The Art of Dying

Will Raven and his friend Henry are in Berlin when they are attacked by cutpurses.  In the melee, Henry is shot in the leg.  Back in their room Raven has to perform surgery.  He is capably helped by the two young women who were with them at the time they were attacked.

Back in Edinburgh, Sarah Fisher has continued to work at the practice of Dr. Simpson.  She is with a patient when he announces that Will Raven will be joining his practice.  Raven is shocked to learn, upon his return, that Sarah is no longer a miss, but rather Mrs. Banks.

Shortly after his return, Sarah tells him that Dr. Simpson has been accused of negligence by another doctor because a patient in his care had died.  Initially Raven refuses to help Sarah in her quest to vindicate Simpson.  However, later he relents.  Their first quest for information proves that Simpson had done no wrong, but they have no visible proof.

Speaking to the husband of the dead woman, Raven comes to a realisation that he had seen something similar recently.  He and Sarah soon learn that there were three deaths with the same symptoms, and all attended by the same nurse!  Sarah is sure that something sinister is going on.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s husband is dying of a tumour in his mouth.  He does not want to be a burden on her and has asked Raven to ease his going.  He also wants Raven to be there for Sarah.

What follows is both terrifying for Sarah and Raven.  More deaths will occur before they can identify the culprit.  There are surprises awaiting the pair and the reader.  I can only hope that author Ambrose Parry will soon have a sequel to this murder mystery.