Effektiv historie, godt fortalt, interessant tidsalder

I’m coming to like historical crime thrillers more and more. They just set a good tone and force people out of the comforts of their lives into situations that are so far beyond what’s normal for them and it just brings me joy. Especially because it’s usually women (at least in the books I’m reading) who are trying to do these dastardly things in the fashion of the day and still they blaze through it, blisters and corsets and all.

Madeleine is non-traditional to start because she wants to be educated and wants to rise above the role that society has allotted her because she’s a woman. She wants to follow in her father’s footsteps. She wants to go into medicine. She wants to have more than a passive role in what her father does for the commissioner with solving causes of death. She pushes and pushes and forces her way into roles because that’s the only way she’ll succeed at her dream and I love her for it.

I just wish her voice was a little more interesting. The events going on in the story were interesting enough without any flourish to the writing but at the end of the day Madeleine’s voice was dull. Had the story not been so exciting it would have been a slog to get through the book. She’s overly clinical in her approach to the world, hyper-logical, and it makes for a very dry telling. From her associations with her father to the professor and the commissioner, they’re all at arm’s length and observational. Almost like she doesn’t know how to relate with the living. She reminds me of Tempe Brennan from Bones. If it were just from her POV with nothing else around her to balance out her textbook view of the world the show wouldn’t have ran for as long as it has. Same thing with the book. There’s a lot going on to balance out her dryness but her voice leaves something to be desired.

She did seem the most human toward the end of the book where she got into a confrontation with one of the suspects. You see genuine fear in her. All of her training and all of her clinical decorum flies right out the window and she becomes a scared young woman in the face of great danger. Even before that she makes a comment or two to herself where she’s grateful to be able to cast off the strong persona and let someone else take the reins. It doesn’t signify her weakness, just that she’s human and can’t do it all. I found her all the more relatable because of that.

The story itself was really interesting too and I found myself constantly trying to guess who was responsible for what and just what were those gross little bugs doing there after all? Ick. It was a murder mystery with quite a few layers and just when one element is revealed and you think all is solved there’s another layer waiting just underneath it with something else to reveal. It kept me guessing and it kept the story fresh. No worrying about formulas or stale storytelling here.

This is the first in a series and I can assure you I’ll want to be reading more. The author sets a fantastic scene, both in place and time, and even though her main character is a little dry she’s still well-developed and relatable and likable. Even the characters around her, namely her father, the commissioner, and the professor, all bring admirable qualities to the table and leave Madeleine to do what she does best. Perhaps it a bit of wish fulfillment for the time but I’ll take it.

4

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars.

Doctor Death is a very interesting start to what promises to be an intriguing historical mystery series set in nineteenth-century France.

What makes Doctor Death stand out is it’s unique heroine, Madeleine Karno, daughter of a forensic doctor. Due to the death of her mother at a young age, Madeleine has shadowed her father in everything from visits to his patients to autopsies of the dead. Unlike her contemporaries, Madeleine has no desire to marry and be subject to the authority of a husband, rather Madeleine would much rather pursue a medical education and follow in her father’s professional footsteps becoming the new "Doctor Death". Unfortunately for Madeleine, her father has no intention of letting this happen, or even realize that this might be something that his daughter would like to pursue:

My father was reluctant to let me assist when he examined the dead. He said it could only hurt my reputation and my future – by which he meant my chances of marriage. For the most part, my father was a man of progress, absorbed by the newest ideas and the latest technology. But he was incomprehensibly old-fashioned on this particular point (p. 12).

But when her father is injured, Madeleine is allowed to take a much more active role, hence the mystery element to Doctor Death. When the bodies start piling up, Madeleine pursues every lead. She not just trying to find the murderer, she's also trying to find the source of a potentially dangerous contagion.

Doctor Death was an interesting start to the series. The mystery element was unusual and I really liked how it was medical in nature as it called on Madeleine’s scientific skills. After finding the first corpse it soon becomes clear that the bodies of the dead are carrying some sort of transmittable “bug” and tracing the origins of this forces Madeleine to take an authoritative role in the investigation. In fact, Madeleine's gender often allows her to question certain individuals when the legitimate investigators are stymied.

The narrative style was also evocative of time and place; the setting seemed almost other worldly. The mystery was told in Madeleine’s own voice and I got the sense that it was more of journal than a novel. First person narration is not always one that works for me, but I really liked how certain tidbits were recounted by Madeleine; sometimes it was about the case and sometimes it was about her own personal life. For me, this was a very effective style of writing because it gave readers a real glimpse into the life of a young woman at this time, and it was rather heartbreaking to see how bleak Madeleine’s prospects were. Only through marrying will Madeleine break free from her father’s rigid rules about her dabbling with dead bodies, but at the same time, marrying could strip Madeleine of the freedom that she does have by remaining her father’s assistance. A paradox, indeed, and it’s one that I really interested to see unfold in the next book in the series.

Doctor Death introduces readers to a very unusual young lady, one that’s more intrigued by dead bodies than marriage or homemaking. Whether this young lady will get the chance to become something other than wife or assistant is what will keep me coming back for the next book in the series. I recommend Doctor Death to those who like their mystery with great characters and atmospheric settings.

Originally reviewed for The Book Adventures.

*Review copy provided by the publisher via Edelweiss.

Narrada de manera amena, sin rellenos ni demasiadas descripciones que aburran al lector, tenemos a Doctor cadáver ambientada en 1894, una época en donde las mujeres solo podían aspirar a ser buenas esposas, donde las autopsias y la medicina forense aún eran tema de tabú, se nos presenta a un médico apodado "doctor cadáver" justamente por trabajar con los cuerpos, este hombre tiene una hija llamada Madeleine que tiene pensamientos y actitudes muy liberales para su época aunque a veces tenga que amoldarse a lo "socialmente aceptado" ante este panorama comienzan a aparecer cadáveres que pueden o no estar relacionados, que presentan algunas similitudes que llamarán la atención médica. Muchos interrogantes se van planteado a lo largo de la historia y aunque llegada a la mitad ya nos vamos dando cuenta de que ocurre y de los involucrados, la autora logra mantener interesada. Eso si, los capítulos finales no me terminaron de convencer, a pesar de que se da respuesta a todo lo que sucedía, no me terminó de gustar cómo fue unido al resto de la trama, por un lado sentí que estaban de más y por otro lado como que no se conectó muy bien, eso si nos depara una gran sorpresa en las últimas páginas

*Popsugar Reading Challenge 2018*
**A book by a local author**

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I loved this book it had a fantastic heroine who from the confines of what is consider right and proper behavior for a lady of her time and used her knowledge to help her father and police to solve a murder by never taking no for a answer

I'm a major fan of Lene Kaaberbol. This series is completely different from her other mystery series, and also from her fantasy books. The only elements that remain the same are that it is well-written, a very gripping story, and she is clearly a feminist. The details of the crime in this one are pretty odd, and a little over the top, that's why I didn't give it 5 stars. I felt she didn't need to make it that complex. But I'm very excited about this series. If you like watching Murdock Mysteries, this one may remind you of that (only with Dr. Julia Ogden as the main character.) The book seems true to the time period (the 1890s) and interesting for both people who like historical fiction and mysteries.

I couldn't finish this book, I'm so bored and everyone's too straight & white.