This is the third book in the series set in 19th century Edinburgh and featuring Sarah Fisher and Will Raven as the cental fictional characters in a novel populated with real and created characters from the world of medicine, science and law (both sides of the latter). The two main characters live in the household of Professor Simpson the real lilfe obstetrician and discoverer of the medical powers of chloroform. Sarah was initially a housemaid but is now a valued assistant to Professor Simpson and with his encouragement and support wishes to pursue a medical career of her own, an uncommon career path for a woman in the 1850s. Will came as an apprentice to Professor Simpson and is now on the cusp of setting up his own practice. Both characters love Professor Simpson dearly and he is a paternal figure to both of them, in sharp contrast to Will's own father and indeed to the fathers of two of the new fictitious characters in this novel: Gideon Douglas and Eugenie Todd. Familial relationships and parenting are a central theme of 'A Corruption of Blood', the title of which comes from the legal situation whereby criminals convicted of capital crime forefit their right to either inheritance or to pass on their wealth to descendants. In this story Will and Sarah are investigating a case of susected patricide and the whereabouts of a missing child. There are many twists and turns on the road to solution and considerable danger for both main protagonists.
As with the earlier two novels in this series I read this with great enjoyment and have already urged friends and family to look out for it on its publication in August. Ambrose Parry is the pseudonym for Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman writing together, utilising Haetzman's research for her Master’s degree in the History of Medicine to create this wonderful world of intrigue which captured my imagination from the start of the first book in the series and continues to excite me. In the process of reading I have also learned about the history of medicine and the position of women in Victorian society.
I highly recommend A Corruption of Blood and the whole series and am already looking forward to the next in the series. My thanks to the publisher, Canongate, for sending me a complimentary ARC of this title via Net Galley in return for an honest review.

Well this is fast becoming a huge favourite of mine. The characters, setting, gothic overtones and oh just everything really....Add Ambrose Parry's dark writing, the mix of fact and fiction and the dark dark tones of the medical world and this is gripping stuff. Recommended!!