The Specimens cover art

The Specimens

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £31.99

Buy Now for £31.99

About this listen

 "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©2024 Mairi Kidd (P)2024 Bonnier Books UK Crime Crime Thrillers Genre Fiction Historical Medical Thriller & Suspense Murder Heartfelt
All stars
Most relevant
Great storyline. The book kept me asking the same questions as motives and addictions grew, what is right and what is wrong and when to stop!

Hard to put down

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent read, Edinburgh sounds wild back in the day in this book. definitely worth a read.

brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellently performed audiobook.

While the author has captured the the period beautifully, the narrator has brought meaning and nuance to the reader.

I was swept along by the convergence of characters and the distinction between the two leading subjects, almost hoping that matters couldn’t get any worse as the tale wore on.

This macabre account of malpractice, deception and credulous innocence in early 19th century Edinburgh, brings colour and context to the lives of 2 infamous baddies (Burke & Hare) and sheds light on why and how they procured their living from the complicit and wealthy anatomist, Robert Knox.

This a well-balanced and compelling historical novel which I enjoyed enormously.

Atmospheric Depiction

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Such an interesting and fascinating book. So atmospheric. All brought to life by the best narrator I have ever heard. Amazing.

Amazing narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved this from the outset. Living in Edinburgh and being familiar with all the locations made it really come to life for me, helped by the brilliant, atmospheric descriptions by the author. The connections to Edinburgh's dark history gave me goosebumps, especially towards the end and provides plenty food for thought. Wonderful, admirable and strong leading women with intriguing, believable characters throughout makes this a engaging, fascinating read and all narrated fantastically too. Brilliant! 👏

Beautifully written, fascinating story....even if mostly fictional

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews