Book Review | “The Anatomist’s Wife” (#LadyDarby, No.1) by Anna Lee Huber

Posted Monday, 4 July, 2016 by jorielov , , , , 3 Comments

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Borrowed Book By: My local library has always been quite keenly astute on forthcoming releases by authors whose books wink at me from the card catalogue, whenever I am seeking a new read within a genre I happen to have a penchant attachment. Cosy mysteries have always been knitted into my heart, and although I honestly cannot remember exactly if the library purchased the Lady Darby book series off a request of mine OR if they were requested by another patron, all I can simply say is that I felt immeasurably blessed that the first two novels of the Lady Darby mysteries were at my library! I did make enquiries on behalf of this series to be continued to be added to the library as forthcoming titles release henceforth forward!

As this series is a part of a personal quest to read Serial Fiction Library Finds, I was not compensated for this review nor was I obliged to share my thoughts on behalf of this novel or the Lady Darby Mysteries.

On Cosy Historical Mysteries:

My blog has afforded me the wicked sweet pleasure of being enlightened and entranced by a new branch of literature my heart draws a breath of joy out of discovering: Cosy Historical Mysteries! I was always attracted to Cosy Mysteries, since I was quite young, as I grew up on Agatha Christie (as aforementioned on my review of The Monogram Murders), whose charm and grace in the telling of a story captured me for a lifetime. I readily read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys quite equally and wished I had found another sleuth who could have created a special niche of reading joy.

Cosies for me, have always been where my heart and mind are in sync to find solace in the pursuit of a mystery. There are times I attempt to read a bit of hard-boiled entrants to the Crime Fiction family, only to do an about-face and retreat back to the warmth and comfort of a Cosy.

Where I yield on this one note, is where my televised serials have led me to travel: Hart to Hart, Cagney & Lacey, Remington Steele, Banacek, Quincy, M.E., Crossing Jordan, McMillan & Wife, Mrs. Columbo, Columbo, Ironside, Perry Mason & the Movies; Due South, JAG, NCIS, NCIS:LA, NCIS: NOLA, Jesse Stone (starring Tom Selleck), Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Murdoch Mysteries, Rizzoli & Isles, Ghost Whisperer, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Rosemary & Thyme, Sherlock (Series 1-2), Castle (Minus Series Finale), the Mentalist, Jane Doe, Diagnosis Murder, McBride, Mystery Woman, Dragnet, the Division, Nash Bridges, Walker, Texas Ranger, the Peacemakers, In the Heat of the Night, Murder, She Wrote, Numb3rs, Matlock, 1-800-the-Missing, For the People, the Nick & Nora movies, Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, and many more yet to disclose! As well as wanting to focus on watching: Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis & Endeavour; LA Law & Hawaii Five-O (original).

As you can well see, I am attracted to a hodgepodge of selections, but at the heart of all the series I mentioned is a solid story, a compelling lead character, and stories which touch your heart evermore. The added benefit by half is that most of these lovelies have quirky families stitched into the lead & supporting characters, of whom could not nearly function half as well without each other!

What draws me into the Cosy Historical section is the ability to take my love of murder mysteries and/or psychological suspense and wrap it inside of a historical setting! Until I blogged, I did not even realise how oft I duck inside a historical novel — across the multi-dimensional spectrum of offerings! Imagine my plumb surprise to realise then, that there is a whole curiously new section of Cosies out there waiting for me to discover them?

*For a listing of my favourite discoveries in Cosy Mysteries, see my review of See Also Murder

As I’ve been hoping to bring the #LadyDarby Mysteries to Jorie Loves A Story for two years, you could say I have found a way to bring them into the conscious of my readers by how I’ve etched in a working conversation about them on various posts or reviews. I had originally planned to begin reviewing these lovely novels in 2014, including during #HorrorOctober (a book blogosphere event that charmed me to join) except to say, most of my love for this series has lived through my Twitter feeds! I decided as a cross-celebration of the fifth Lady Darby novel to finally read through the entire series & share my thoughts with my readers who have been only been treated to a cursory glimpse of what gives me so much joy about this series prior to now!

You will happily find my thoughts about Lady Darby peppered throughout the following posts:

  • Death Sits Down to Dinner | in reference to my joy in what awaits me (see Review)
  • Claws of the Cat | in reference to grisly crime scenes (see Review)
  • The Masque of a Murderer | in reference of why I love Cosy Historical Mysteries (see Review)
  • Inspector of the Dead | in reference to a particular style of Cosy Historical Mysteries (see Review)
  • A Dangerous Place (Maisie Dobbs) | in reference to finding Cosy Historical Mysteries (see Review)
  • Mist of Midnight | in reference to elements a similar style (see Review)
  • Keeping Kate | in reference of how Kate & Tyler reminded me of Lady Darby & Gage (see Review)
  • The Spoils of Avalon | on reflection of why I love Cosy Historical Mysteries (see Review)
  • #WWWeds No.7 | in reference of my excitement to get back into the series (see post)
  • Interview with Mary F. Burns | when I first started to compile a CHM List (see Interview)
  • Interview with R.J. Sullivan | in reference to smaller editions (see Interview)

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Book Review | “The Anatomist’s Wife” (#LadyDarby, No.1) by Anna Lee HuberThe Anatomist's Wife
Subtitle: A Lady Darby Mystery

Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister's estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes.

Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage-a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn't about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl.

When Kiera and Gage's search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim...


Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9780425253281

Series: Lady Darby Mysteries


Also in this series: Mortal Arts, A Grave Matter, A Study in Death


on 6th November, 2012

Pages: 368

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The Lady Darby Mysteries:

The Anatomist’s Wife | No.1

Mortal Arts | No.2 | Synopsis

A Grave Matter | No.3 | Synopsis

A Study in Death | No.4 | Synopsis

A Pressing Engagement | No.4.5 (e-novella) | Synopsis

As Death Draws Near | No.5 | Synopsis | Happy #PubDay 5th of July, 2016

Published By: Berkley Prime Crime (@BerkleyMystery)

imprint of Berkley Publishing (@BerkleyPub)

via Penguin Random House (@penguinrandom)

About Anna Lee Huber

Anna Lee Huber

Anna Lee Huber is the Award-Winning and National Bestselling Author of the Lady Darby Mystery Series. She was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. From a young age, her imagination was boundless. She spent her summers with her brothers and sister playing Star Wars, wearing snow boots and her mother's old nightgowns while swinging plastic bats as light-sabers, and The A-Team hanging off the riding lawn mower (what else were they supposed to use for the van?). In the fourth grade, she penned her first story, and she’s been writing ever since.

Anna attended college in Music City USA-Nashville, Tennessee, where she met her husband while acting in a school production of Our Town. They married just before she graduated summa cum laude from Lipscomb University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and a minor in Psychology. She now pens the award-winning Lady Darby historical mystery series for Berkley Publishing. Her debut novel, The Anatomist’s Wife, has won and been nominated for numerous awards, including a Daphne du Maurier Award and two 2013 RITA® Awards.

Anna is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers, and Romance Writers of America. She currently lives in Indiana with her family, and when not hard at work on her next novel, she enjoys reading, singing, travel, and spending time with her family.

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My Review of The Anatomist’s Wife:

Scotland
London Society, the ton
August 1830, 19th Century

Labryrinth garden maze {scene of the crime}
Lady Godwin {deceased}

Straight from the onset of the body’s discovery, the palatable anguish coursing through Lady Darby was quite apparent. You picked up on her unease and the conflict of confidence – to stay or flee a scene of death. Even without the fullness of her back-story, you can gather the sense all is not quite well; nor has been for a period of time. The view of her peers was to admonish her resolve, which at this point was so very frazzled and broken it would not take much to unravell the last of her overwrought nerves!

For she had been the victim of a very public persecution where society at large has the understanding of a flea! So singularly bent to distrust and disbelieve the truth in front of them, they subject Lady Darby to suspicion and harsh critcism with unbounded relish! Such an appalling display of self-indulgent hyposcity being flouted about as you please to puff up the misconstruments surrounding Kiera; better know as Lady Darby! Her accusers appeared to bear no aspersions to causing her further discomfort and disgrace, at a point in her life where she had been seeking refuge with her sister Alana and brother-in-law Philip; the Earl of Cromarty, who helped shoulder the burdens afflicted by public prejudices. Shadows of ill-will surround her in a haunting and beguiling haze, where gentle society has inflicted turmoil out of fear. As unfounded as any uncontrollable mob, their linchpin is knowing that her knowledge of the dead will unhinge their gentle society’s assumption on the place and role a woman must maintain in marriage as much as in life.

The fortitude of her sister and brother-in-law to provide shelter from the raging storm of the public eye led her to Scotland. To free herself from the bond of her husband’s deeds which set her on such a unique path as to merit a deluge of suspicion from London Society. I loved finding that her favourite place to retreat for personal solace and serenity of mind was to nestle into the warmth of the library. Amongst the books, shelves, and artwork of Saint Andrew presiding over her from above; her ready companions out of a rippling sea of chaos.

The Highlands are a setting that I am akin to be magnetically drawn towards and Huber has a great way of providing the allure. There is a hinting of Gothic atmosphere, with an air of a nod towards a setting of a story that begs patience; for its pace of placing you in the in-between moments encircle you. Awaiting to find the next clue to be brought forward are very much fraught with a rankle of overcharged nerves as the characters who are attempting to unravell the murderous heart amongst the lot of house-guests, grows most difficult as time presses forward.

Gairloch Castle | outside Inverness, Scottish Highlands
Gentleman Sleuth: Mr Sebastian Gage – son of a gentlemen inquiry agent
19th Century Medical Examiner’s Sketch Artist turnt Detective {Lady (Kiera) Darby}

Philip, Earl of Cromarty {brother-in-law to Lady Darby}
Alana, Philip’s husband, Kiera’s sister

To make matters worse, her instant dislike of Mr Gage did nothing but question further his motives when he readily agreed with Philip to conduct an inquiry into the heinous death on the estate. Straight-off Lady Darby sensed displeasure by the gentleman’s presence, her first impression did not yield much confidence in his inherited talent for deduction; as his father’s reputation proceeded him. The quickfire way of allowing discontent to thrive is to let house-guests know they are now suspect in a crime which granted them the licence to unleash a vengefully snarky firing of remarks against Lady Darby! Their justification, dear reader?! They felt it was their duty to have plausible reasons of doubt regarding her character and fiercely assert her guilt based on presumptions spun out of ignorance and intolerance!

Thus, as she willed herself a strength she did not feel, it was out of the love and protective grace she had for her sister Alana and her niece and nephews, that she rallied to draw a measure of resolve against her peers to work proactively with Mr Gage to resolve this nightmaric tragedy! When it came time to examine the body, the appreciation I had for Huber’s ability to pull in and out of the murderous state of the body on the table was greeted in full gratitude! Lady Darby is a 19th Century gentlewoman sleuth but she is also a medical examiner by proxy from the hours she put in being in the company of her husband (the official medical examiner) illustrating cadavers and the dead. Her late husband studied anatomy and she in turn learnt the skills of an examiner. Yet, even with this foreknowledge dear reader, the conditions of Lady Godwin are not for the sensitive heart – her remains were simply beyond understanding due to how she had been brutalised. It spoke well of the research on behalf of Huber and of the honesty of how certain crimes are above and beyond any logic at first sight. The research here I applauded Huber for was the knowledge of forensic enquiries and the processes in which Lady Darby first starts to employ to make her investigative remarks towards Mr Gage; of whom, could not help but tip his hat to her for her receptively acute mind.

The judgement of a monkey court bares only fools (this could be said of Lord Westlock who acted upon the rumouring poppycock to project the suspicions against Lady Darby quite vocally!) as Westlock blundered his chance to cause direct harm to Lady Darby and what favoured me to the scene itself was how gallant Gage defended her honour whilst offering his protection outright. This from the bloke who was vexed to even share her company! He was such a complex character to warm up to as his bearing of duty overshadowed his humanness at relating to others around him. It was in this particular moment I had first realised the full depth of the characters stitched into the mystery itself — none of the characters were of whom they appeared and what is at first deceptive has a bit more intrigue to knit together than what is readily seen or apparently obvious to be known.

Gage is not the kind of bloke who reveals his thoughts nor his motives for his behaviour on the enquiries they make in tandem to investigate what truly happened to Lady Godwin. This disconnect leads Lady Darby to question the logical conclusion she came to putting her absolute trust in him without an inkling of doubt left-over to untether her confidence. A chameleon by nature, Gage transitions his stance of allegiance for or against Lady Darby as he willingly sees fit; the vexation for her is not knowing if he is being truthful when they are alone or acting a part to gain her trust whilst considering her a suspect. The growing despair amongst the house-guests at being held against will (no one was allowed to leave) when they feel the murderer is a most obvious choice (blatantly grounded in hearsay) curates the atmosphere of the castle to be wrought with high emotions and a thickening fog of tension.

One of Lady Darby’s hobbies is to piece together puzzles – a hobby I share with her, even if it has been half an age since I’ve assembled one. I do rather long to collect the Fantasy artwork puzzles and then, hang them at an interchanging interval to where I am never looking at the same fantastical scene for too long before a new one replaces the old. Puzzles are as dexterous for the mind and equally as challenging as chess or mah jong! I felt it was a clever sign towards why Lady Darby had a natural instinct for sleuthing. Her mind was sharpened (moreso than her  peers) and acutely aware of how to theorise what is not entirely known based on observation and physical evidence.

The most endearing quality Lady Darby brokered through her experiences with her now late husband Sir Anthony was her ability to distance her emotions in order to study the human body from an anatomical point of reference. She refuelled this level of detachment into her role as amateur sleuth, allowing herself to get caught up in the pursuit of finding facts to support the crime and the clues left behind (a limited few, I should add). Her spirit wavered naturally if she thought too much on the double-loss of life (as Lady Godwin was withchild at the time of her death) but as she focused on finding the person responsible she granted herself a new level of purpose. A firm step forward out of the shadow of her blighted past. Finding a way to thread her knowledge of anatomy and use it for something positive renewed her self-confidence as well.

She was humbled enough to realise that she could not trust her instincts in regards to what she should say or how best to express her thoughts (in regards to her observations whilst deducing what happened) as the social judgements against her were far more damaging towards her self-esteem than she first processed possible. However, the more time she spent in the company of Mr Gage, the more she found she was inclined to reveall; small confidences of trust started to come more natural as they drew closer together in their investigations. Evenso, there were a few differences between them that started to rankle Lady Darby a bit the wrong way – such as the lack of social tact on behalf of Mr Gage when questioning witnesses or the forementioned shifting of his personal opinions. This developed into a near-hostile exchange with everyone they came in direct contact!

As a widow and a woman disinclined to flirt, Lady Darby had to back-pedal her way round unwanted advances. She also fancied watching how her peers had a preference for this social behaviour which she felt was most unnecessary; as why pitch a game between interested parties when you can opt to speak more directly to the point? Feelings are surely not so complicated to express in such situations? Lady Darby was similar to Jane Austen in how she chose to take stock and note of social customs and social observations of traditions she did not play a role in herself.

The worst bit was that her tender mercy to have a newfound freedom at Gairloch Castle was now co-dependent on her willingness to continue to work alongside Mr Gage; of whom whose presence was growing tiresome due to the nature of how their investigation was progressing forward. They were more vinegar and oil than one would expect possible, but evenso! They had a working companionship neither could deny was brilliant in it’s own right – they complimented each other well, even if more than half their time was spent in hearty bouts of rows! Some of this came out of their misconstruments about their individual personalities or quirks; but more to the point, when they were disagreeing they were honestly becoming closer together! They each had a ready mind, actively aware of their surroundings and had a distinct advantage over their peers; they were happily unique and shared a gift for intellectual curiosities.

You can only smirk when you first realise Lady Darby’s error in regards to Mr Gage’s proclivities! This is where I felt there was a marked change in her attitude towards him as well as a levelling of their angst for each other. It took them each a long time to sort each other out, as each of them was highly guarded for different reasons. Being able to have a ‘fly on the wall’ presence as they talk out their differences whilst owning to their own pride is part of the joy in reading the story; whilst giving you a clue about how the series might shift forward in successive installments. Lady Darby shines when she has a bit of challenge next to her in regards to a potential partner who is both her equal and is a bit in awe of her level of intelligence outside his own interests. They exchange the roles often between who is the teacher and who is the student, depending on the situation at hand.

I will always curl inside a sociological thriller – Huber makes my entreaty into the shoes of Lady Darby such a wonderful repose of insight into a psychological suspense thriller that you truly never quite know which way the story shall twist and turn until you root out all the clues as Lady Darby discovers them herself. If you find yourself attached to layered story-telling and a well-crafted mystery where every component of the crime is examined and re-treated by a second arc of examination, this is surely the series you will find most inspiring to read, as Huber etches out such a well-thought out playing field of intrigue!

It’s hard to put down a Lady Darby mystery; you want to stay firmly in place at the footheels of the lead character, without missing one second of her life! How blessed are we then, that the series is releasing at such a lovely breadth of punctuality that we are never very far outside the next installment of where Lady Darby encourages to follow her footsteps towards understanding the next crime that arrives at her feet to solve! This is a wicked good series for Cosy enthused readers who want something a bit more intensive than a traditional Cosy but not so far removed from the genre to squish them out of it! The Lady Darby Mysteries are unputdownable simply because they embody everything you’d hope to find inside them and then, they wickedly take you to a new level of literary enlightenment!

The most intriguing reason to read the Lady Darby series:

To see how Anna Lee Huber’s mind intersects with the historical presence of emerging forensic science and the notion of how to sleuth through an incomprehensible crime based on evidential support! The way in which Huber allows you to absorb into Lady Darby’s world is all-encompassing – from both a sensory level of aesthetics within this setting in the Highlands to the atmospheric nature writ into the undertone presence of a Historical Thriller – it’s Cosy on behalf of how Huber pulls back the grislier bits of the crime scene & of the investigation – as this is definitely an intellectual mystery to solve (not only on behalf of Lady Darby, but for the reader, too!) with key components cross-secting genres of interest under the main umbrella of Crime & Suspense.

I personally felt attached to this world in such a heart-centred way due to how Huber personified Lady Darby and how she made her character’s journey one that you could fuse your empathy inside most directly! It isn’t a hard concept to understand what Lady Darby is going through – both privately and publicly – to overcome humiliation and an unjust prejudiced response from her peers, is psychologically difficult but it is also a hard hit to one’s psyche. How to trust when nothing feels life will ever be normal again!? Huber takes you through all the lens of supposition and grants you the liberty of seeing how Lady Darby herself chooses to not become the victim of public shame but rather a strong contributor towards understanding the criminal mind behind crimes even inquiry agents have difficulty in solving.

I personally took a keen interest in the style of clothes Lady Darby loves to wear as they are a reflection of a style I knew I would have worn myself, if our lives had been exchanged. The beauty of those fashions are happily reflective in the cover art designs throughout the series and in-part why I felt the artwork for this series was so very well in-tune with the personality of Lady Darby herself. It is a special treat to find artwork which befits a character and it was definitely an impressive glimpse into the fuller scope of how setting, atmosphere and elements of psychological suspense play key roles in the Lady Darby Mysteries.

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A note of gratitude

& why this review is part of a six-post series about #LadyDarby:

#JorieReads the #LadyDarby series banner created by Jorie via Canva. Book Photography Credit: Jorie of jorielovesastory.com.

A special note of gratitude is extended to the author Anna Lee Huber, who not only was kind to allow me the honour of using Press Kit Materials to enhance this review & the ones which will proceed it moving forward in the Lady Darby series (Books 1-5 respectively), but she has a genuine quality about her as an author who is quite receptive and intuitive to readers. I cannot thank her enough for the patience to watch me prosper through her beautiful historically wrought Cosy Mysteries these past two years! This has been quite the adventure for me, and I never meant to keep the author in suspense as I had requested the Press Kit Materials knowing how much I wanted to share my love for her series with my own readers!

When it became quite apparent that my ill-fated Summer (in 2014) was going to be hugged close to unexpected emergencies and unexpected life moments arising out of the clear blue to distant myself from the readings I most earnestly wanted to dig back into, I realised that the best time to post my thoughts on the Lady Darby series would be to include them during Horror October. Except to say, this was not meant to be. I tried to return back to the series a multitude of times, but the timing was never right for me to do so. Not until I learnt of the release of As Death Draws Near did I find new inspiration to re-immerse myself into the series and finally bring to my readers what has entranced my heart & mind with this beautifully written series by Huber!

The very first moment I picked up The Anatomist’s Wife a most lovely revelation floated into my mind — these are not your traditional Cosies; why they are nearly a hard-boiled wrapped upside of a Cosy with the full benefit of a psychological suspense ebbing out of the backbone of the narrative itself! For this reason, I was most delighted I could shine a light on a book series that champions what I am looking for in the genre, but might push a few Cosy girls into the realms of Cosy Horror as this is quite literally a medical examiner investigative series!

Nearly 95% of this review was written by hand as I read The Anatomist’s Wife: originally every inch of a second I had spare, and championed the story despite lightning storms & power outages during the Summer of 2014! I continued to scribble by hand further impressions and ruminative thoughts as I re-visited the story this July 2016 before it became this post!

As I complete my readings of each #LadyDarby Mystery and assemble my collective thoughts on behalf of each of them in turn, I shall be releasing my reviews of the series in sequence of their publication with the one exception of A Pressing Engagement (as I do not read e-books) throughout the week. Leading up to my serial overview and reflections whilst hosting the Book Blast Celebration on behalf of the 5th release of As Death Draws Near. I received a special edition of the fifth release from the publisher in conjunction with the celebration and I can happily say Lady Darby came ‘home’ for the first time since I ‘met her via my local library’! In total, there will be six posts featured on Jorie Loves A Story – where I have the extreme pleasure of blogging my reactions to the series as it unfolded before my eyes!

I hope this first review will inspire your returned visits throughout the week, seeing what impressed me next and how Lady Darby kept captivating me as I read her further investigative adventures!

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Since I discovered the #LadyDarby series I have found a few more authors I want to read, further expanding myself inside Cosy Historical Mysteries – two of these authors I tentatively read prior to Lady Darby (the Pink Carnation & Lady Emily series) but I never ventured further than the firsts of both series! Therefore, I decided to include them on this list as a possible way to read more lovelies back-to-back this coming Autumn & Winter when I will be ready for them!

Similar Authors I want to Read Include: 

the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig

the India Black series by Carol K. Carr

the Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn

the Lady Emily series by Tasha Alexander

the Charles du Luc Historical Mystery series by Judith Rock

Clare Fergusson / Russ Van Alstyne mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Crowther & Westerman Mysteries by Imogen Robertson

the Kate Clifford series by Candace M. Robb

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Reader Interactive Question:

What draws your eye into a Cosy Historical Mystery with elements of Cosy Horror threading throughout the investigative bits with a fiercely strong female lead character!?

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I look forward to reading your thoughts & commentary! Especially if you read the novel or were thinking you might be inclined to read it. I appreciate hearing different points of view especially amongst bloggers who picked up the same novel to read.

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{SOURCES: Author photograph of Anna Lee Huber, Book Covers of “The Anatomist’s Wife”, “Mortal Arts”, “A Grave Matter” and “A Study in Death”, the Book Synopsis for “The Anatomist’s Wife”, and the Author Biography were provided by the author Anna Lee Huber and used by permission. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter.

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I’m a social reader | I love to tweet my reading life

Until I assembled these tweets on behalf of #LadyDarby I had mysteriously forgotten I have gone through three Summers back-to-back with horrid lightning storms that affected my blogging life! The tweets  about #LadyDarby reflect my two year quest to bring the series to #JLASblog!

NOTE: tweets returning soon.

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Comments via Twitter:

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Readers who championed this review on Twitter:

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • Serial Fiction Library Finds (Personal)

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Monday, 4 July, 2016 by jorielov in 19th Century, Amateur Detective, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Book Review (non-blog tour), Castles & Estates, Cosy Historical Mystery, Cosy Horror, Cosy Mystery, Crime Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, England, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical Thriller Suspense, Lady Detective Fiction, Library Catalogues & Databases, Library Find, Library Love, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Psychological Suspense, Scotland, Siblings, Sisters & the Bond Between Them, the Victorian era




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3 responses to “Book Review | “The Anatomist’s Wife” (#LadyDarby, No.1) by Anna Lee Huber

    • Hallo, Hallo Carrie!

      I’ve been so immersed inside my blog today (from writing up my final thoughts on behalf of #MortalArts, the sequel to this lovely to keying to go live with a meme I forgot to continue from 2014,…) I hadn’t noticed your lovely comments coming in! Forgive me! I saw you had liked the posts earlier – which is why I tweeted you a note of gratitude – but oh! What a special delight in finding your words on here!! :)

      Truly!? Wow. I can understand your frustration, then! I devoured this one quite quickly and then, as you read, had to wait two years to resume the whole series! I will hope you’ll have better luck & can read them back-to-back without as long of an absence! So wicked happy to find someone as enthused about this series as I have become! You’ll have to let me know after you’ve read them — what your thoughts were & how they resonated with you!

      Blessed for your visit!

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