The Blurb
Winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize
Death is a lonely business . . .
No one who meets Dr Jack Cuthbert forgets him. Tall, urbane, brilliant but damaged, this Scottish pathologist who works with Scotland Yard is the best the new DCI has seen. But Cuthbert is a man who lives with secrets, and he still battles demons brought back from the trenches.
When not one but two corpses are discovered in a London park in 1929, Cuthbert must use every tool at his disposal to solve the mystery of their deaths. In the end, the horrifying truth is more shocking than even he could have imagined.
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My Review
The Silent House of Sleep introduces us to policing and pathology in the late 1920s. Dr Jack Cuthbert has a reputation for being careful and thorough, and he's the pathologist you want on the case. And especially this one, with the discovery of two bodies, found in the strangest pose....
I first read this last year when it was nominated for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2024. It went on to win, from a field of really strong entries, and I could see why. And it stood up really well for a cheeky wee re-read. It's a brilliant book and Allan's experience and knowledge shine through. He has clearly researched the history of pathology, and the flashbacks to the war feel very authentic. And haunting.
I really liked Jack. He's polite and well mannered, calm and determined, and not afraid to say what he needs to, even when it receives a less than warm welcome from the police. He is careful and precise in his work, and will not be hurried. Even the few who don't like him feel a grudging respect for him. Mostly, anyway. But he is a complex man act and struggles, privately, not only with the horror of whether saw in the war, but also with his own feelings and emotions.
The case is satisfyingly complex, with some twists and turns along the way, and some pretty gruesome moments. This isn't a story of high drama, there is no big denouement. There is a conclusion, of course, one that involves a lot of sadness, but this is a quiet crime novel, a study of people and processes, a celebration of diligent hard work. Don't misunderstand me, it's not gentle, nor does it shy away from the horrible stuff, but it's slower, more considered. It's different from the more action based stuff that I normally read, and I welcome that change. I thoroughly enjoyed The Silent House of Sleep, and am looking forward to seeing what Dr Jack Cuthbert gets up to next.
The Author
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Allan Gaw is a Scot who lives and works near Glasgow. He studied medicine and is a pathologist by training but a writer by inclination. Having worked in the NHS and universities in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and the US, he now devotes his time to writing.
Most of his published work to date is non-fiction. These include textbooks and regular magazine articles on topics as diverse as the thalidomide story, the medical challenges of space travel and the medico-legal consequences of the Hillsborough disaster.
More recently, he has been writing short stories, novels and poetry. He has won the UK Classical Association Creative Writing Competition, the International Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize, the International Globe Soup 7-day Writing Challenge and was runner-up in the Glencairn Glass/Bloody Scotland Short Crime Fiction Competition. He has also had prose published in the literary journal, From Glasgow to Saturn and anthologies from the Edinburgh Literary Salon and Clan Destine Press in Australia. His poetry has been published by Dreich, Soor Ploom Press and Black Bough Poetry. His debut poetry collection, Love & Other Diseases, was published in 2023 by Seahorse Publications.
The Silent House of Sleep is his debut novel and is the first in the Dr Jack Cuthbert Mystery series.
You can read more about him and his work at his website: https://researchet.wordpress.com/ .
Bloody Scotland Panel
Winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize
Death is a lonely business . . .
No one who meets Dr Jack Cuthbert forgets him. Tall, urbane, brilliant but damaged, this Scottish pathologist who works with Scotland Yard is the best the new DCI has seen. But Cuthbert is a man who lives with secrets, and he still battles demons brought back from the trenches.
When not one but two corpses are discovered in a London park in 1929, Cuthbert must use every tool at his disposal to solve the mystery of their deaths. In the end, the horrifying truth is more shocking than even he could have imagined.
.jpg)
The Silent House of Sleep introduces us to policing and pathology in the late 1920s. Dr Jack Cuthbert has a reputation for being careful and thorough, and he's the pathologist you want on the case. And especially this one, with the discovery of two bodies, found in the strangest pose....
I first read this last year when it was nominated for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2024. It went on to win, from a field of really strong entries, and I could see why. And it stood up really well for a cheeky wee re-read. It's a brilliant book and Allan's experience and knowledge shine through. He has clearly researched the history of pathology, and the flashbacks to the war feel very authentic. And haunting.
I really liked Jack. He's polite and well mannered, calm and determined, and not afraid to say what he needs to, even when it receives a less than warm welcome from the police. He is careful and precise in his work, and will not be hurried. Even the few who don't like him feel a grudging respect for him. Mostly, anyway. But he is a complex man act and struggles, privately, not only with the horror of whether saw in the war, but also with his own feelings and emotions.
The case is satisfyingly complex, with some twists and turns along the way, and some pretty gruesome moments. This isn't a story of high drama, there is no big denouement. There is a conclusion, of course, one that involves a lot of sadness, but this is a quiet crime novel, a study of people and processes, a celebration of diligent hard work. Don't misunderstand me, it's not gentle, nor does it shy away from the horrible stuff, but it's slower, more considered. It's different from the more action based stuff that I normally read, and I welcome that change. I thoroughly enjoyed The Silent House of Sleep, and am looking forward to seeing what Dr Jack Cuthbert gets up to next.
The Author
.jpg)
Most of his published work to date is non-fiction. These include textbooks and regular magazine articles on topics as diverse as the thalidomide story, the medical challenges of space travel and the medico-legal consequences of the Hillsborough disaster.
More recently, he has been writing short stories, novels and poetry. He has won the UK Classical Association Creative Writing Competition, the International Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize, the International Globe Soup 7-day Writing Challenge and was runner-up in the Glencairn Glass/Bloody Scotland Short Crime Fiction Competition. He has also had prose published in the literary journal, From Glasgow to Saturn and anthologies from the Edinburgh Literary Salon and Clan Destine Press in Australia. His poetry has been published by Dreich, Soor Ploom Press and Black Bough Poetry. His debut poetry collection, Love & Other Diseases, was published in 2023 by Seahorse Publications.
The Silent House of Sleep is his debut novel and is the first in the Dr Jack Cuthbert Mystery series.
You can read more about him and his work at his website: https://researchet.wordpress.com/ .
Bloody Scotland Panel
Friday 12th September - 12:30, The Albert Halls
We make a deep incision into the world of crime fiction and science fact as we talk forensics with three authors whose books deliver thrills, chills and blood-spattered spills.
A gangland slaying and a missing movie star are at the heart of Whispers of the Dead, the sensational new Rhona MacLeod thriller from Lin Anderson. Forensic criminologist Laughton Rees faces a race against time to stop a killer in Simon Toyne’s exhilarating new novel Dead Water. Allan Gaw’s pathologist Dr Jack Cuthbert runs the gauntlet between fascists and razor gangs in 1930s Glasgow in To the Shades Descend.
This event will be chaired by Professor James Grieve.
