The Silent House of Sleep

LoveReading Says

Like Sherlock Holmes before him, Dr. Jack Cuthbert is brilliant but difficult. 

Working as a pathologist for Scotland Yard in London in 1928, he is assigned a case where two bodies have been found intertwined and decomposing in a park. It will take Cuthbert’s considerable talents (and his knowledge of Virgil) to solve the case. 

The Silent House of Sleep by Allen Gaw, is the first in a series featuring Cuthbert. It is a different type of crime thriller in that it focuses on the work of Cuthbert, the pathologist, rather than the police. Fair warning: it can get a bit gory in places, but Gaw’s depictions of Cuthbert’s work in the early days of forensic science are fascinating. 

There’s a dual timeline between 1920s London, with Cuthbert working to solve the mystery, and Cuthbert’s earlier life, first, as a medical student in Edinburgh, and then in the trenches of World War One. Cuthbert himself is prickly but likeable, with his considerable intellect, shiny shoes and a private life that he likes to keep very private. 

The novel was the winner of the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut Prize in 2024 and it’s easy to see why it won with its vivid descriptions, rich characters and engaging plot. Gaw himself is a retired pathologist, and he puts his knowledge of the field to good use. 

There is more Cuthbert to come, with three more novels already are in the pipeline to be published later this year.

Maureen Stapleton

Find This Book In