Dr. Elena Gardner is starting to believe the whispers that started after her comatose husband died in the ICU; especially when another mysterious death happens during her training. When a third happens after she moves to another hospital, Dr. Elena needs to find some answers. Two physicians, will offer her support, but Elena has a hard time sharing all she is going through. Elena will eventually realize that even when the world seems to be against her, God is for her, if she'll only trust him.

This can easily be read as a stand alone, but I will tell you that a few characters from another book in this series, do show up in this book. Although I enjoyed myself in this story, this wasn't my favorite. ( )

Elena Gardner is a young doctor, just finishing her residency in a ditinguished Dallas hospital. She's also a young widow, whose husband Mark suffered an aneurysm that caused brain death. After struggling with the decision for weeks, Elena violates protocol by writing a Do Not Resuscitate order on his chart herself--and shortly thereafter, someone turns off Mark's respirator.

Elena thinks she may have done it herself, but she doesn't remember doing so. This is merely a private grief and mystery, however, until another patient, whose care she was involved in, dies in remarkably similar circumstances. Hospital officials conclude that, since both patients were brain-dead, what happened was possibly unethical but not a crime. With her residency just a few weeks from its end, though, and a senior hospital official up for a promotion, they're suddenly eager to have her out of Dallas so that, if an embarrassing pattern is developing, it won't be associated with their institution.

And so Elena finds herself signing on as the temporary, and hopefully permanent, associate of Dr. Cathy Sewell, in the alarmingly named city of Dainger, Texas. Dr. Sewell's pregnancy is near term, and whose practice is growing enough to support a second doctor even after she returns to work. Elena quickly finds she has not left her troubles behind her. The troubling weekly midnight phone calls that started after her husband's death continue. She gets anonymous notes that appear to be from the same source. She's making new friends and new enemies, and it's by no means clear who is who. Sheriff's deputy Frank Perrin seems friendly, pleasant, and helpful--but Cathy doesn't like him, and he seems almost disturbingly persistent. Dr. Marcus Bell is also a widower, and is interested in more than just friendship. A senior nurse at the local hospital has something painful in common with Elena: her husband is brain-dead and being kept alive on a respirator. The hospital administrator, Dr. Norman Godwin, is arrogant, abrupt, focused on the bottom line--and unexpectedly hostile.

Then another patient with brain damage, less severe and seemingly on the slow road to recovery, dies in frighteningly familiar circumstances. Elena has to sort out friend from foe, find out how her husband and the other patient in Dallas really died, and whether she really has killed three patients--or whether she has a dangerous enemy who has followed her from Dallas.

Elena and the other major characters are very nicely developed, interesting, and worth spending the time with. Some of the lesser but still important characters are a bit more two-dimensional, but not enough to detract from a well-plotted and solid mystery. It's also worth mentioning that the publisher bills this as Christian fiction. The Christian faith and beliefs of the characters flow naturally from who they are as people, and should be satisfying to those for whom this is a plus, and not intrusive or grafted on in a way that would be off-putting to those simply looking for a good mystery to engage the brain and the heart, and while away a few enjoyable hours.

Recommended.

I receive a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

I just finished reading this book about half an hour ago and I must say I was impressed. Before I did the request for this book at NetGalley I asked myself a million questions about it. I was afraid this was some ER/House M.D. medical drama. I am really sorry I believed that. While it is a medical drama, it's also a mystery novel.


At the center of this novel is Elena Gardner. She is a few weeks before she completes her residency and will be able to start her own practice. Her husband, Mark, died a few months before due to a stroke, after being for two weeks in a coma. She's a very complex character. She's a very good doctor and she knows how to interact with both patients and their families. I also liked that she admitted her mistakes, when she made them. I think that in makes her look more...let's say human. Instead of the "I can never get it wrong" attitude that some doctors have, she realized she did a mistake and she accepted it. I liked that very much.


You can also tell that she really loved her husband and that his death was something that was really hard for her to deal with. She's almost scared to move on with her life, feeling that "her sense of security died with her husband".


Her "shoulder to cry on" is David. They met in the resident school and they've been very good friends ever since. He's the one that knows her better than anyone and the person she goes to when she needs an advice, a friendly face or just someone to eat dinner with. He also has very strong feelings for her, but I think he waited for a sign that she was ready for his feelings. I think her decision to accept to move to Dainger was his sign and he finally tells her how he feels.


I really liked how the author managed to keep the mystery up until the last 30 pages or so of the book. I really didn't guess who the killer/stalker was. I liked that a lot and also the fact that it wasn't predictable to me.


What I didn't particularly like was the fact that the novel was a little slow at first. It didn't really bother me, I was just anxious I guess.


I liked the book and the author's writing style. And since I learned it's the third book in the series Prescription for Trouble I think I'll go hunting for the other books to read them. ( )

Title: Diagnosis Death (Prescription for Trouble #3)
Author: Richard L. Mabry, M.D.
Pages: 292
Year: 2011
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Richard Mabry brings us his third installment in the Prescription for Trouble series. This time the drama and action take place in Dallas as well as Dainger, Texas. Dainger was introduced in the first book of the series, Code Blue, and the main character from that story appears in this third book.
Elena Gardner has only 30 days until she finishes her residency and starts her dream job of practicing family medicine. She is still reeling from the death of her husband 6 months ago and the fact that she was the one to make the decision to put a Do Not Resuscitate order on his chart after he experienced an aneurysm. The guilt she feels is overwhelming. However, there are those who whisper she might have helped her husband on his way to his demise. Elena doesn’t remember shutting off the machines that kept her husband alive, but maybe she is suppressing the memory. Then, another patient she initially admits succumbs to the same fate of life support being turned off when everyone saw Elena in the room alone with the patient. He also miraculously has a Do Not Resuscitate order on his chart with her signature. Elena swears she didn’t sign the order. What is going on? Is someone trying to ruin her career?
Elena depends on her one friend, David Merritt, to listen and offer her support. He wants more than friendship, but is being patient while Elena deals with her grief and these new problems. He is soon to finish his residency and begin practicing obstetrics in Dainger, Texas. Coincidentally, Elena receives an offer to practice there as well. She will be filling in for a doctor who will be out on maternity leave with the potential to join the practice as an associate. She grabs this chance after her job offer with another physician is pulled out from under her. The staff end her last 30 days early and she leaves for Dainger. Will the phone calls that come every Tuesday at midnight continue in her new town? She is hoping for a fresh start.
This story has some similarities in characters and plot to book 2 in the series, so I am lowering my rating for some lack of originality. However, the book is still worth reading as there is suspense and mystery to entertain. This is a good addition to the series. I will be reviewing the fourth book in the series here, so stay tuned for more medical suspense stories.
My rating is 4 stars.
Note: I received a complimentary copy for an honest review of this book. The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. Other reviews can be read at http://seekingwithallyurheart.blogspot.com/ . Also follow me on Twitter @lcjohnson1988, FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/lisa.johnson.75457 ( )

Dr. Elena Gardner has been getting threatening late night calls ever since her husband Mark died. She is trying to work through the grief, and struggling with mounds of unpaid medical bills. Her only glimpse of hope is working with a well respected Doctor at Zale University Hospital where her husband died. When that hope is dashed, she is offered another job a few hours away; the only problem is that there are some questions about her husbands’ death from an intracranial bleed. Right before he was taken off life support, she had signed the DNR, but that opened up a controversy about the timing and if she personally ended his life. Haunted by his death, she questions her actions whenever she is with someone with a similar condition in the ER. Will she be able to function as a doctor, or will the threatening phone calls and self doubt follow her where ever she starts a medical practice? This is an excellent Medical Suspense novel, written by a doctor, who gives insights into the medical professions struggle with ethics.

I didn’t realize that this was the 3rd book in a series called Prescription for Trouble, it reads like a stand alone and it wet my appetite to read the first two. The last page really spoke to me, and brought tears to my eyes. I read it on kindle and gave 4 stars. ( )