The Specimens

A bold retelling of Burke and Hare’s crimes from the women closest to the gruesome truth
Up the close and down the stair, meet the women of Burke and Hare

"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." THE HERALD

WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH AUGUST 2025

Up the close and down the stair, meet the women of Burke and Hare

Edinburgh, 1828. Two women - one rich, one poor - must navigate life against a frenzied backdrop of medical discovery, mob mayhem, and murder.

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.

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?

Discover the notorious serial killings of Burke and Hare, told for the first time through the eyes of women whose
stories reveal the depths of the human heart.

COMING OCTOBER 2025 - Poor Creatures - Unearth the fascinating story of Mary Shelley: the mind which birthed Frankenstein's monster.


PRAISE FOR THE SPECIMENS

"Beguiling and atmospheric" HEAT MAGAZINE

"A fresh, feminine take on the horrors of Scotland's most notorious serial killers" SALLY MAGNUSSON

"Gruesomely gripping, this story will stay with you for a long time" SUE LAWRENCE

"Mairi Kidd holds a lantern up to the brutality of women's lives in Burke, Hare and Knox's Edinburgh" LUCY RIBCHESTER

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.