Loosely based on Scotland’s infamous Burke and Hare murders, The Specimen is a haunting historical crime thriller perfect for readers of The London Seance Society and A History of Fear.

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Walk carefully, lest you become a part of Dr. Burnett’s collection?

Edinburgh, 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 of the remaining time with her son.

Until he goes missing. A chance visit to Dr. Burnett’s collection of specimens elicits a horrifying realisation: 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 Isobel can’t shake a horrible suspicion that the doctor’s a proxy killer obsessed with his quest for specimens.

Determined to find proof, she goes undercover as a maid in Burnett’s house and soon becomes the keeper of his specimens. She’ll have to gather evidence, protect his patients, and exact justice?and not get caught.

Based on a true story, The Specimen is a mesmerising work of Gothic historical fiction that explores one woman’s search for truth and vengeance in the darkest of places – where the deadliest secrets lie hidden in plain sight, on a freshly dusted shelf.

Tropes
Gothic Thriller
Mystery
Historical Fiction
Evil Doctor
Vengeful Mother
Based On a True Story