In this debut thriller, a Seattle divorce lawyer targets a dubious surgeon when a patient’s sudden death hits close to home.
Camille Delaney has made a comfortable life for her husband and their three daughters. She makes good money handling divorces, as many of her clients are doctors. Sadly, tragedy strikes when Dallas Jackson, her beloved mentor and father figure, dies. But his death on an operating table stirs up endless questions: Why was his gallbladder surgery an emergency, and why does his chart have no mention of the aneurysm that supposedly killed him? Most of the suspicion revolves around Dr. Andrew Willcox, the aloof surgeon who wielded the scalpel and, as it turns out, may have faked his credentials. As Camille’s firm strictly forbids taking cases against physicians, she goes out on her own, with Dallas’ widow as the plaintiff. Ever shady Willcox has money and connections, leveling thinly veiled threats against Camille’s family and scaring people into not testifying against him. But Camille is determined to stop this doctor, whose patients habitually die and who’s up to something truly diabolical. Indelible female characters populate DuBois’ series opener. Camille’s skills as a former emergency room nurse prove beneficial in this case. And investigator Trish Seaholm, Camille’s reliable friend, once worked as a cop. In contrast, most of the generally incompetent men hardly register, even as villains; one man assaults and threatens the wrong person and, still ignorant, boasts about it later. The male players do nevertheless make it easy to root for Camille, as Willcox’s and others’ laundry lists of deplorable deeds include fraud, coverups, and worse. The author, a lawyer and former nurse, writes keen dialogue that clearly explains terminology, especially medical, in a smart and entertaining fashion. While the story’s villainy isn’t much of a mystery by design, Camille’s valiant fight to bring down Willcox will persistently engage readers.
Superb female characters enrich this engrossing tale of medical scares and legal tussling.Pub Date: June 14, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-954854-34-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Girl Friday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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The Wyoming winter brings maverick game warden Joe Pickett poachers, murderers, spies, and some ferocious bad weather.
Seeking a wounded elk and a marauding wolf during a brutal snowstorm, Joe is amazed to discover a human corpse sticking halfway out of a metal outbuilding on the Double Diamond ranch. While he’s conscientiously photographing the crime scene, somebody starts shooting at him. Ranch foreman Clay Hutmacher refuses to say anything about the building’s purpose until he checks with billionaire ranch owner Michael Thompson; Gov. Colter Allen abruptly orders Joe off the case; and departing Twelve Sleep County Sheriff Scott Tibbs, the boss who’d do anything to avoid having Joe make waves, reports that there’s no body at the place he described. Meanwhile, Joe’s old friend Nate Romanowski, an outlaw falconer, is approached by ex–Army Ranger Jason Demo, who’s trying to attract anti-government malcontents to join the secessionist Sovereign Nation, and Joe realizes that his predatory mother-in-law, Missy, is neglecting her fifth or sixth husband, attorney Marcus Hand, who’s dying of pancreatic cancer, to cozy up to Allen, who plans to launch his campaign for reelection at the public library headed by Joe’s wife, Marybeth. What does the death of University of Wyoming engineering professor Zhang Wei, if that’s really who the dead man was, have to do with all of this malfeasance? Like a patient spider, Box plays out plotline after plotline, balancing his sympathies adroitly between anti-establishment libertarians who’ve had enough of the coastal elites and officers sworn to serve and protect their communities, before knotting them all together with a climactic revelation that for better or worse will leave you gasping.
One of the most successful of Box’s increasingly ambitious have-it-all thrillers.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9780593331309
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
Categories: SUSPENSE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | GENERAL FICTION
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling take on the classic whodunit.
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The shocking murder of a public figure at a high-end hotel has everyone guessing who the culprit might be.
Twenty-five-year-old Molly Gray, an eccentric young woman who's obsessed with cleaning but doesn't quite have the same ability to navigate social cues as those around her, loves working as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. Raised by her old-fashioned grandmother, who loved nothing more than cleaning and watching Columbo reruns, Molly has an overly polite and straightforward manner that can make her seem odd and off-putting to her colleagues despite her being the hardest worker at the hotel. After her grandmother's death, Molly's rigid life begins to lose some of its long-held balance, and when the infamous Mr. Charles Black, a rich and powerful businessman suspected of various criminal enterprises, is found murdered in one of the rooms she cleans, her whole world gets turned upside down. Before Molly knows what's happening, her odd demeanor has the police convinced she's guilty of the crime, and certain people at the hotel are a little too pleased about it. With the help of a few new friends (and while fending off new foes), she must begin to untangle the mystery of who really killed Mr. Black to get herself off the hook once and for all. Though the unusual ending might frustrate some readers, this unique debut will keep them reading.
A compelling take on the classic whodunit.Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35615-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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