The Ivory Grinder
A tale of usury, body snatching, tooth transplants and murder in eighteenth century Edinburgh.
In the summer of 1769, Scotland’s capital is at its zenith. Its swelling population threatens to burst its walls and, with the building of a massive bridge and a whole new town, opportunities abound.
The university is a world-renowned seat of learning, and its medical college is home to some of the finest physicians in the land, but in the narrow back streets the quacks and charlatans still ply their trade and, while life is cheap, the dead can fetch a good price.
Fletcher Gillis and his beautiful new wife are just passing through on their way to claiming his inheritance, but the promise of wealth has attracted other, dangerous visitors to the dark, foetid tenements of the old city and Gillis finds himself sucked into a violent spiral which threatens his life and everything he holds dear.
Very well-written and gives an excellent picture of late eighteenth century Edinburgh... with no horror missing.
Gill Jackson M.D, Robert Hale Ltd
An original and inventive plot... writing has a very visual quality, not to mention some nicely macabre scenes and details.
Mary Jones, Gregory and Co.
