A Dark Anatomy

In this mystery series debut, a coroner and a doctor investigate when the murder of a squire's wife rattles a superstitious seventeenth-century English town. "A fascinating examination of how crimes could have been solved before the nineteenth century gave us the rudiments of forensic science. Cragg and Fidelis make a terrific detecting duo. . . . Blake's writing is direct and crisp. In addition, his knowledge of an eighteenth-century backwater just shaking off medieval superstitions is deep and engaging. A solid winner." — Booklist (starred review) The year is 1740. George II is on the throne, but England's remoter provinces remain largely a law unto themselves. In Lancashire a grim discovery has been made: a squire's wife, Dolores Brockletower, lies in the woods above her home at Garlick Hall, her throat brutally slashed. Called to the scene, Coroner Titus Cragg finds the Brockletower household awash with rumor and suspicion. He enlists the help of his astute young friend, doctor Luke Fidelis, to throw light on the case. But this is a world in which forensic science is in its infancy, and policing hardly exists. Embarking on their first gripping investigation, Cragg and Fidelis are faced with the superstition of witnesses, obstruction by local officials, and denunciations from the squire himself. A Dark Anatomy marks the arrival of a remarkable new voice in mystery and a pair of detectives both cunning and complex. "An impressive whodunit." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Blake uses this setting to show the times, the people and events in a book you won't be able to put down. Flawless . . . a fascinating mystery with psychological underpinnings. The next book will be eagerly anticipated." — RT Book Reviews "A very tricky mystery to solve along with a nice period feel." — Kirkus Reviews