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Bonnier Books Ltd Paperback English
The Specimens
A bold retelling of Burke and Hare’s crimes from the women closest to the gruesome truth
By Mairi Kidd
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<p><i>"A work of fiction that is both a potent portrait of early 19th-century Edinburgh but also a story about female agency or the lack of it. The result is a compelling, painful, haunted piece of work."</i> <b>THE HERALD</b><br><br><b>WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH AUGUST 2025</b><br><i><b><br>Up the close and down the stair, </b></i><b><i>meet the women of Burke and Hare</i><br></b><br><b>Edinburgh, 1828. Two women - one rich, one poor - must navigate life against a frenzied backdrop of medical discovery, mob mayhem, and murder.<br></b><br>Susan's sheltered life as the wife of Robert Knox, a wealthy anatomist, is a far cry from Helen's perilous existence in the Old Town slums with her lover William Burke.<br><br>Yet as people begin disappearing, these two different women face the same impossible choice. Should they protect what they have or tell the truth about what they know?<br><br><b>Discover the notorious serial killings of Burke and Hare, told for the first time through the eyes of women whose</b><br><b>stories reveal the depths of the human heart.</b><br><br><b><i>COMING OCTOBER 2025 - Poor Creatures - </i></b><i>Unearth the fascinating story of Mary Shelley: </i><i>the mind which birthed Frankenstein's monster...</i><br><br><br><b>PRAISE FOR THE SPECIMENS<br></b><br><i>"Beguiling and atmospheric"</i> HEAT MAGAZINE<br><br><i>"A fresh, feminine take on the horrors of Scotland's most notorious serial killers"</i> SALLY MAGNUSSON<br><br><i>"Gruesomely gripping, this story will stay with you for a long time"</i> SUE LAWRENCE<br><br><i>"Mairi Kidd holds a lantern up to the brutality of women's lives in Burke, Hare and Knox's Edinburgh"</i> LUCY RIBCHESTER</p>
<p><i>"A work of fiction that is both a potent portrait of early 19th-century Edinburgh but also a story about female agency or the lack of it. The result is a compelling, painful, haunted piece of work."</i> <b>THE HERALD</b><br><br><b>WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH AUGUST 2025</b><br><i><b><br>Up the close and down the stair, </b></i><b><i>meet the women of Burke and Hare</i><br></b><br><b>Edinburgh, 1828. Two women - one rich, one poor - must navigate life against a frenzied backdrop of medical discovery, mob mayhem, and murder.<br></b><br>Susan's sheltered life as the wife of Robert Knox, a wealthy anatomist, is a far cry from Helen's perilous existence in the Old Town slums with her lover William Burke.<br><br>Yet as people begin disappearing, these two different women face the same impossible choice. Should they protect what they have or tell the truth about what they know?<br><br><b>Discover the notorious serial killings of Burke and Hare, told for the first time through the eyes of women whose</b><br><b>stories reveal the depths of the human heart.</b><br><br><b><i>COMING OCTOBER 2025 - Poor Creatures - </i></b><i>Unearth the fascinating story of Mary Shelley: </i><i>the mind which birthed Frankenstein's monster...</i><br><br><br><b>PRAISE FOR THE SPECIMENS<br></b><br><i>"Beguiling and atmospheric"</i> HEAT MAGAZINE<br><br><i>"A fresh, feminine take on the horrors of Scotland's most notorious serial killers"</i> SALLY MAGNUSSON<br><br><i>"Gruesomely gripping, this story will stay with you for a long time"</i> SUE LAWRENCE<br><br><i>"Mairi Kidd holds a lantern up to the brutality of women's lives in Burke, Hare and Knox's Edinburgh"</i> LUCY RIBCHESTER</p>