Review: The Dead Shall Not Rest by Tess Harris

Author: Tessa Harris
Publisher: Kensington
Date of publication: December 2012

The brilliant anatomist Dr. Thomas Silkstone returns in Tessa Harris's vivid and compelling mystery series set in 1780s London. . .It is not just the living who are prey to London's criminals and cutpurses. Corpses, too, are fair game--dug up from fresh graves and sold to unscrupulous men of science. Dr. Thomas Silkstone abhors such methods, but his leading rival, Dr. John Hunter, has learned of the imminent death of eight-foot-tall Charles Byrne, known as the "Irish Giant," and will go to any lengths to obtain the body for his research.

The Dead Shall Not Rest is the sequel to The Anatomists' Apprentice.  I enjoyed the first book a lot (our joint review), so I had high hopes for this one.  While I liked it, I didn't love it.  I felt like there were too many plot lines going at once.   As I was reading, the story felt disjointed and dull at times.  In the end, everything was woven together neatly and made sense.  There was also one or two twists in there, but for the most part it was all just OK for me. 

I thought that the entire plot line with Thomas' fiance was unnecessary.  Lydia never struck me as the type of person to try to take her own life no matter what the circumstances.  At least not from how I remembered her in the first book.  It looks like the entire scenario was a set up for part of the plot for the next book.  I got that; I just didn't like it.    The other characters were loosely based on real life historical figures.  The gruesome parts that they play in the book did make me want to look them up on my own to read more about them.

Will I read the next one?  Probably. I just hope it is a little more entertaining.

Joint Review: The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris

Author: Tessa Harris
Publisher: Kensington Publication Corp. 
Audiobook by Brilliance Audio
Date of Publication: January 1, 2012

The death of Sir Edward Crick has unleashed a torrent of gossip throughout Oxfordshire. No one mourns the dissolute young man--except his sister, Lady Lydia Farrell. When her husband comes under suspicion of murder, Lydia seeks expert help from Dr. Thomas Silkstone, a young anatomist from Philadelphia.

Kari's Take:

I will admit that I was hoping this would be like The Alienist by Caleb Carr which I absolutely loved.  While it didn't live up to my expectations, I still did ultimately enjoy it..  It was pretty slow in the beginning and I did find myself re-listening to parts to get the characters straight.  In the end, I am glad that I stuck with the story.  The mystery turned out to be pretty good.  There were some cringe worthy scenes when the various autopsies are described.   In the age of CSI, it was interesting to read about how one would solve a murder in the late 1700s.  I enjoyed Dr. Silkstone's character.  He is honorable and very intelligent. The peripheral characters were interesting as well.

This book has several twists and surprises.  Despite the slow beginning, it's a good solid mystery. There is even a little bit of a love story in the end. I look forward to the next adventure with Dr. Silkstone.  I listened to the audio book and it was narrated by one of my favorites, Simon Vance.  That alone made it worth listening to for me.

Autumn's take:  I couldn't really put my finger on what I was hoping for out of this book until I read what Kari wrote up there.  I think that's what I was looking for too, something like The Alienist.  If you haven't read it, it's an awesome book. 

I just could not get into this book.  I didn't make it past the part that slow beginning.  I kept getting the characters confused, how one related to another and whether or not one mattered to the story or not. 

I also kept questioning whether or not certain scientific advancements that were mentioned in the book had or hadn't happened during the time frame in which this book was set.  I'm sure (I really hope) it was researched and fact checked, but some things made me want to run home and check wikipedia.

I wouldn't totally not recommend this book, it just wasn't for me.  I too listened to the audiobook and Simon Vance is fantastic as usual.