WRITING legend Christopher Brookmyre has opened up about the new book he co-wrote with his wife, The Way of All Flesh, ahead of his appearance at Stirling’s Bloody Scotland festival.

The book is a crime fiction story centring around the real-life Scots medical legend James Simpson – who pioneered the use of chloroform as anaesthetic.

Christopher told the Advertiser: “It’s a historical crime novel set in Edinburgh in 1847, which concerns a character called Will Raven, who’s a medical student who’s just become an apprentice to James Simpson.

“He lives in Simpson’s house, where he encounters the housemaid Sarah Fisher. The two of them discover connections to women found dead in the city, and murder and mystery ensues.”

The book has received a lot of attention since being published, as it was the first book Chris has jointly written with his wife, consultant anaesthetist Dr Marissa Haetzman.

The pair released the novel under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry.

“We co-wrote the novel," Christopher added. "It was my wife’s dissertation into James Simpson, and ether and chloroform which gave rise to the idea for the book.

“Over the course of three years she researched that and laid the ground work.

“She found the name Ambrose Parry too. It’s the name of a 16th century French surgeon.

“She was very taken by the name, and we thought it was very authentic, old fashioned and gender neutral.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the pair claimed to have worked extraordinarily well together – with almost no arguments along the way.

He said: “It was very harmonious. We were both very respectful of what each other brought to the project.

“My wife had not only a really expert command of medicine, but also the fact she had worked as an anaesthetist helped.

“But she was very respectful of the fact I was a very experienced writer, so between the two of us we both knew our areas of expertise.”

The duo’s work has already made an impact, with the rights to the story being bought up by Benedict Cumberbatch’s production company for a new Sky Atlantic series.

But, the author isn’t getting too excited too early.

He said: “I used to work for a cinema and used to do a television paper, so I don’t get my hopes up until the first day of filming.

“But, I’m very impressed with the production company and what they’ve done so far. I think they would do a remarkable job.”

With the possibility of a major TV series about their work now a possibility, the pair will be on a high as they come to Stirling for the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival.

Christopher said of the festival: “I always look forward to it. The boundary between writers and readers are very much blurred during that week.

“Everyone can socialise, and they can see the writers in a very different light, because they might be seeing them at a quiz or at the Curly Coo pub.

“At Bloody Scotland we’re going to be interviewed by ES Thomson, who’s also written crime fiction around the 19th century and around medicine. We’ll be discussing our novel and all things medical history.”

Bloody Scotland always attracts big crowds – but Christopher is urging people from Clacks to attend too.

He said: “I think anyone in Clackmannanshire ought to go to Bloody Scotland to appreciate what a gem of a festival they’ve got taking place nearby. It’s a real treasure.”

  • Christopher Brookmyre and Dr Marissa Haetzman will be appearing together at Bloody Scotland on Saturday, September 22, from 3.45pm to 4.45pm.
  • Tickets for their event are available from: bloodyscotland.com/event/ambrose-parry