A Dissection of Murder (Dr Dody McCleland, #1) in Aussie Readers

Sep 16, 2014 Brenda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-authors, first-in-a-series, 2012-release, mystery, read-on-kindle, crime, own-read, historical-fiction

Dr Dody McCleland returned from a year in Edinburgh where she had qualified as an autopsy surgeon. Back in London and at home with her sister Florence, she was to discover that her job as England’s first female autopsy surgeon wouldn’t be accepted by many. It was early in the twentieth century and change was coming – but many didn’t want that change. And with the suffragette movement gaining momentum, the violence at a women’s rights rally wasn’t unexpected.

The horrible death of one such woman w ...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was amazing

Against the backdrop of the suffragette movement in turn of the century Britain, Felicity Young introduces Dr Dody McCleland, the first female autopsy surgeon. Fresh from training with the preeminent surgeon of the time, she is eager to start her job at St Thomas Hospital but finds she must recuse herself from her very first case for the corpse is an acquaintance, a suffragette, who has died in a vicious riot sparked during a peaceful demonstration calling for women's right to vote. Despite bein Against the backdrop of the suffragette movement in turn of the century Britain, Felicity Young introduces Dr Dody McCleland, the first female autopsy surgeon. Fresh from training with the preeminent surgeon of the time, she is eager to start her job at St Thomas Hospital but finds she must recuse herself from her very first case for the corpse is an acquaintance, a suffragette, who has died in a vicious riot sparked during a peaceful demonstration calling for women's right to vote. Despite being only nominally concerned with the strident calls of the suffragettes, Dody allows herself to be convinced by her sister, Florence - an avid supporter of the cause- to investigate the autopsy findings. It becomes obvious that Lady Catherine Cartwright was savagely murdered and a member of the police force is suspected to be to blame.

As the first book in a new series, Young takes time to establish the historical and social backdrop of the book, having chosen quite a unique era in which to set A Dissection of Murder. The turn of the century was a period of budding social change, as evidenced by the suffragette movement, as well as being a period of emerging medical competency and forensic science and I love that Young has chosen to combine the two. Though I am not generally keen on historical fiction, yet a fan of the crime genre, particularly forensic and medical mysteries, I am surprised at how intriguing I found both aspects of the novel. The mystery behind the cause of Lady Cartwrights death is well plotted though it does drift a little as a central plot as Young is distracted by grounding the series, but that is to be expected in the first book of a series.

Dody McCleland proved to be a surprise, I was expecting her to be a stalwart feminist, intimately involved in the cause, having fought to become an autopsy surgeon against social convention. However it is Dody's younger sister, Florence, who is militant, and Dody vaguely supportive in principal, but uninterested in becoming actively involved. Daughters of wealthy, 'bohemian' parents the McCleland sisters are strong-willed women but with different approaches to life. Even though Dody has taken an unconventional path she wants only to use her interests and skills to do the job that fascinates her. While she is concerned about injustice, it is her intellectual curiosity that drives her rather than the passion in this case.
Chief Detective Inspector Matthew Pike of New Scotland Yard is in charge of the investigation into the cause of the riot and Lady Cartwright's death. A principled man he refuses to allow his superiors to sweep the matter under the carpet, despite not being particularly sympathetic to the suffragette movement.
The interaction between Pike and Dody is enjoyable and though there is a frisson of romantic interest, that the relationship is complicated by the social expectations, opinions and conflicts of the time, adds an additional layer of interest.
While I hope that the next book concentrates a little more on Dody's role in forensic autopsy, as she did not have the opportunity to do so in A Dissection of Murder, I am very impressed by this debut series. The concept is unique, the scope for development is wide and the characters are appealing. Felicity Young has earned herself a fan and I can't wait for the next installment.

Great news for US and UK readers as well, A Dissection of Murder is also being distributed overseas (in the US as The Anatomy of Murder)
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Feb 05, 2017 Kathryn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 4-stars, australian-authors, reading-list-2017

I enjoyed this first in the Dr Dody McLeland series set in London in 1910, around the time of the Suffragette movement. It starts with a peaceful march on Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament to protest for votes for women with protesters brutally disbanded by police. It was interesting to read more of the fight for women’s suffrage.

During the fight between police and protesters, people are killed, and Dr Dody McLeland is called on to autopsy the bodies. It was also interesting to read more a ...more

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May 21, 2024 Tien rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, australian-author, mystery, by-the-month-24

The novel opens with a scene from a real historic event of a riot in November 1910 where a peaceful march by suffragists turned violent causing the deaths of 3 women. And this is the incident our protagonist, Dr Dody McCleland, a up and rising forensic pathologist, is called to consult. The crime itself is fictional and so are most characters in this book.

I'm not one for extremes myself and Dody isn't either so I found her quite easily likeable though I guess it is easy for me to speak so, far i ...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Tarran rated it liked it

I was given an ARC of this book and it was quite interesting. I found it a bit slow to start off with, but once the characters and story started flowing, then the pace picked up. You meet Dody - a woman who is practicing the art of an autopsy surgeon in a time when female doctors were rare. She is assigned to the autopsy of three women who were killed in a riot for the female vote.

The story is in London where the forensic sciences are new and the police can be corrupt. Dody must find away to wo ...more

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