The Death of Shame - Ambrose Parry

In any good continuing series there are often some unresolved matters, some with the potential to be time-bombs that could go off at any time. There has been a few such open threads left throughout Ambrose Parry's Raven and Fisher series, mostly in the romantic tension between Raven and Fisher which has been complicated by their differing backgrounds, personalities and their experiences in the medical profession. Since this is set in Victorian Edinburgh, those experiences would have been markedly different for a man and a woman. And then there is the fact that, in the three year gap between the events of The Way of All Flesh and The Art of Dying, both got married to other people.  It's fair to say however - in keeping with the general tone of the series as a whole - neither of those marriages were conventional and certainly didn't resolve the feelings that they had for each other.

As we reach what is expected to be the final episode in the five part series, time is running out on the Ambrose Parry Raven and Fisher series, so you expect there to be more upheavals on that front, but there are a few other issues that have been bubbling beneath the surface, one of which is related to a mystery around Dr Simpson - a real life figure who has featured prominently in the series - and some secretive work he has been carrying out on the side in the adoption of babies. Someone is blackmailing the doctor who, even though he enlists the help of Raven and trusts his former assistant, still keeps the nature of the blackmail from him. It ties in with another personal matter that could plunge Raven into trouble just as he has struck out and opened his own surgery.

It's never good news when McLevy of the Edinburgh constabulary comes calling, but this time when Will Raven is called to the scene of a suicide at the Scott Monument it's not for professional opinion - that's hardly needed - but because it is likely that he can identify the victim. It's one that puts his prospects and family life into crisis, just as he was about to try and get himself established as a doctor and run his own surgery with the financial assistance of the widowed Sarah Fisher. Sarah meanwhile has an investigation of her own to carry out, looking for the young 15 year old daughter of a relative through her marriage. Coming in from the country to work as a maid, there has been no word from her niece since she arrived in the city and, knowing what often happens to young naïve girls who arrive looking for work, Sarah fears the worst.

Written by the husband and wife team of Christopher Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman under the pseudonym of 'Ambrose Parry', there has always been a bit of period soap opera to the Raven and Fisher series and that seems to come more to the fore in the final book. The romantic attraction side of their relationship has up to now largely taken a backseat to the crime investigation and the medical emergencies they have been dealing with, but it evidently remains simmering even if their current circumstances make it impossible to develop into anything more. Not least of which is the greater inequality that exists between men and women during this period and, as the issues that arise here relate mainly to the status and treatment of women, that is brought back into the in The Death of Shame.

That historical aspect of the series has always been instructive, and even relevant to inequalities that we can still see persisting in society today. Some of the revelations in relation to the experiences of what would happen to many innocent young women from the country arriving in the city looking for employment are shocking. We have already had a glimpse of the slow progress being made in anaesthetics and hygiene to contrast past with present, with the attitude in the mid 19th century towards women working in the medical profession, but there are more incredible revelations made here, such as a woman over the age of 12 being considered an independent adult responsible for themselves, and therefore not an issue for the police to investigate as a missing 'child'.

While the age may be different, young women are still trafficked by criminal gangs today, and if anything what the series has done has not just shed a light on past malpractices, inequality and injustice, but reflect how similar attitudes and prejudices still prevail. I don't know though, it's probably just me, but this time the modern enlightened outlook seemed a little forced and out of place in The Death of Shame. I’ve no doubt that this has been thoroughly researched and that the Edinburgh Society for the Suppression of Vice and similar organisations existed, but with Sarah and Raven out crusading - however close to home the problems may be - it all seems a little preachy this time. Sarah seems to reflect every couple of pages on the lot of women at this time and whether they will ever be treated as equals. It seems heavy-handed and I don't think it needs that amount of over-emphasis.

I think more than that though that the difference between this and previous books is that the moralising of the set agenda seems to take precedence over the medical mystery thriller escapades that have made the Ambrose Parry Raven and Fisher books a tremendously entertaining and original series up to now. It also seems to me to take precedence over the intriguing personalities of the characters as they have been established up to now, smoothing out their edges to serve the exigencies of the plot/agenda and the need to bring about a necessary resolution to the ongoing romantic tension. As such, I felt that The Death of Shame was not quite as compelling a read, and a little bit disappointing as a conclusion to what has been - and nonetheless still remains - an outstanding series.

Reading notes: The Death of Shame (A Raven and Fisher Mystery Book 5) by Ambrose Parry was published on 5th June 2025 by Canongate. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I sat on this one for a long time as NetGalley gave the publication date as October 2025, so I'm late with this review.