The Silent House of Sleep: The First Dr Jack Cuthbert Mystery

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London, 1929. Death leaves its mark quietly, and Dr Jack Cuthbert is the man called to read its signs. A Scottish pathologist working with Scotland Yard, Cuthbert is impossible to forget. Tall, brilliant and emotionally scarred, he carries the weight of secrets shaped by war and loss, with memories that still reach back to the trenches.

When two bodies are discovered in a city park, the new DCI quickly recognises Cuthbert’s rare skill. As the investigation deepens, the case begins to test not only his forensic expertise but his fragile hold on the past. Each detail uncovered draws him closer to a truth far darker than expected.

As science collides with human cruelty, Cuthbert must confront the limits of reason and the cost of understanding death too well.

The Way of All Flesh is a richly atmospheric historical crime novel and the winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize. Intelligent, unsettling and deeply humane, it explores trauma, morality and the loneliness that follows those who walk too closely with the dead.