DESPERATE REMEDY
by Mary Kittredge
New Haven's nurse-sleuth-heiress Edwina Crusoe, now expecting a baby with ex-cop husband Martin McIntyre, finds herself reluctantly embroiled in events at her old workplace—Chelsea Memorial Hospital. Prodded by her mother, Edwina visits ailing sculptor Michael Munson at the hospital, where he's making life miserable for everyone around him. Critically injured Dr. Victor Clarke has just been admitted, shot in his home by the intruder who killed his wife Renata. Meanwhile, the drug abuse of brilliant young staff doctor Eric Shultz has been uncovered, and the hospital's chief surgeon, William Grace, grows ever more irascible. When the nurse attending Dr. Clarke is shot to death and his life- support system tampered with, feckless administrator Ned Hunt, Edwina's lifelong friend, begs her to help find the murderer. This she does, working her way through a tangle of red herrings and eventually reaching her goal through no fault of her own. A plot heavy with medical mumbo-jumbo and riddled with contrivance does little for Edwina's fifth outing (Walking Dead Man, etc.), but our heroine retains a sturdy charm, and fans will doubtless be looking forward to the happy event in chapter six.