The Anatomist's Wife by Anna Lee Huber

A Rosalind Review:
The Anatomist’s Wife by Anna Lee Huber
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Ratings (out of 5)
Chemistry: 💥💥💥
Heat: 🔥🔥
Mystery: 🔎🔎
Spookiness: 👻👻👻
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Yes. Once again I’ve read a mystery novel for the romance blog I write. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I just can’t help it. Apparently I actually HAVE to read at least one mystery per month. I’m not sure what’ll happen to me if I don’t but I’m fairly certain it wouldn’t be good.
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Huber’s mystery (the first in a series) reads more like gothic fiction with a slightly modern edge—more feminist Wilkie Collins than Sherlock Holmes. It spends a lot of time in the spooky atmospheric details of the Scottish castle in which it takes place and the history of the unfairly whispered about heroine, Kiera, who gained a reputation for murder (most foul) after it was discovered that she’d assisted her surgeon husband in his post-mortem studies.
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When a woman is found brutally murdered, Kiera is asked to help the annoyingly handsome rake/inquiry agent, Mr. Gage, in his investigation. She acquits herself admirably, of course, and then they’re off to the races spending equal time hunting for clues and flirting. Again, The Anatomist’s Wife is more gothic suspense than classic mystery OR romance. There isn’t really an HEA here but more of a “maybe someday there will be an HEA,” and that’s ok since this book isn’t claiming to be a romance novel (I just keep sneaking mystery novels onto this blog and pretending it’s fine.) but it’s still worth reading if you’ve ever read Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, or The Turn of the Screw and thought, “Gee, but wish there was more nosing around all those things that go bump in the night.” I feel like, really, Mrs. Rochester especially could’ve benefited from an intrepid female sleuth investigating Thornfield. (Should I write that book? I think I should!)
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Kiss & Tell: No heavy petting in this one folks. It keeps to the tone of the time with longing glances, flushing cheeks, and the deliciously hot shoulder touch.
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Fair Warning: There’s a brutal murder at the start of this book and the details are not shied away from.