A mystery series set in the 1870s with a female physician as the main character is a fascinating premise in and of itself. Knowing that the author is a physician who went to medical school in the city where the book is set explains the sensitivity of the main character when she's working with patients and, sadly, the body of a former patient. The main character deals with a significant amount of misogamy, as you'd expect for the time period. It's almost a secondary plot line and it's very satisfying to watch her handle an adversary, a male physician from UPenn.

The secondary characters are well developed and with the main character working at a medical school, there's always room for new characters to arrive as this series [hopefully] continues.