The Specimen
In Georgian Edinburgh, Isobel Tait quietly endures anticipatory grief – her son’s rare heart defect is fatal. Isobel’s last hope is dashed when famous anatomist Dr. Burnett examines the eight-year-old and, though intrigued by his defective heart, can offer no treatment. Isobel has the rug pulled out from under her when she loses the child not through death, but kidnapping. Despite the efforts of the police, no trace of the boy can be found. Months later, Isobel, reluctant member of a tour group viewing Dr. Burnett’s specimen collection, is prostrated by horror when she encounters a child’s heart with a mitral valve defect. The celebrated doctor couldn’t possibly be responsible for her son’s disappearance … could he? Isobel will go to any lengths to find out.
This Gothic novel requires the suspension of disbelief typical of the genre (improbable coincidences, Clark Kent-like disguises, etc), but offers an engrossing and entertaining reading experience in return. Drawing heavily on the historical horror of Burke/Hare and resurrection men, Fixsen makes good use of setting and is adroit at building tension. To this, she adds elements of the police procedural. Yet it is her characterization that sets this offering above many of its fellows: a villain who is given a modicum of backstory, a mother’s tender love for her child. Wisps of the supernatural thurify Isobel’s search for knowledge of what happened to her son and to others with rare defects who have disappeared; spectral elements gain in intensity as Isobel’s own danger grows. Gothic fans will want to add this one to the to-read list; it’ll be perfect to curl up with as the first chill of autumn sets in.
