Not The Deaths Imagined
“Driving away from the Necropolis, he relishes the usual wave of satisfaction he experiences on completion. This latest triumph is a little younger than his usual, but no less warranted. The experimental cocktail in her tea had worked splendidly…”
In a leafy Glasgow suburb, Dr Beth Semple is busy juggling motherhood and full-time GP work in the 90s NHS. But her life becomes even more problematic when she notices some odd deaths in her neighbourhood. Though Beth believes the stories don’t add up, the authorities remain stubbornly unconvinced.
Soon, Beth’s professional reputation is challenged. There follows a chilling campaign of harassment and she finds her professional reputation – and her family – are put at risk.
Is a charming local GP actually a serial killer? Can Beth piece together the jigsaw of perplexing fatalities and perhaps save lives? And as events accelerate towards a dramatic conclusion, will the police intervene in time?
From the author of Not the Life Imagined, this slow-burning tartan noir novel from a Bloody Scotland Crime Spotlight author follows Beth on another quest for justice. Reflecting Pettigrew’s own medical expertise, Not The Deaths Imagined re-affirms the benefits of growing up in a loving family and the need for friends in hard times, while offering insight into the twisted development of a psychopathic mind.
Not The Life Imagined
Runner up in SAW Constable Silver Stag Award 2018
Chosen as a Crime Spotlight novel at Bloody
Scotland 2019
‘Hasn’t he got a wee willie?’ Rosie peered at the cadaver’s flaccid hapless member.
‘What?’ I spluttered.
‘Haven’t you seen one?’ Rosie’s left eyebrow rose.
‘Come on girls, you must’ve seen a few peckers? You’re not telling me you haven’t done it, are you?’ Rosie’s beautifully-plucked eyebrows shot into her shaggy blonde fringe. ‘What else d’you do after a few dates? I mean after you’ve sussed out he’s not a serial killer, or worse, find out he’s really, really boring?’
… Out of the cobwebbed fire door the main road is quiet. Chilly for May. He’s hungry. Might there still be bacon in the fridge? Or would someone have finished it after the pub last night?
A darkly humorous, thought-provoking story of Scottish medical students in the sixties, a time of changing social and sexual mores. None of the teenagers starting at Glasgow University in 1967 live the life they imagine.
“There have been many books written about the world of medicine, but Anne Pettigrew brings a fresh voice and moral authority to the subject. Well-written and lively…”
Author Simon Brett, O.B.E., F.R.S.L., 2014 CWA Diamond Dagger winner and judge of the Constable Silver Stag Award in which “Not the Life Imagined” was runner up.
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Everyone needs a doctor sometime and may wonder what they are thinking… Millions watch medical dramas like Casualty or Dr Foster and the list of doctors in award-winning literature is large, yet few characters are female apart from pathologists, historical pioneers and a scattering of Mills and Boon heroines, according to Goodreads. So, I decided to write about what it was like in the man’s world of medicine 50 years ago, trying to portray the nuts and bolts of qualifying as a woman doctor and fighting up the career ladder. As the book took wings, it became apparent that the difficulties faced by men needed aired too, and the fact that doctors are human, just as liable to be defrauded, become ill and even have breakdowns or commit suicide. The narrative themes are topical: how to survive ‘Weinsteins,’ domestic abuse and addiction. It has something to say about the Scottish psyche, the evolution of sexual predation and the dark side of advancement in many careers, but humour is never far away. Medicine can be fun. I love Dr Beth and hope readers will too. My aim was a book club book, ripe for discussion on the struggles of the ‘goodies’ and the genesis of ‘the baddies’ and on doctors’ motivations and morals. Most of all, however, I wanted it not to take itself too seriously, but to entertain as well as intrigue and inform.
This book is dedicated to the millions of girls world-wide denied any formal education – never mind a university degree- and benefits the work of Plan UK, who aim to correct this.
Find out more at: https://plan-uk.org
Author Simon Brett, O.B.E., F.R.S.L., 2014 CWA Diamond Dagger winner and judge of the Constable Silver Stag Award in which “Not the Life Imagined” was runner up.