Brain Storm, Angela Richman Death Investigator by Elaine Viets @evmysterywriter #Suspense http://tinyurl.com/RTBS12-05-16

Blurb:

The ultrawealthy families of Chouteau Forest may look down on a woman like death investigator Angela Richman, but they also rely on her. When a horrific car crash kills a Forest teenager, Angela is among the first on the scene. Her investigation is hardly underway, however, when she suffers a series of crippling strokes. Misdiagnosed by the resident neurologist, Dr. Gravois, and mended by gauche yet brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Jeb Travis Tritt, Angela faces a harrowing recovery.

It’s a drug-addled, hallucinating Angela who learns that Dr. Gravois has been murdered…and the chief suspect is the surgeon who saved her life. Angela doesn’t believe it, but can she trust her instincts? Her brain trauma brings doubts that she’ll ever recover her investigative skills. But she’s determined to save Dr. Tritt from a death-row sentence—even if her progress is thwarted at every turn by a powerful and insular community poised to protect its own.

About the Author:

Elaine Viets has written twenty-nine mysteries in three series: the bestselling Dead-End Job series with South Florida PI Helen Hawthorne, the cozy Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper mysteries, and the dark Francesca Vierling mysteries. With the Angela Richman Death Investigator series, Elaine returns to her hardboiled roots and uses her experience as a stroke survivor and her studies at the Medicolegal Death Investigators Training Course at St. Louis University. Elaine is director at large for the Mystery Writers of America. She's a frequent contributor to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and anthologies edited by Charlaine Harris and Lawrence Block. Elaine won the Anthony, Agatha and Lefty Awards.

Review:

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to have a stroke, you need to read Brain Storm. And if you enjoy a good mystery, you need to read Brain Storm. Angela Richman is a death investigator. She works for the coroner, going out to the scenes of various deaths around Chouteau Forest, a wealthy, fictitious county near St. Louis, and investigating the bodies. But in the midst of investigating a horrible auto accident involving drugs, alcohol, and texting while driving, Angela suffers a series of strokes.

The first are warnings, but Dr. Gravois, the affluent, well-liked, and totally incompetent head of neurology at the local hospital, misdiagnoses her headaches as a possible tumor and sends her home, telling her to call and make an appointment for a PET scan in the near future. He tells her she’s “too young and healthy to have a stroke.” Outsider, Dr. Jeb Travis Tritt saves Angela’s life, but when Gravois is poisoned, Tritt is blamed. Angela doesn’t think the man who saved her life is guilty, but she’s still recovering from her stroke. Even though she was there when Gravois died, how can she help clear him when she was a witness, and wasn’t allowed to investigate?

It was fascinating going inside the mind of a person having a stroke and then recovering from it. And to weave that into a mystery was masterful writing. The characters were all very real. Ya gotta read Brain Storm! Brava, Ms. Viets.

Author Website:  http://elaineviets.com/

Warnings:  Descriptions of Deceased Bodies

Length:  322 Pages

Prices:

Print:  $9.99

Digital:  $4.99

Buy Link:  https://smile.amazon.com/Brain-Storm-Investigator-Angela-Richman-ebook/dp/B019K2JGXK

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Sometimes it Rains in California by Jennifer Strom

The Plot:

Dr. Hubbard seems to have everything going for him, success in his job and moderate fame, his choice of any woman he wants, and undeniable wealth. To those around him, he seems nearly perfect and untouched by anything. Then on an ordinary Tuesday evening a nervous ER intern corners him with a desperate plea to help save a young woman's life. Almost immediately he realizes that the woman holds a connection to a secret from his past that he’s carried with him for years. As she remains unaware of the poignant way their lives are intertwined, Dr. Hubbard makes it his mission to keep her in his life until he can come to terms with how to handle the reality of what she represents. What begins as an unwillingness to let go of old memories and redeem past mistakes, soon turns into an intricate web of deception that forces Dr. Hubbard to make a choice. He can reveal the truth about their connection and face the anger and heartache that might come with that revelation or let her silently move on and maybe lose his only chance for reconciliation and redemption.

About the Author:

Jennifer has always been drawn to a good story and loves telling one as much as reading one. After ten-plus years writing in various positions in corporate America, she left to stay home with her children and follow her true passion of writing fiction.

She lives with her husband, children, three cats and a dog in Atlanta, Georgia.

Review:

Sometimes it Rains in California is the story of a man who did something terrible in high school and spent the rest of his life trying to atone for it. But when Dr. Hubbard saves the life a young woman from his past, he realizes he has to choose—expose his mistake and relive the past, or let the only woman he ever loved slip away—again.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Dr. Hubbard. He pretty much lied his way through the book, but he did so out of fear. On top of that, this book wasn’t very well edited. It’s full of mis-matched tenses and misused words. It kept me engaged enough to read all the way through, so I am giving it three roses, but I wouldn’t suggest going out of one’s way to read it.

Author Amazon Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Strom/e/B01EW3ZOKQ

Heat Rating:  PG-13

Length:  276 Pages

Prices:

Print:  $12.00

Digital:  $3.99

Buy Link:  http://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-Rains-California-Jennifer-Strom/dp/1530442206

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