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The year is 1999. Returning to practice after a suspension for stealing opioids, a young Scottish doctor takes the only job he can find: a post as a senior house officer in the struggling east London hospital of St Luke’s.
Amid the maelstrom of sick patients, over-worked staff and underfunded wards a darker secret soon declares itself: too many patients are dying.
Which of the medical professionals our protagonist has encountered is behind the murders?
It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Sometimes People Die today. Many thanks to The Borough Press and Sofia Saghir from Midas PR for inviting me and for my advance digital copy of the novel.
At a time when we're at our most vulnerable, we put our faith in hospital staff; a serial killer in a hospital is a horrifying thought but, as Simon Stephenson explores through the course of Sometimes People Die, is not as unlikely as we'd like to think.
The novel is narrated, almost as a sort of confessional memoir by a young senior house officer and I'm sure comparisons to Adam Kay's book (which I haven't read) are inevitable. This is fiction but as Simon Stephenson trained as a doctor, it has more than a ring of truth about it, particularly when it comes to the pressures experienced by young doctors and the challenges of working in a cash-strapped, struggling hospital.
Our narrator comes with his own problems; he has only recently signed off to return to work provided he attends drug counselling for his addiction to pethidine. St Luke's in East London is permanently on the brink of bankruptcy but he acknowledges that they seem to be a perfect fit. Not many other hospitals would have employed him and not many other doctors would willingly work there. He quickly settles into life there and the rhythm of hospital life for young doctors is portrayed authentically and with a generous helping of the black humour medics are known for. The job is exhausting, especially the night shifts, and he and his colleagues must revise for their membership exams too. There are inevitably times when they are unable to save somebody despite their best efforts but their empathy and respect for their patients is evident and despite these pressures and his admitted flaws, he seems to be moving on with his life.
However, St Luke's has a bigger problem than drained doctors and NHS underfunding, and when a patient dies under suspicious circumstances, the finger of doubt at first lands squarely on our doctor. There isn't enough evidence to arrest him and he returns to work but as the investigation proceeds it soon transpires that there are other deaths which need to be looked into. The response by the staff is pitch-perfect, while they are naturally horrified to think there may be a killer in their midst, they gossip, speculate and even set up their own murder board in their mess room. It's just how I'd expect people who have to develop robust coping mechanisms to manage what they see on a daily basis would react but of course, fans the inevitable flames generated by the hungry media.
Interspersed throughout the narrative are real-life cases of medical murders, some of which will be immediately familiar while others are less well-known but equally as shocking. Readers who are nervous about hospitals may wish to skip these parts but I found them morbidly fascinating, especially when our narrator ruminates on what may have driven them to kill.
As the death toll rises, the tension increases but this isn't just a thriller and there's a really moving strand to the plot which reveals a sadly all too common occurrence amongst medics. Our protagonist's mistakes are numerous but are tempered by his sincerity and there were times when my heart broke for him. This is a nuanced portrayal of a man who lies and steals yet his self-reflection is often piercingly honest.
I managed to guess who the murderer was but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of Sometimes People Die at all. How their identity is eventually uncovered and what it means for everybody is intriguing and I thought the ending was really interesting – although I suspect it may divide opinions. I like that though and I really admire books which aren't afraid to take risks, both with the subject matter and the structure of the novel.
Sometimes People Die is a compelling, entertaining read throughout; authentic, chilling, darkly humorous and surprisingly poignant, I thoroughly recommend it.
Sometimes People Die will be published by The Borough Press on 1st September 2022. It can be purchased from bookshop.org, Hive, Waterstones and Amazon but please support independent bookshops whenever possible.
Follow the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
His first novel, Set My Heart to Five was a Bookseller Book of the Month and was described by the Daily Mail as ‘Funny, original and thought-provoking.’ It has been optioned by Working Title Films to be directed by Edgar Wright from Stephenson’s screenplay.
He currently lives in Los Angeles, in a house where a famous murder took place. As a screenwriter, he originated and wrote the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and wrote the story for Pixar’s Luca. He also contributed to everybody’s favourite film, Paddington 2.
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