Convenient, mistress, whore (B.E.) Cant expression of standard meaning, favorable to one’s comfort.
Malcolm Forrester a physician from Edinburgh, and Elspeth MacLeod, a healer from the Isle of Skye, were both educated in European universities, but only men are permitted to practice medicine in the Scotland of 1705. The two collide in Torrport, a small town near Edinburgh,
Elspeth stubbornly seeking recognition as a physician, and Malcolm searching for a cure for smallpox amid the swirling vortex of war, politics, religion and disease. Poverty and misadventure are ever-present, and medicine a curious blend of old beliefs and new discoveries. Elspeth delivers a beautiful young woman of her bastard child and suspects she was poisoned. When the Laird’s Second-in-Command is found dead, kneeling face-down in a tub at the laundry, the two find themselves entangled in murder, smuggling, and espionage, amid powerful opposition that resists change.
The Convenient is a work of fiction in the historical, drama, and medical mystery sub-genres, and was penned by author duo Albert Marsolais and Bettyanne Twigg. The book is intended for adult reading audiences owing to some graphic medical content, moderate gore, and sexual references. Set at the turn of the eighteenth century, this engaging and unique story chronicles the history and mystery of doctors in Scotland at a time when gender bias runs rife. As Malcolm and Elspeth both try to forge their careers with different obstacles ahead of them, a series of suspicious dead bodies lead them into a ring of underground crime, and a regime resistant to change.
Author team Albert Marsolais and Bettyanne Twigg have crafted a totally engrossing historical murder mystery like nothing I’ve ever read before. The setting is unique, specifically focusing on a very well-researched niche of Scottish life, medicine, and sociocultural factors at a time when modernity was just rearing its head. I loved the central characters, and there was a strong commitment to close narration and character development that showed them both in all their triumphs and their flaws. The prose was smoothly penned and easy to immerse oneself in, and the atmospheric descriptive work really gives a cinematic sense of the historical time period in all its gruesome glory. Overall, I would highly recommend The Convenient to both fans of historical fiction and those who love a good medical murder mystery: a most accomplished work in a league of its own.
