"Patients are dying after surgery. Is it murder?"

Judith and Renie are at it again. These cousins are a hoot!

Judith is off to the hospital for hip surgery. Renie is having rotator cuff repair. Unfortunately right before they are admitted, they learn that two recent well-known patients didn't make it after they had routine surgery.

Then while they are in the hospital recuperating, the ex- pro quarterback in the next room dies after minor knee surgery. Was he killed?

The cousins begin to look into the deaths at Good Cheer Hospital. This is not easily done. Judith is pretty much bed-bound, so Renie ends up doing a lot of the leg work. Most of the staff won't talk, but they do find a few who will give them a little information. But then most of them mysteriously go on vacation or are transferred.

Plus Renie is not the best patient. She is constantly finding a way to order in better food. Their neighbor across the hall, assists in this activity on a few occasions. Then a snow storm brings the town to an almost standstill. This also means that their husbands can't visit.

The husband of the first woman to die is a reporter. He stops in and chats with the cousins. A few minutes later Renie observes him being hit by a car in the hospital parking lot. They know someone is up to no good and hope that they can survive while working to uncover everything!

I love this series. These cousins always make me laugh. They get into some of the wildest situations! Judith's husband and her mother are not as prominent in this book. They really add to this series as well. I like how the author can weave the various characters in and out depending on the setting. They still play a part, but maybe not as big.

The author has a real winner! If you are looking for a cozy that you can fly through and enjoy, you've found it!

I highly recommend this book and the entire series!

Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle
Posted August 16, 2004

Summary

A bum hip has bed-and-breakfast hostess Judith McMonigle Flynn limping off to Good Cheer Hospital -- a questionable "haven of healing" where two recent patients didn't make the cut after routine surgery. Judith's trepidation at undergoing the knife is eased only by sharing a room with cousin Renie, who's in for rotator cuff repair. Though the cousins survive their surgeries, the ex- pro quarterback next door is permanently sacked after minor knee surgery. With the scoreboard showing Grim Reaper 3, post-op patients 0, Judith decides that she and Renie are obliged to get to the bottom of Good Cheer's carnage. But in order to sew up the case, Judith and Renie must probe into the suspects' psyches. And suddenly it looks as if the cousins' own prognoses could take them out of the game...for good.