Synopsis (from
the publisher):
Cheryl Beth Wilson is an elite nurse at Cincinnati Memorial Hospital
who finds a doctor brutally murdered in a secluded office. Wilson had
been having an affair with the doctor’s husband, a surgeon, and
this makes her a “person of interest” to the police, if not
at outright suspect. But someone other than the cops is watching Cheryl
Beth.
The killing comes as former homicide detective Will Borders is just
hours out of surgery. But as his stretcher is wheeled past the crime
scene, he knows this is no random act of violence. Instead, it has all
the marks of a serial killer case he supposedly solved years before.
Rebuked by his former partner and unable even to walk, Borders starts
to investigate. He teams up with Cheryl Beth, who is desperate to clear
her name. But as the city teeters on the edge of violence and a killer
grows closer, the two are running out of time to unlock the secrets of
the murder and the brooding, old hospital.
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The Pain Nurse
A Will
Borders Mystery
Jon
Talton
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-624-7 (1590586247)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-624-2 (9781590586242)
Publication Date: April 2009
List Price: $24.95
— ◊ —
Review: Jon
Talton, author of the David Mapstone mysteries, introduces a new series
with ex-homicide detective Will Borders investigating a murder in the
hospital where he's recuperating from back surgery in The Pain Nurse.
Borders is confined to a wheel chair and fears he may never walk again.
Cheryl Beth Wilson is a pain management nurse, the only one of her kind
at the hospital, working with him. Both are in the basement in the
oldest part of the hospital at just about the same time, Cheryl Beth
having been summoned by Dr. Christine Lustig who was in the process of
working on a new program to put all the hospital records on computers,
and Borders for an MRI, when Wilson finds Dr. Lustig naked on the
floor, multiple stab wounds all over her body, her ring finger cut off.
As Borders, who is being wheeled back to his room, passes the murder
victim's open door, now a crime scene, he sees the body and her
mutilated hand. This brings to mind his former investigation of the Mt.
Adams strangler who, with the same MO, had killed at least three women
years before. He wasn't convinced the arrested man was guilty, but the
evidence against him was compelling. Was it possible the wrong man
convicted of, and later executed for, the crime?
But Cheryl Beth Wilson is a "person of interest" for the murder, and
Borders' ex-partner is investigating. She had recently ended an affair
with the victim's ex-husband that started when they were still married.
Borders, working through his pain with the help of Cheryl Beth, becomes
convinced his former colleagues aren't looking in the right place, and
sets out to prove his pain nurse's innocence and find the true killer.
Set in Cincinnati, The Pain Nurse
is a well-crafted, well-paced mystery. Readers who have spent any time
in a hospital, especially following major surgery, will appreciate the
realism and detail depicted here. Even better are the characters of
Will Borders and Cheryl Beth Wilson whose relationship, though based on
mutual need, seems genuine and sincere. The Pain Nurse is a captivating
story and a terrific introduction to this series; it is highly
recommended.
(Reviewer's personal note: Cincinnati is my home town, and Jon Talton
has captured the city beautifully. I lived in Price Hill and still have
family in Oakley. It was a thrill to go back to the neighborhoods of my
youth and see them again through the eyes of this author and his
characters.)
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Pain Nurse and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Pain Nurse? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
The Pain Nurse
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), April 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-624-7 (1590586247)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-624-2 (9781590586242)
Omnimystery keywords for The Pain Nurse ...
Location(s) referenced: Cincinnati, Ohio.
