Review: Medical Mystery Series Starts Great!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 5, 2013
"Things would have been so much easier if I had known that the condition I was treating was in fact, murder. The outcome for the patient, well— all involved, but especially the patient— could have been so much better. I don’t blame myself for this… anymore."Right up front, Gabrielle Black tells readers that this is a murder mystery--no real suspense but, hey, a great murder mystery for us to solve, if we can! The other important thing that Dr. Lane shares is that this patient is special to her personally. I gather that is somewhat of a no-no, but the relationship had evolved since Sarah Summers had been one of her first patients during her residency. Sarah had even followed her as she first went into practice. I don't know about you, but I followed my doctor when he relocated--anybody who is lucky to find a compatible as well as competent doctor soon realizes those advantages. But now, after having responded to treatment so well, Sarah had relapsed and was getting worse at a rapid pace...Veronica and Sarah discussed the potential of a bone marrow transplant and mutually agreed it was best that they proceed to plan for it. Easy decision for them, but not for the insurance company!Dr. Lane immediately began to have problems in getting coverage because of how new the procedure was, as well as the coverage on Sarah's policy. And they also had to worry about obtaining a donor... In other words, Dr. Lane was proceeding to do all that was necessary to treat her MS patient...But while the arguments with the insurance company continued, Sarah had been hospitalized...but died...Dr. Lane was looked at regarding her activities! A normal procedure, but in this case, there were questions that immediately arose...With all of the pressure that Dr. Lane was placing on the insurance company, there were a couple of calls that were made that normally would never have been done. What it resulted in was a request from the family to have an autopsy...Otherwise, the murder would never have been discovered...Once Dr. Lane learned that Sarah had been poisoned, she moved into the role of investigator, of course, and finding out what happened was her goal whether she was going to help or hurt her own practice. She had already lost her hospital privileges and knew she had to act on her own behalf!Solving a whodunit is harder in a medical thriller since most of us don't know how to place ourselves into the mystery...so I especially enjoyed failing to even come close. Although I had already made an assumption that Dr. Lane was a great doctor, I was pleasantly surprised to have her personally become involved in the life of a street prostitute. Ironically others saw no need for this character, yet for me, it was this humane "caring" that assured me that she was not only a brilliant. but a compassionate, caring physician...I believe Black has provided us with a great beginning. Her site shows that two more in the series are already in the works, which will allow readers to learn more about Dr. Lane...I thought it was interesting that the author got a degree in English Literature before becoming a family doctor... I wonder whether she planned a future writing career right from heading to medical school... LOL!There was only one thing I would have changed--not to early announce that this was a whodunit. It did take away from any suspense buildup. On the other hand, it allowed readers to immediately know that something had been done to the patient, that was outside the medical issues about which she was being treated. When balancing the suspense versus the upfront murder angle, I found that this allowed me to pay more attention to the medical personnel and what was happening at the insurance company--of course I didn't trust them right off...LOL... So, in the end, I was quite satisfied with this debut and the character Veronica Lane... Highly recommended for medical mystery/thriller buffs!GABixlerReviews