"You'll never guess what just happened?"
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Too Much Blood by Jane Bennett Munro iUniverse
book review by Barbara Deming
Jay Braithwaite Burke, sleazy, ponzi-scammer attorney is on forensic pathologist Toni Day's autopsy table. He had bilked people out of thousands of dollars, and, when the scheme collapsed, he disappeared. Where has he been? Why did he return to the scene of his crimes only to wind up dead?
The autopsy and lab work shows Burke died of a brain hemorrhage. His local doctor had treated him for a heart problem. Was he given the wrong drug which caused excessive bleeding? Or did someone give him an overdose? The lack of concrete reasons for accidental or natural cause of death warrants Toni's conclusion that this is a case of homicide. Complications with the case are almost as worrisome as the verbal skirmishes with her husband, and the anger/fear over her suspicions that Hal is having an affair. But when disaster strikes in mega doses, she temporarily puts her personal angst aside and hits the investigative trail.
People connected to him and his scheme are Toni's co-workers. Several homes burn to the ground. Some family members fall ill. It appears Burke has two wills; the first one leaves money to women he had affairs with. But he claimed to be broke, didn't he? And then a mysterious bleeding illness attacks those people involved with the disgraced attorney. Police cry, "Murder!" As Toni would say, "Christ on a crutch, what is going on here?" Author Munro, a semi-retired pathologist, has written a can't-put-down tale of murder and poisoning seen through the eyes of a pathologist bent on solving crimes. Munro's writing is entertaining, believable, and fast-paced. She takes you into the autopsy room, shows the fragility of the characters, and makes the reader feel they are inside the story. Readers will definitely be looking forward to solving more cases with this character.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review