Dr. Declan Murphy discovers a murder in the marsh. Just released by Moonshine Cove Publishing, What Becomes is the third in a series of medical thrillers featuring Dr. Declan Murphy, an Obstetrician – Gynecologist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Declan Murphy is literature’s only Ob-Gyn “action hero.” What Becomes follows in the footsteps of the previously published and highly regarded Occam’s Razor (2014) and Two Drifters (2016).
Dr. Murphy has once again found himself at odds with the Medical University. He’s been suspended over a Peer Review complaint involving his behavior during a disasterous cesarean delivery. Declan is still grieving the tragic death of his wife, Helene, to a remorseless disease, leaving him angry, apathetic and lonely. He’s lost his commitment to medicine and the deterioration in his clinical performance is recognizable to all. With only an appeal to the university Board of Trustees standing between himself and termination, Declan again finds himself dependent on his talented lawyer, Rosemary Winslow. Ms. Winslow shatters the stuffy formality of the Board of Trustees meeting, turning the inquiry upside down, and humiliating the Medical University leadership.
Desperate for a fresh start, and with few options, Declan Murphy leaves the Medical University and joins a private practice with an old mentor and eccentric friend, Dr. Homer Lahr. Homer Lahr is a larger than life, former professional football player, Viet-Nam War hero, sixties flower child, and brilliant narcoleptic Ob-Gyn surgeon who navigates by his own set of rules. Homer shares Declan’s independent spirit and has always believed that to be underestimated is an incredible gift.
In this new workplace, Declan discovers a kindred spirit in Louis J. Guillette, Jr., Ph.D. Dr. Guillette is a Reproductive Biologist and Embryologist whose research uses the South Carolina Low Country alligator as a sentinel species to monitor the reproductive health effects of environmental endocrine disrupting contaminants during pregnancy. This new research partnership provides Declan with an invigorating sense of purpose. In addition, Declan’s growing relationship with Rosemary Winslow also fuels renewed optimism, enthusiasm and empathy.
Declan’s new lease on both a career and life are disrupted by an escalating series of terrorizing incidents culminating in murder. Voodoo Tarot cards, left after each incident, points a finger at a nemesis from a previous book; the ruthless, sociopathic fugitive Paris Laveau. A year previously, Dr. Murphy encountered a pair of itinerant drifters who showed up in his exam room without prenatal care. That triage lead to allegations of negligence, and a malpractice lawsuit with tremendous financial exposure for both Dr. Murphy and the University. With Rosemary Winslow’s help, Dr. Murphy exposed the monstrous evil behind both the lawsuit and Paris and Hector Laveau.
Paris Laveau has escaped custody and has vowed revenge on Declan and Rosemary for what they did to her and her brother, Hector. An unseen and malevolent hand continues to reach out and touch Rosemary and Declan, and those they know. However, without any direct evidence of Paris’ presence or involvement, the authorities gradually lose interest. Rosemary, Declan and Homer are eventually forced to protect themselves. They discover that the evil stalking them is relentless, remorseless and murderous. Has Dr. Guillette’s environmental research along the Low Country rivers, marshes and alligator-filled swamps stirred up even blacker waters than Paris Laveau. Declan and Rosemary must risk their careers again, by taking the law into their own hands, to find out What Becomes.
What Becomes was released this weekend by Moonshine Cove Publishing and is now available on Amazon. It will soon be available at Barnes and Noble and Kindle. Your interest in any or all of my medical novels is greatly appreciated. A book launch party and several book signings will be set up in the next few weeks and months. Please make plans on attending one if you can. If you enjoy What Becomes, an Amazon review is a great help, as is telling all of your friends, neighbors and co-workers. For independently published novels, word of mouth and Amazon reviews are keys to success. Again, What Becomes is now available from Amazon. Be the first in your neighborhood to have a copy. I’m always willing to sign a copy for you.
Picking the correct Springsteen song to accompany this blog was an easy one. “Murder Incorporated” is a rocker that fits the book well. This particular clip is from a David Letterman appearance on April 5th, 1995 and Clarence is at his coolest and best. “Bobby has a gun he keeps underneath his pillow. Out on the street your chances are zero.” Enjoy the video clip, but please enjoy the book more.