Forgotten Book - Dead of a Physician

It's almost three years since I reviewed Fiona Sinclair's interesting debut novel on this blog and I'm delighted that it is now to be republished as a British Library Crime Classic. I now turn to her second published novel, Dead of a Physician (published in the US as But the Patient Died), which dates from 1961. This book confirms the good impression made by Scandalize Her Name, although again there are various touches of inexperience which perhaps a strong editor could have addressed.

Sinclair's husband was a doctor and this book, like P.D. James' later novel Shroud for a Nightingale, deals with a medical murder, some of the details of which are not for the squeamish. There are definite similarities between the two authors, and it's sad that Sinclair's early death meant that readers were denied the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of a steadily developing career.

I think it's fair to say that the structure of the novel lacks the tightness that one would expect from a more seasoned crime novelist. The story opens with Dr Geoffrey Tremaine's arrival at St Justin's Hospital; he is immediately confronted by a crisis as a member of the admin staff has collapsed, and we are quickly plunged into an account of apparently successful brain surgery. When the patient nevertheless dies, it appears to be from natural causes. But then poisoning is suspected...

There has also been an outbreak of poison pen letters at the hospital and it seems the dead man was the author of them. Is that why he was killed? Superintendent Grainger investigates, although one or two passing observations suggest that Tremaine has previously been involved in a murder mystery. In fact, Sinclair had previously written a novel, set in a school, and featuring Tremaine, Most Unnatural Murder, which was only published posthumously, in 1965. This book has its faults - unerringly highlighted on that interesting blog The Grandest Game in the World - but in my opinion it is nevertheless a good read.