1840 Northminister and doctor Felix Carswell and his new superior Chief Constable Giles Vernon investigate the death of a body found in a ditch.
Well-written, lovely characters and setting, with a decent mystery means I will be reading the next in the series. ( )

An interesting murder mystery set in North England in late 18th century, focusing on a surgeon and a police officer in a time when neither of these positions were well established. This is the first in a series, and it is a promising start, covering multiple social issues and developing the characters quite well. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical mystery...it's a sign of a good book for me when I have to take breaks from reading because I'm so worried about what is going to happen to a character I like! The time period comes to life and the characters are complex, real people. I hope there will be more about these characters! ( )

Oh I do enjoy a bit of historical fiction. This, I thought, was a particularly good one. I like the grittiness of the Victorian era. ( )

Good start to what should be an excellent series. Chief Constable is setting up the first police force in Northminster and selects Felix Carswell to be his police surgeon. The former major and the highly trained doctor are men of principles and males of their times. A horrific corpse turns out to have been mutilated after being poisoned. An unprincipled cad and despoiler of women, virtuous and otherwise, many people wanted him dead. The chase is convoluted and well told. ( )