Undiscovered Scotland

 

"The Last Gifts to the Dead" by Allan Gaw is the fifth in the author's series of novels featuring Scottish pathologist Dr Jack Cuthbert and set in the London of nearly a century ago. You don't need to have read the earlier books in the series to thoroughly enjoy this one, though you will probably then want to read the earlier books to explore more of the central character's back story if you start with this fifth in the series.

When a man is hanged for murder, everyone believes his conviction was secure and the ultimate penalty justified. But his last words before his execution worry the senior police investigator and he asks Dr Jack Cuthbert to re-investigate the original murder. What follows is a fascinating and enthralling story that moves back and forth between the original investigation and the current re-investigation, with excursions to the Liège of two decades earlier.

With historical fiction, the reader need to buy into the setting the author is creating. As a pathologist himself, Allan Gaw has an intimate knowledge of the world his central character inhabits and perhaps the real trick he pulls off so successfully is immersing the reader in that world without ever overwhelming them in detail or jargon. As a result, the technical background to this book is utterly believable, as are the courtroom scenes, which are totally compelling. The characters are also beautifully crafted, with each having their own flaws and histories.

The publisher's description give a good idea of the plot: "A brutal murder, a complex investigation, a safe conviction. Or so everyone thinks until D.C.I. Mowbray hears the condemned man’s last words just before he is hanged. Now he needs Dr Jack Cuthbert to reopen the forensic investigation and prove that they have not been responsible for a tragic miscarriage of justice. But months after the crime, with no new evidence and both the victim and the killer now in their graves, where can the pathologist begin? Cuthbert had already worked hard on the case and is ninety-nine per cent sure he was right. But what about that last one percent? Might the unthinkable be true? Have they hanged the wrong man? It is now up to the pathologist to uncover the real truth."