The Specimen

A haunting historical mystery perfect for readers of The London Seance Society and A History of FearEdinburgh, 1826.

Isobel Tait does her best to raise her young son Thomas alone, but yellow fever has left him with a scarred heart.

Even a specialist, the renowned Dr. Connall Burnett, can do nothing for him. Isobel decides to make the most the remaining time with her son. Until he goes missing. A chance visit to Dr. Burnett’s collection of specimens elicits a horrifying realization: there, in a small jar among stuffed lizards and misshapen bones, is a new addition.

A tiny human heart. The use of stolen bodies by Edinburgh’s medical men is a controversial but open secret.

But she can't shake a horrible suspicion that the doctor’s a proxy killer obsessed with his quest for specimens. Determined to find proof, Isobel goes undercover as a maid in Burnett’s house and soon becomes the keeper of his specimens.

She'll have to gather evidence, must protect his patients, and exact justice—and not get caught.