The Wages of Sin: A compelling tale of medicine and murder in Victorian Edinburgh

About this book

As Independent Scottish booksellers, we write all of our descriptions personally, we hope you enjoy this one.

In 1890s Edinburgh, Sarah Gilchrist arrives with a past she cannot outrun and a future she is determined to claim. Having fled London in disgrace, she sets her sights on medicine, joining the University of Edinburgh’s first intake of female medical students. Her resolve is tested daily by lecturers, male students and by women who fear the stain of her reputation as much as they resent her ambition.

When one of Sarah’s patients is discovered dead in the university dissecting room, her body marked by violence, the boundaries between study and suspicion collapse. Drawn into an investigation that leads through bribery, brothels and body snatchers, Sarah must navigate a city where knowledge is power and silence is often bought.

This is historical crime fiction attentive to gender, class and conscience, set in a Gothic Edinburgh where the pursuit of truth carries its own risks.