Perhaps a body was all you ever were.
Perhaps a body was the least of what you were.
They were days away from becoming a fully-fledged healer and they still didn't know which was true. Or if both were, somehow. [loc. 2776]
Five medical students at the Academie of the Grand Duchy of Sieuxerr are about to begin their final exam -- a week-long trial of five medical cases, which the five healers will have to work together to diagnose and perhaps treat. They will pass together, or fail together. And this particular exam group (randomly chosen, of course) comprises five very different individuals, each with secrets, each with complicated emotions towards the others. Moyna is the daughter of ambitious parents who moved to Sieuxerr so that Moyna could be trained in the healing arts, and serve her community. Alys is an aristocratic beauty with little magical aptitude. Estiene is the son of the Head Healer. Jehan comes from a working-class, single-parent family. Clement is non-binary, and the best friend of the most gifted student of their year, Ysabel Caudotte ... and Ysabel is found, dead, in their exam chamber on the first day of the exam.
She's not their case: they don't have to diagnose or treat. But each of the five has some connection to Ysabel, and each has secrets to keep, complications to manouevre, expectations and fears and hopes. As the week progresses, it's clear that Ysabel had been planning something: but what? And did it lead to her death?
The gradual fleshing-out of each of the five, as the novel rotates through their viewpoints, is brilliantly and effectively achieved. Each begins the week distrusting one or more of their fellow candidates: each ends the week with a better understanding of the others, and of their own skills and weaknesses. The medical cases are interesting, too, and the author's medical background is evident in the details of diagnostic techniques.
Marske's worldbuilding is understated but sound: I liked the little details of Sieuxerr, from the lingering horrors of a terrible pandemic (the serrage) to the almond-paste 'sweetmice' that are eaten to celebrate Mathe's feast; from the artificers' strikes to the bestselling popular novels about Healer Chambeley. The themes of class, of institutional corruption, and of medical diagnosis are thoroughly explored, but there's also room for romance(s) as well as the core murder mystery. I liked this a great deal.
Read because: I checked Netgalley as soon as I heard that Marske had a new novel on the way: I discovered her via the Be the Serpent podcast, and have very much enjoyed her other work.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK Publication Date is 17th September 2026.
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