Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: cozy

  • CUT: A Medical Murder Mystery by Amy S. Peele – Medical Mystery, Thriller, Cozy

    CUT: A Medical Murder Mystery by Amy S. Peele – Medical Mystery, Thriller, Cozy

    M&M Blue and Gold 1st Place Badge ImageWith heart, compassion, and a dash of comic relief, Amy Peele’s engaging murder mystery takes us into the precarious realm of human organ transplantation. Here, as life-saving procedures become marred by money, social status, and criminal intent, a moral compass spins out of control, revealing just how far some will go to reach the top of the donor procurement platform.

    Sarah Golden is a dedicated and well-respected traveling organ transplantation nurse who loves her job. She’s on the final leg of a four-month contract in Miami and plans to spend her bonus check on a wild trip to Cuba with her best friend from nursing school, Jackie Larsen. Jackie’s now a stay at home mom to son Wyatt, and married to Laura Calleghan, an Assistant Medical Examiner in San Francisco. When Sarah happens to overhear a conversation involving patient Amanda Stein, an obnoxious, over-indulged woman who oozes entitlement, it leads Sarah to believe this San Francisco executive didn’t receive her liver transplant through the proper channels. As Sarah decides to pursue her suspicions, she also learns that wealthy Amanda is best friends with the wife of Dr. Harris Bower, the renowned head of San Francisco’s Transplant Dept. who recently offered Sarah a senior position back in California.

    From the back streets of Miami to the hub-bub of Chicago and the West Coast, this well-paced story plays out amidst raucous escapades of inquiry as Sarah enlists the help of her fun-loving cohort Jackie to trace the path of Amanda’s donor organ. Suddenly they’re attending high society charity events, performing Cuban gang bar surveillance, riding off with “Biker Bob” to a private speakeasy boasting 300 kinds of rum, and flirting with the local “Officer Handsome” to gain some lawful and necessary assistance. As Amanda’s nefarious Latin boy toy gets wise to the probing, the womanizing lothario is determined to stop them. Before long, this Cagney and Lacey-esque duo are entangled in an investigation as both hunters and prey.

    In a well-balanced contrast to the typically dark and somber tones of a mystery, particularly one focused on such a serious topic, Peele lightens the hard edge through the wit and humor brought by the central characters. These savvy, wise-cracking women like to imbibe and enjoy throwing out a few f-bombs to relieve stress, but have a no-nonsense attitude about their jobs, and always maintain a genuine concern for friendship and family.

    With a passion for organ donation, and 35 years in the field to ultimately retire from one of the most successful transplant programs in the country, Peele is able to draw from a deep well of knowledge and experience that translates seamlessly to the storyline. From enlightenment about how recipients get their organs, and distinctions between donor types, to the backlash of gaming (i.e. moving someone up on a list) that can shut down a program, these layers of detailed information woven throughout the story bring an added richness to the texture of this well-organized narrative.

    Peele also brings emotional depth to this work, not only from her own nursing background but through the feisty personalities of the sleuthing duo. They are determined to find justice and hold accountable those attempting to undermine the transplant system. From sobering board room revelations about individuals denied organs due to immigration or economic status, to the heart-wrenching toll of losing young pediatric patients, the subject matter is presented as an important, timely, and volatile issue.

    Cut: A Medical Murder Mystery won First Place in the 2017 CIBAs for the M&M Awards.

     

  • An Editorial Review of “Her Boyfriend’s Bones” by Jeanne Matthews

    An Editorial Review of “Her Boyfriend’s Bones” by Jeanne Matthews

    Dinah Pelerin, cultural anthropologist and world traveler, is ready for romance and relaxation. Her Norwegian police force boyfriend, Thor, has invited her to join him at a Greek villa that he rented for his sabbatical holiday.

    The villa is located on the island of Samos—famous for its sweet wine, birthplace of Pythagoras and Hera, queen of the Olympian gods. Dinah plans on joining an archaeological dig in Turkey at the end of summer after basking in the land of the Greek mythology. The perfect summer vacation awaits her. Or, so it seems.

    Idyllic as the setting is, Dinah’s dream vacation is startlingly interrupted on day one of it. She and Thor spotted a body as they were walking home from the village taverna—the same man who they just saw arguing with an old man—is now sprawled on the ground with a gaping hole in his chest. The murder was so recent that the body is still warm. Dinah starts to believe that trouble follows her wherever she goes. Thor goes back into “policeman mode full-throttle.”

    Dinah has also learned that their vacation villa was the home of the local movie star of the 60s, Marilita Stephan, who was accused of committing three murders on a remote beach on Samos: her boyfriend, his mother, and a powerful colonel in the military junta. Marilita was arrested and tried for the crime, and executed later by a firing squad in nineteen-seventy-three—several days before her fortieth birthday. Dinah is more than a little perturbed when she also discovers that Thor is fascinated by the circumstances of the event and that is why he chose this particular Greek island and this particular villa for their romantic holiday.

    To add to the complications, Dinah’s troubled and out-of-hand sixteen-year-old niece, K.D., turns up on their vacation villa’s doorsteps. K.D. adds her own lively dimension into the storyline as only a sixteen- year-old teenager could. The rosiness of Dinah’s romantic getaway is turning as blue as the Aegean.

    Enter the CIA and Interpol, false identification papers, the Norwegian Intelligence, terrorist guns, suspicious locals, and old grudges, secret letters, and “evil eyes” everywhere—all seemingly connecting  back to Marilita Stephan.

    Thor disappears, but his car is found plunged off a cliff. Contrary to what everyone tells her, Dinah believes that Thor is still alive and that she must find him before it is too late.  Dinah doesn’t know who to believe or trust—especially the local police. The suspense rapidly intensifies as she starts piecing the clues together, which place Dinah and her niece in peril as they frantically search for Thor.

    Ms. Matthews is adept at placing the reader into the hardships of the current Greek economic debt crisis as well as interjecting bits of history and mythology into her compelling story-line. By doing so, she captures the essence of the day-to-day life of modern Greeks who must eke out a living in exacerbating politico/economic circumstances as they live and work in the shadows of the temple ruins of the golden age of Greece.

    Feel the Mediterranean heat, the treacherous traverses of the island’s landscape, the scent of the wild thyme, and the ever changing colors of the Aegean Sea as Ms. Matthews’ evocative descriptions take you to Samos. She places you at the local village taverna where you hear the buzz of gossip and feel the rumble of the “Tourkos” F16s as they roar overhead.The colorful characters and intriguing plot twists make Her Boyfriend’s Bones a gratifying and diverting page-turner.

    Her Boyfriend’s Bones, is the fourth novel in the entertaining and marvelously researched Dinah Pelerin mystery series. Readers need not look any further to be transported to adventures faraway.