Undiscovered Scotland

 

"The Shadows and the Dust" is the fourth in Allan Gaw'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, "The Silent House of Sleep", "The Moon's More Feeble Fire" and "To the Shades Descend" to thoroughly enjoy this book, though there is more of the central character's back story that you will probably want to go explore if you start with this fourth in the series.

The subject matter and the nature of his profession means that all of the Dr Jack Cuthbert books have been dark, and "The Shadows and the Dust" is no exception. Elements of the story might feel familiar, child murder and an orphanage run by nuns, but Allan Gaw's approach to his novels mean that his books have been both distinctive and memorable, and the latest is no exception.

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, and the same can be said of his characters, who each come with their own flaws and histories. It is also true of the 1931 London in which much of the book is set. The four Dr Jack Cuthbert novels published to date have appeared in fairly quick succession, and it is unclear what the future holds for this remarkable character: though there must be more stories that could be told about him.

The publisher's description give a sense of the plot: "Like all pathologists, Cuthbert finds dealing with dead children the hardest part of his job. However, when the body of a young boy is found in the grounds of a church orphanage, Cuthbert not only has to steel himself for the task ahead, he is also forced to revisit his own childhood grief. The boy in his shallow grave has been interred with some ritual, but just how did he die? And why was he killed? Working closely with his assistant and the team at Scotland Yard, Cuthbert slowly and painstakingly reveals the terrible truth."