy away from women’s medical issues, as understanding them can help improve general opinion and policy writing and law-making… Because of his dislike for Gideon, Raven believes he must be guilty of his father's death in his greed and haste for his inheritance. The legal term 'Corruption of Blood' is explained. Forfeiting the estate and wealth coming to him, the heir would become his sister's young son. Raven needs Sarah to help in his investigation. He finds Gideon's father was much despised. Were there other suspects for the murder? Slowly, the links between their cases are found to have some connection. They uncover a tangled web of deceit, murder and corruption.

This was a surprisingly disappointing read, and as it was a book I bought new, I feel even worse about not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped to. This appears to have been well researched in the historical side of things and that I found to be rather interesting, but as for knowing who our killer is, well...I knew that answer not too far into the book. It was too obvious, even for me. The Way of All Flesh is sure to appeal to readers of Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White and Steven Price’s By Gaslight. It’s not quite as rewarding as the former, but the length and style make it significantly more engaging than the latter. It also serves as a good fictional companion to Lindsey Fitzharris’s The Butchering Art; for that reason, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it appear on next year’s Wellcome Book Prize longlist. century Edinburgh, again, is a star of the book. Lovingly portrayed street by street, building by building, the sights and smells come alive. Even someone like me familiar with the city will feel the urge to set out on a tour. The husband and wife writing team that is Ambrose Parry have delivered another gripping tale. Jenny Dalziel is an Edinburgh CID officer, part of Hector McGregor's team as a DC in Quite Ugly One Morning, who becomes a close friend of Parlabane and appears or is referenced in most of his books. She is openly gay and in a relationship with a woman called Maggie who has survived breast cancer by the time of Dead Girl Walking.

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It is only when Sarah agrees to help maid Christina, who was forced to give up her daughter, and Will first discovers the body of a dead infant in Leith Harbour, then is urged by his fiancee to help acquit a man he detests, who is accused of murdering his father, that the two realise they once again need each other’s help. The story revolves around Will Raven, a young medical student, who becomes apprenticed to a renowned obstetrician, and Sarah Fisher, Dr Simpson’s housemaid, a young intelligent woman who would love to study medicine but due to her gender and class cannot. Although taking a dislike to each other, Will and Sarah end up working together when they find out that women have been found dead under suspicious circumstances. It's the winter of 1847 in Edinburgh. Medical science seems to pounce upon new and innovative means of so-called advancements. Avant-garde, experimental methods are in both the hands of the charlatans and in the hands of the highly skilled. Your social status, unfortunately, will determine whose hands will guide your fate. Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review