From the respected to the disrespected, though perhaps not in his own lifetime. Certainly, though, following Cook’s exemplary research ,respect is not the word that springs to mind.
Dr Gramshaw was a successful familly doctor in Yorkshire for 35 years, which is when his professsional and personal life crashed down around him, and not before time, one can only think.
As Cook explains, it was Easter 1908 when he attended 19 year old Margaret Brown who had been his patient before, and who wanted his advice again.
Oh, oh, Margaret… By the end of the month, Margaret was dead and a Cornoner’s inquest was peeling back the layers of information regarding the young governess and the doctor.
In The Crimes of Dr Gramshaw , Cook explores the crimes, the lies, the success and deceit… Shall I go on? Oh, all right then: the adultery, bigamy, insanity.
These events are reconstructed meticulously, using public records and as the truth emerges one cannot but ask: could no-one have guessed, suspected, even known the truth?
Should his family have had an inkling? And why, why, why when his behaviour was exposed did 1000 people attend his funeral?
The Crimes of Doctor Gramshaw follows hot on the heels of The Nightingale Shore Murder, Rosemary Cook’s first venture into crimes with a nursing or medical connection. There will be more.
The Crimes of Doctor Gramshaw by Rosemary Cook available from Amazon.co.uk