Title: The Specimens

Author: Mairi Kidd

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Black & White Publishing

Publication Date: 26th September 2024

Rating: 5/5

Cover:

Summary:

Up the close and down the stair, meet the women of Burke and Hare

Edinburgh, 1828. Two women – one rich, one poor – must navigate life against a frenzied backdrop of medical discovery, mob mayhem, and murder.

The home Helen shares in the slums of the Old Town with her lover William Burke could hardly be more different from Susan’s dreams of an affluent existence as the wife of Robert Knox, one of the foremost anatomists of the day. But as people begin disappearing, these two very different women face an impossible choice. Should they protect what lives they have or tell the truth about what they know?

This is the story of the notorious serial killings of Burke and Hare, told for the first time through the eyes of two very different women, whose stories explore the depths of the human heart in a perilous, vulnerable world.

Review:

I was so excited to read this retelling of sorts of the notorious Burke and Hare murders through the eyes of the women present in the story and yet largely hidden from history. I am from, and have always lived in Edinburgh and I am fascinated by the often gruesome and dark history of the city I love. Reading The Specimens was like stepping back in time to 19th century Edinburgh and experiencing every vivid and visceral aspect of what was a very tough place to be a woman. Kidd has crafted a story that feels genuinely authentic from beginning to end. The language is pitch perfect and the sense of atmosphere is stunning. I was completely immersed and could not put The Specimens down. 

The story focuses on Helen, the wife of Burke and Susan, the wife of Robert Knox, the anatomist Burke and Hare sold their victim’s bodies to. These two women are vastly different, in station and manner, but what they have in common is their total lack of agency and power in a world built for men and structured to oppress women. Of course, The Specimens is fiction, but it is so impeccably researched and crafted that it feels like both Helen and Susan are utterly real women and it is impossible not to feel for them as events force them into increasingly shocking situations. The Specimens is dark, richly detailed, evocative and deeply powerful and I couldn’t recommend it more highly. It is an excellent work of historical fiction and an intriguing take on a grisly subject. 

★★★★★

Huge thank you to Black & White Publishing for inviting me on this tour and my copy of the book. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.