Kaite Welsh’s thrilling medical mystery THE UNQUIET HEART is the second in the gothic Sarah Gilchrist series, following a medical student turned detective in Victorian Edinburgh. For readers of Natasha Pulley’s THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET or Laura Purcell’s THE SILENT COMPANIONS
This powerful novel combines a disturbing look at late Victorian attitudes towards women and morality with a satisfying murder mystery – Sunday Express
Sarah Gilchrist has no intention of marrying her dull fiancé Miles, the man her family hope will restore her reputation and put an end to her dreams of becoming a doctor, but when he is arrested for a murder she is sure he didn’t commit she finds herself his reluctant ally. Beneath the genteel façade of upper class Edinburgh lurks blackmail, adultery, poison and madness and Sarah must return to Edinburgh’s slums, back alleys and asylums as she discovers the dark past about a family where no one is what they seem, even Miles himself. It also brings her back into the orbit of her mercurial professor, Gregory Merchiston – he sees Sarah as his protegee, but can he stave off his demons long enough to teach her the skills that will save her life?
This powerful novel combines a disturbing look at late Victorian attitudes towards women and morality with a satisfying murder mystery – Sunday Express
Sarah Gilchrist has no intention of marrying her dull fiancé Miles, the man her family hope will restore her reputation and put an end to her dreams of becoming a doctor, but when he is arrested for a murder she is sure he didn’t commit she finds herself his reluctant ally. Beneath the genteel façade of upper class Edinburgh lurks blackmail, adultery, poison and madness and Sarah must return to Edinburgh’s slums, back alleys and asylums as she discovers the dark past about a family where no one is what they seem, even Miles himself. It also brings her back into the orbit of her mercurial professor, Gregory Merchiston – he sees Sarah as his protegee, but can he stave off his demons long enough to teach her the skills that will save her life?
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Reviews
The mystery is secondary to Welsh's depiction of the plight of intelligent, ambitious women in 19th-century Britain, long before anyone dreamed of #MeToo, when a spotless reputation and a suitable marriage was the end all and be all for a woman, her own wishes and desires be damned. Sarah's plight is an infuriating one indeed, and readers will cheer her every step of the way
[An] excellent mix of historical mystery and romance
A nicely constructed historical mystery about the unorthodox sleuthing of a young woman who's studying to be a doctor at the University of Edinburgh