The Surgeon's House is an engaging historical mystery and the sequel to The Small Museum by Jody Cooksley. Released 22nd May 2025 by Allison & Busby, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
Although undoubtedly fairly accurate with regard to social restrictions, sexism, and rigid class divisions, it's relentlessly depressing. Hannah Arendt was entirely spot on when she coined the phrase "the banality of evil" (she was talking about Eichmann, but the phrase is also quite apt here). The male characters are universally bad, mostly incompetent small minded and mean spirited. The women are hounded from pillar to post by circumstances beyond their control. When the resolution and denouement occur, although self-contained in this volume, they failed to entirely satisfy.
The pacing is... sedate. The characters are a mixed bag; some are well fleshed out and believable, others seem more like mostly 2 dimensional plot devices. It must be said the author is extremely gifted, often the descriptive prose is beautifully rendered and inviting.
Definitely one for fans of historical fiction/thrillers. There is a fair bit of continuity from the first book, and although this one can be read as a standalone, there's a large-ish portion of the plot which follows from the first book, and thus there will be some spoilers if read out of order.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 10 hours, 21 minutes and is capably read by Jessica Whittaker and Louise Williams. They do a good job with the disparate regional accents and a range of ages. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.
Three stars. Readable, stately paced, and depressingly accurate.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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