The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry

The Death of Shame is the fifth, and apparently final, novel in Ambrose Parry’s always excellent historical crime series set in 1850s Edinburgh. Parry is, as many know (it certainly is not a secret), the pen name of the team of award winning crime author Chris Brookmyer and his wife, and medical expert, Marisa Haetzman. Once more they draw heavily on actual historical events and characters to craft a dark, page-turning crime thriller.

The Death of Shame opens with a suicide, the cold open is ambiguous but it is not long before readers learn the identity of the person in question. The story then moves to Doctor Will Raven who has opened his own consulting rooms with financial help from Sarah Fisher. The two have an agreement that Sarah will work at the clinic to secretly continue to learn medical practice. Will lives with his wife Eugenie who seems to be suffering from post-natal depression following the birth of their daughter and has withdrawn from their children and the marriage. Fisher is drawn into a mystery when her aunt comes to Edinburgh looking for Fisher’s niece Annabel who came down to take up a service position but never arrived at work and has now been missing for a month. Meanwhile Raven is drawn into an investigation of his own when he learns that his mentor Dr Simpson is being blackmailed and then that investigation comes even closer to home. And that is before Raven finds that his violent, corrupt uncle is in Edinburgh and learns some more family secrets.

As with previous novels in this series The Death of Shame draws on real historical events. In this case that includes the existence of a white slave trade in the UK where young women were tricked into prostitution, the campaign against prostitution, the birth of tabloid journalism, the first qualified female doctors and the birth of the porn industry thanks to new camera technology. Many of these issues and their impacts are carried strongly by Sarah Fisher who understands from experience how hard it is for women in her world.

But as with the rest of this series The Death of Shame is far from didactic. Parry uses the rich and complex characters of Raven and Fisher and their intimate involvement with these issues to create something that engages as much as it informs. Raven and Fisher’s relationship is once again at the centre of the novel and goes through some interesting new developments. And their world of 1850s Edinburgh, its streets, its characters and even its weather, is richly rendered.

The The Death of Shame is being marketed as the final Raven and Fisher mystery. While it is difficult to maintain a series with amateur detectives for too long without the set-up feeling contrived and it is always good to go out on a high. The Raven and Fisher series has been quality historical crime fiction – powered by real events, set in the fascinating milieu of the Edinburgh medical scene of the1850s and centred around two flawed but winning characters. This final volume, The Death of Shame, is no exception.

The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry

8.5

8.5/10