Raven is an apprentice ‘midwife’ to Dr Simpson a kind, generous doctor with an interest in anaesthesia. Raven owes money to violent ‘loan sharks’ after borrowing to lend money to his friend who is then found dead. He feels this was murder, and then there are further women found dead with the same contorted bodies.

Sarah is a housemaid, who also works for Dr Simpson, part time, in his surgery helping with patients and clearing up. She has a thirst for medical knowledge and reads medical books but as a women in these times, was disregarded.

Sarah and Raven do not get on initially, but they begin to investigate the deaths of the women and a little romance begins.

There’s a lot of medical information given and the use of ether in medicine and surgery in the 1840’s and it reminds you just how much medicine has advanced , thank goodness. Ambrose Parry, the author has clearly done a lot of research and while he includes a lot of this in the tale it is not confusing but just reinforces the story and gives background to medicine of the time.

It’s a great tale of medical drama, romance and a murder mystery.

This book was absolutely exceptional.

Set in 19th century Edinburgh, it follows a young doctor who starts an apprenticeship with a highly esteemed professor of midwifery. The bodies of prostitutes and housemaids begin to appear - it is a medical murder mystery, with a dark and fast-paced plot. The characters are interesting and gruesomely realistic.

The attention to detail is incredible - the historical portrait of the city, the accurate depiction of medicine, surgery and midwifery in the period, as well as a deeper consideration of the social attitudes to medical practice and advancement. It expertly portrays the roles and perceptions of women at that time without any heavy handed agenda.

I could not put it down and I would strongly recommend.

First in a promised series from the pair of writers forming Ambrose Parry, 'The Way of all Flesh' is a gripping thriller, exploring Victorian poverty in Edinburgh's backstreets, and the practice of illicit abortions.

Will Raven is newly apprenticed to renowned obstetrician Dr Simpson and soon finds himself discovering death, poisons and subterfuge, alongside Sarah, the Simpson's housemaid.

With historical context around the discovery of anaesthesia and its use in childbirth, the story proceeds apace, packed full of interesting characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and couldn't put it down. Looking forward to more in the series being written!

An interesting intriguing read set in historical Edinburgh. A wonderful atmospheric city to write about. This historical story is about the often gruesome practice of medicine in the 1800s. It is also about murders in the city. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Will Raven was going places, apprentice to the renowned Dr Simpson, he was learning midwifery from one of the best. But with a debt hanging over him and a desire to find out who is killing women all over Edinburgh, can Will be the Dr he wants to be.
At the start of this story Will Raven came across as quite pretentious. Quick with his mouth and never far from trouble. He always had something to prove, however as the story progress, you do get to find out more about his former life. By the end of the book he grew on me.
Sarah his partner in crime, was the housemaid of Dr Simpson. Like any maid in the 19th century maids were tended be ignored and women were second best. Throughout this book you could see how ambitious she was and if she was a women today she would of been a doctor, Clever, willing to learn and a very curious mind
I enjoy reading about 19th century and it was a pleasant change for a story to be set in Edinburgh and not London. The book was well researched and it was interesting to learn more about the medical procedures of the time. Whilst child birth was dangerous at that time, reading about it in graphic detail, just made it more real. Whilst this is a thriller it is a bit of a slow burn and it felt more like a backstory, that all changed in the last 25% of the book. As Will and Sarah were getting closer to the murderer it was full on and I was reading it quickly to find out who the murderer was. I enjoy a thriller more if the murderer is not easily guessed and this was one of those books. The ending was not expected and it showed just what type of people Dr Simpson and Will were.
This will be good to read as a series and I for one would love to read more about Will and Sarah.

Young medical student Raven teams up with Sarah, the housemaid of his mentor and employer, Dr Simpson, to investigate the tortured deaths of a number of poor Edinburgh women. New developments in medicine, and in particular the discovery of ether and then chloroform, to alleviate the horrific pain suffered by patients at the hands of surgeons, provides the background to the story.
Raven, Sarah, and Dr Simpson and his household are attractive and engaging characters, and I found the historical side of the story fascinating, too. I was interested to read in the novel's afterword that Dr Simpson and his household are based on fact, and look forward to reading more about him.
Despite this apparent historical accuracy, and the 'period' language in which the characters speak, I felt throughout that I was suspending my disbelief. I would love to think that a Victorian housemaid could be as free, and with as much spare time, as Sarah, but her independence didn't quite ring true to me. And although she is clever enough to read scientific texts, uninhibited enough to discuss prostitution and abortion, neither she or Raven were able to make connections that were blindingly obvious to the reader. If this was a historical novel only, that would probably be ok, but in a novel with an element of detection, I don't think the reader should be able to spot the villain quite so far ahead of the main protagonists.

In spite of my reservations about the story, I found it an easy and enjoyable read, and will be recommending it.

The story takes you to 1800 Scotland. The plot was enjoyable with strong characters. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend.

Set in Edinburgh starting in 1847 following the life of a young, intelligent housemaid and an apprentice doctor; both working for a Professor of Midwifery this is a gritty and realistic novel. From reasonably straightforward birth to the most distressing, the story takes them all in. There is a real sense of the difference between the haves and the have nots - and those who float somewhere in between.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.

This book really does have it all. I was initially attracted by the genre: historical fiction and the setting: 19th century Edinburgh. However the actual novel offers the reader so much more than this including a fascinating insight into the development of anaesthesia and obstetrics, as well as glimpses into the new science of photography. The cast of the novel includes strongly written main characters, Raven and Sarah and interesting lesser characters, many of whom were real historical personages such as Professor James Simpson, photography pioneers Robert Adamson and Octavius Hill and other doctors of the time, Keith and Duncan. The plot covers historical and scientific discoveries as well as an exposure of the dark underbelly of 19th century Edinburgh and an investigation into the gruesome deaths of young women in the city whose bodies are found to be twisted and contorted but with no apparent cause. Throughout this plot run strong themes of gender and class discrimination, mostly with Raven and Sarah as the vehicles but also through the character of Simpson's sister in law, Mina.
As I read the book I did see it as very televisual, particularly during scenes in the Old Town streets of Edinburgh and round Simpson's dinner table. I was therefore delighted to find out that the TV rights have already been bought for this book In my mind's eye I see Lorn Macdonald as Raven and Dani Heron as Sarah. These Scottish actors appeared together recently in the Citizen's Theatre (Glasgow) adaptation of A Long Day's Journey into Night).
As I read the book I really appreciated the work of the author in researching the scientific history and historical geography of Edinburgh as well as his (?) crafting of character and narrative development. I did wonder on several occasions who Ambrose Parry, the author, was: what gender, professional background and home location. I had not come across the name before and determined to find out more, hoping that there would be more to come from this author. I laughed out loud when on finishing the novel's last page, I turned to the next page in the book and found an interview with Ambrose Parry which is in fact a pseudonym for a writing partnership between Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman, the former being one of my favourite authors who has always inspired me by his ability to write from a female perspective. Chris is married to Marisa who is a consultant anaesthetist with a Master's degree in medical history. At an author's talk I attended last year, Chris referred to Marisa's influence on his work. I had later read that there was to be a collaborative writing project between them but had forgotten this as I read 'In the Way of All Flesh'. This writing partnership has worked really well to produce a fascinating and gripping read with strong characters, plot and themes as well as through research. My recommendations have already started and I was also delighted to read this is to be the first of a series.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Galley in return for an honest review.

The name of the author is a good joke – an anglicised form of the French court surgeon during the Paris St Bartholomew’s Day massacre.
And there are massacres in this book too…but in early nineteenth century Edinburgh…and involving doctors, surgeons and medical students. The protagonists, Raven and Sarah, are an engaging pair, the first a medical student with no money, the second, a serving girl, who asks very astute questions. The Scottish setting is very convincing, with its mixture of casual, poverty stricken violence and thrusting advances in the knowledge and application of medical science, for example the discovery and use of chloroform to alleviate pain in child birth.
For some time, society carries on unaware that there is a murderer in its midst, but the reader knows better and gradually Raven and Sarah are drawn into dangerous investigation. That the killer is a medical man is clear from early on and although there are some red-herrings, it is not at all difficult to identify the guilty party. Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy in this novel: the Edinburgh setting, the appraisal of the limited freedom available to women, the advances in study and especially medical knowledge, an exciting and inventive, if downright bloody, narrative and very sympathetic hero and heroine.

This book is a historical serial killer thriller and hits the perfect spot betwixt.

Our wannabe medical man protagonist Is placed in Victorian Edinburgh, a place darkened by body snatchers and medical advancements unaided by anaesthesia. Uncovering the grotesquely contorted body of a friend sets him down a path of multiple murders and a desperate race to find the killer. An advantageous love/hate relationship with a housemaid of the lower orders provides some comic relief and the plot advances swiftly and excitingly.

The language of the period is caputured fantastically and this book seems to have been very well researched. I have no hesitation in recommending it and have awarded 4 stars. I am also delighted to report that this is the first in the series and I cannot wait to devour the next one. An excellent debut.

I was not overwhelmed by this book. The historical detective genre is not really something I would normally read. The themes of feminism and the development of anaesthetics interfered with the story a bit - you could see where the interests of the two authors clashed. I am not sure which one won. They used the word grotty at one point, which dates from the 1960s. The gothic gangsters and villains were over the top and I did not like the graphic descriptions of the operations. I will not be reading more in this series.

Was so relieved when I realised that this was not end of the story! When will the next one be released? I want to know more? And that about sums up my feelings for this book. A young Rebus in the making mixed with a little ‘Call the Midwife,’ I loved the characters, the history, the setting and the fact that it always kept one step ahead of me! I would be thinking ‘ah what about that?’ And the next page would reveal all. I am hooked, more please!

This book was a really good historical murder mystery. So many twists and turns that kept me reading into the night

What a fantastic book - it absolutely deserves to be a book of the month. Not only is this a murder mystery, there is social and medical history and even a touch of romance. The characters are compelling and the setting in Edinburgh is described very evocatively. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Set in Edinburgh in the mid-19th century, The Way of All Flesh is both an informative account of the development of anaesthesia and a historical murder mystery.

Will Raven is a young medical student working as assistant to the famous James Young Simpson, pioneer of painless childbirth. Impoverished and of dubious parentage, Raven has secrets to keep and financial problems to solve. If he can do well with Dr Simpson, he will be set up for life. The work is challenging and often gruesome - women die in agony or survive at the cost of their infant's life. Simpson experiments with ether and other prospective anaesthetics (often on himself and his colleagues) before he hits on chloroform.

Meanwhile, women's bodies are being found contorted into positions of apparent agony. Raven's friend, Evie, is one such and he determines to discover what has happened to her and to the other women of the lower orders thus cruelly disposed of.

He forms an uneasy alliance with Sarah, the Simpsons' housemaid, who has also had a friend die in similar circumstances. Sarah is intelligent and forthright - neither qualities likely to serve her in her employment. She dreams of better things and resents Raven's ability to move up in the world in a way that is denied to her.

This is an extremely well-written page-turner with plenty of excitement and interest on every page. The descriptions of medical matters are often graphic but never unnecessarily so. Both Will and Sarah are well-rounded characters with faults and foibles as well as strength and compassion. Edinburgh itself plays a major role, from the foetid wynds and ginnels of the Canongate to the pleasant streets of the Georgian New Town.

Ostensibly by Ambrose Parry, this novel, as I discovered after reading it, was in fact written by Christopher Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. Brookmyre, who needs no introduction, has reined in the more excessive aspects of his graphic comedy; Haetzman is his wife and a consultant anaesthetist. It appears to be a perfect partnership. More books in this series are planned and I could visualise them as a tv series.

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.. I requested this novel, set in Edinburgh in 1847, because I was about to visit the city, having made a previous trip. I’m so glad I did .The author, Ambrose Parry is in fact two people, the author Chris Brookmyre and his wife Marisa Haetzman, who researched medical history for an MA. They realised that all her research material had the ingredients of a novel and as they developed it they knew that it would probably be several books. I usually avoid co authored books because you can often see the joins.. Not this time. What a great piece of writing. So darkly atmospheric.

It’s set in both the Old Town and the New Town of Edinburgh. In New Town it centres on the Home of Dr Simpson, a well known gynaecologist and surgeon, who that year was instrumental in discovering the anaesthetic properties of a substance that he was to call chloroform. He used it to alleviate the sufferings of child birth and to assist with difficult births, which in those days were frequently fatal. Also living in his house were his assistants, Drs Mathew Duncan and George Keith, all actual people .Around these facts the authors have woven a chilling and intriguing tale. Their principal characters , all imaginary, are Will Raven, a graduate of the university and now living in Dr Simpson’s house in Queen Street as an apprentice learning the skills of midwifery and gynaecology.. Also living in the house is Sarah Fisher the seventeen year old housemaid, who is highly intelligent, but because she is of lowly birth and more importantly, female, is destined to never rise above this station in life. Sarah reads the chemical and medical books that are in the house and assists in a basic capacity with clinics. There are many other colourful characters, typical of their time, who contribute to the unfolding story. The filth smells, brutality and shortness of human life are all portrayed as are the finery and pretensions of the more wealthy inhabitants.

Should anyone be visiting Edinburgh, I recommend a visit to the National Trust for Scotland houses, one in the Old Town and the other in the New Town. They will help to set the scene and greatly enhance enjoyment of this superb novel.. I eagerly await the next in this series.

Hungover, dazed, bruised and half naked in a strange bed how did she get there, Something bad happened but who was it. The police can't help, she needs to figure it out herself.

Clever and thoughtfully written book about an all too real problem with the system.

As the author of Doctor Pritchard the Poisoning Adulterer, about the murders committed by Dr Edward William Pritchard in Victorian Glasgow. I was intrigued to read this book. I wasn't disappointed. A fascinating well-written book, which expertly details the atmosphere of the city at the time. An excellent fictional plot with many twists and turns. Recommended

Absolutely brilliant.

I was absolutely hooked from the first page to the last it is one of books where you say to yourself just one more page and before you know it you have read three more chapters. Loved the setting of Edinburgh for the plot, loved the many twists and turns. The author has created some great characters and can't wait to see how they develop in future stories.

Very highly recommended