{"product_id":"the-blood-9781472126580","title":"The Blood","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"+1\"\u003e''Vivid, pungent and perilous'' \u003cb\u003eCHRIS BROOKMYRE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Evocative...brilliant plotting''\u003cb\u003e REBECCA GRIFFITHS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn intricate and darkly atmospheric thriller set in Victorian London, perfect for readers of Elly Griffiths'' \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Diaries, \u003c\/i\u003eLaura Purcell''s \u003ci\u003eThe Silent Companions\u003c\/i\u003e and Stuart Turton''s \u003ci\u003eThe Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSummoned to the riverside by the desperate, scribbled note of an old friend, Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain find themselves on board the seamen''s floating hospital, an old hulk known only as \u003ci\u003eThe Blood\u003c\/i\u003e, where prejudice, ambition and murder seethe beneath a veneer of medical respectability. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn shore, a young woman, a known prostitute, is found drowned in a derelict boatyard. A man leaps to his death into the Thames, driven mad by poison and fear. The events are linked - but how? Courting danger in the opium dens and brothels of the waterfront, certain t\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere's a tale of Victorian London to freeze your blood on a cold winter's night -- Alex Gordon * Evening Telegraph on Beloved Poison *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBeloved Poison\u003c\/i\u003e is a marvellous, vivid book with a thoughtful, engaging protagonist at its centre - and a fascinating story to tell. It's immaculately researched and breathtakingly dark. Elaine Thomson's descriptive powers are so great that that I was surprised to see twenty-first century London rather than grimy, smelly St Saviour's around me when I - eventually - looked up from its pages -- Janet Ellis, author of \u003ci\u003e The Butcher’s Hook \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFollowing on from the events of acclaimed debut Beloved Poison, \u003ci\u003eDark Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e vividly portrays the Gothic horror and questionable science of Victorian mental asylums in chilling detail. Meticulously researched and masterfully plotted, E.S. Thomson has written a complex, harrowing and highly enjoyable tale * Daily Express *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDark Asylum\u003c\/i\u003e positively oozes gothic menace, and the author's evocation of the city at that time is visceral and engagingly morbid . . . A first class piece of historical crime writing -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue *\u003cbr\u003eYou can almost feel the evil miasma rising from the page * Kirkus Reviews on Beloved Poison *\u003cbr\u003eThis outstanding debut historical enthrals with its meticulously researched details * Library Journal on Beloved Poison *\u003cbr\u003eFrom the first page to the last, I enjoyed every brilliantly written, and often hideous, detail ... A splendid read * Cambridge Magazine on Beloved Poison *\u003cbr\u003eA historical novel to be savoured -- Lesley McDowell * The National on Beloved Poison *\u003cbr\u003eMeticulously researched and masterfully plotted, E S Thomson has written a complex, harrowing and highly enjoyable tale. * Daily Express *\u003cbr\u003eES Thompson's Jem Flockhart books are the best I've read in years. Jem is just my kind of heroine: scarred, smart, complex, and unapologetically queer -- Kirsty Logan, author of \u003ci\u003e The Gracekeepers \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJem Flockhart's London is vivid, pungent and perilous. The Blood takes you to places you will love to picture but be grateful you can't smell -- Chris Brookmyre\u003cbr\u003eJem Flockhart is a marvel. Cautious yet daring, a pursuer of the truth yet steeped in deceit herself, she is the best kind of detective - flawed, clever, conflicted, principled and determined to get to the bottom of whatever mystery comes her way. Her latest foray into the filth and grime of 1840s London is an atmospheric dissection of prejudice past and present set aboard a decaying hospital ship. With snakes, pox, strange tattoos and the scent of Henbane in our nostrils, this vivid journey into the dark side of the human soul is a thoroughly engrossing tale. -- Mary Paulson Ellis, author of \u003ci\u003e The Other Mrs Walker \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDeliciously dark and vividly atmospheric, menace oozes from every page. Terrific for lovers of historical noir * Saga *\u003cbr\u003eLove evocative descriptions of Victorian London and brilliant plotting? Then grab a copy of this! * Rebecca Griffiths, author of \u003ci\u003e The Primrose Path \u003c\/i\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eIt's rare that a book is Gothic enough for me, but \u003ci\u003eBeloved Poison\u003c\/i\u003e is killing it. The blood, the bones, the crumbling hospital . . . -- Laura Purcell, author of \u003ci\u003e The Silent Companions \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDark and vividly imagined, this Jem Flockhart mystery captures the squalor of Victorian London as it tells an engrossing story of medical misdeeds * Choice Magazine *\u003cbr\u003e. . . a tale of darkest London in the 1850s. This fine novel, featuring a most unusual detective, blends Victorian melodrama and historical reality * Sunday Express *\u003cbr\u003eI hugely enjoyed E.S Thomson's \u003ci\u003eThe Blood\u003c\/i\u003e . . . mesmerising . . . evokes the sights and the smells of the seedy dockland area brilliantly. Her protagonist Jem Flockhart is an inspired invention - a female apothecary disguised as a man, whose life and loves are as complex a secret as the cases she investigates -- Sally Magnusson\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom its grime-crusted back alleys to its blood-spattered operating tables, \u003ci\u003eThe Blood\u003c\/i\u003e emanates atmospheric appeal. Victorian England, in all its smog, lace and polluted waters, is compellingly conjured in every sentence, giving the setting not only a historical bent, but a macabre horror aesthetic as well. Meanwhile, Jem, who seems to pace the pages with flurried intellect as well as desperation, is a refreshing twist on the Sherlock Holmes archetype. Disguised as a man to get ahead in her career and seeking her long-lost love, Jem provides the otherwise plot-driven book's contemplative moments that strengthen larger themes of gender, power and ambition. \u003cbr\u003eFeaturing a feminist Sherlock Holmes in a Dickensian setting, \u003ci\u003eThe Blood\u003c\/i\u003e delivers quick pacing and satisfyingly grotesque set pieces.\u003c\/p\u003e -- Alice Martin * Shelf Awareness *","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47851681087831,"sku":"9781472126580","price":7.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781472126580.jpg?v=1710641945","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-blood-9781472126580","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}