Dark Asylum by E. S. Thomson

Angel Meadow Asylum is where they confine the mental patients that aren't easily cured.  The doctor there tries experimental surgery on the patients.  He believes the size of their head and how the bones are formed influence their mental problems.  The people he operates on sometimes die, sometimes never speak again, and he sees nothing wrong with this.  But the others in the asylum do...

Pegasus Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 7th.

Jem and Will are more herbalists than doctors but they do what they can to help.  The bit they make there and from their shop keeps them going.  But the murder of the doctor gets their attention because he's been sewn up.  His ears are in his mouth.  His mouth and eyes are sewn shut.  This is not normal behavior.  So the doctors want to blame an inmate.  The one they chose would never have done it.  Can Jem and Will prove it?

Everybody in this asylum has secrets, especially the doctors.  Jem has her own secret:  She's masquerading as a man.  This whole story is full of despair and abuse.  It's set in 1851 and life wasn't fair for women.  You could still confine a family member there if they weren't up to your standards, just pay a little more money.  I probably would have gotten hung if I lived in this era because I'd have defended myself.  Of course, women were not raised that way then.

This really is a sordid little tale but Jem manages to make sense of it and identifies the murderer.  Her solution to the problem is unconventional but it gets the job done.  Get ready for a dark walk down history lane...