A whodunit in the classic mould mixes the story of a man coping with the scars of his past and the wounds of the present, and a tentative love story; McCarthy handles his material with real brio. St Benjamin's Museum of Pathology is the greatest of its kind. Any death occurring within its walls would create far-reaching ripples in the academic world, but the death of Nikki Exner is far from just any death. Raped, then hung, drawn and quartered, her grotesque demise sickened everyone. Chief Inspector Castle has problems of his own and isn't interested in the investigation, but his deputy, Inspector Beverley Wharton, doesn't mind. She knows that this is going to do her nothing but good, and when she discovers that Tim Bilroth, known rapist and drug addict, is on the museum staff, she knows he is her murderer. Bilroth is arrested and when he commits suicide in custody, his guilt seems certain. However, Helen Flemming, a solicitor with good reason to dislike Wharton, suspects she is wrong.
McCarthy has been practising pathology since 1985. He is currently a consultant histopathologist in Gloucestershire, but this doesn't suggest (as it might) that this is a case of 'good research, shame about the writing'; McCarthy cuts it in that area too.
