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The Blackwater Surgeon

Book 3 in The Silas Vance Mysteries

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by P M Charles

A respected hospital. Three recovering patients. Three deaths that should never have happened. When a dockworker dies unexpectedly after successful surgery at Blackwater Hospital, retired naval surgeon Silas Vance is asked to examine the body. The wounds are clean. The operation was sound. Yet something in the man’s dressing has turned routine treatment into murder. Then another patient dies in the same ward. The victims share a hidden connection. All belonged to the same dockside work gang, all survived a suspicious hoist collapse, and all signed compensation agreements they barely understood. As Silas investigates, his sister Clara follows the financial trail while his brother Arthur uncovers a charitable enterprise built on forged records, stolen cargo and human suffering. Suspicion falls upon the brilliant but secretive surgeon Edmund Harrow. His signature appears on the missing chemical requisition, his hospital concealed the earlier deaths, and someone is determined to ensure the surviving witness never speaks. But Silas knows that evidence can be arranged as carefully as a surgical tray. To expose the Blackwater Surgeon, he must penetrate a hospital culture where reputation matters more than truth, follow a passage buried beneath its oldest wards, and discover who has learned to turn the tools of healing into instruments of murder. The Blackwater Surgeon is the third Silas Vance Mystery, an atmospheric Victorian historical mystery combining medical detection, maritime crime and a traditional fair-play puzzle. Perfect for readers who enjoy intelligent investigations, dark institutional secrets and detectives who follow the evidence wherever it leads.

Publication date: August 13, 2026