A brutal murder in the operating suite of an exclusive Beverly Hills hospital is investigated by obstetrician Hannah Kline and her recent lover, Los Angeles police detective Daniel Ross.Hannah Kline and Daniel Ross are taking a well-earned, romantic vacation when their idyll is disrupted by an encounter with Dr. Wesley Templeton, Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, and ex-husband of Hannah’s college roommate, Sara. Two weeks later, Templeton is found murdered at West Beverly Hospital. Everyone with opportunity appears to have no motive, and the long list of people with motives, lack opportunity. Sara is definitely on the suspect list, but Hannah is sure her old friend isn’t capable of murder and decides to do some investigating on her own. In the meantime, an increasingly desperate killer is killing again and again.
Paula Bernstein is a New York native, who migrated to Los Angeles to attend graduate school in Chemistry. She acquired a PhD, an exceptionally nice husband, and the ability to synthesize compounds useful for poisoning.
Not long afterwards, she escaped her laboratory and attended medical school. Like her series heroine, Hannah Kline, Paula spent her professional life practicing Obstetrics and Gynecology. When she developed an irresistible desire for an uninterrupted nights’ sleep, she retired from her full time practice, and reinvented herself as a writer of medical mysteries.
She is the author of the eight volume Hannah Kline mystery series. Her short stories have been published in the collection Potpourri as well as in two Sisters in Crime Anthologies,LAst Resort and Avenging Angelinos. She has served as the President of the Los Angeles Chapter of Sisters in Crime and as Chair of the 2023 California Crime Writers Conference.
I must say that I am really enjoying this series of author Paula Bernstein. I had not read any of her books before Murder in the Family, which is the first in the series, but I am really enjoying the characters and story lines.
However, with that said, Ms Bernstein needs to find a new editor. Misspellings and incorrect character names. There were at least 5 times that "Jose" was used instead of "Josie". I also had to reread sections because the transition in conversation or narrating from Daniel to Hannah or Hannah to Daniel was not clearly indicated.
I would recommend this book and this series if you can look past all the editing errors. I may have given it 4 or 5 stars had it not been for the editing issues.
This author is getting to be a favorite of mine. I love breezy mysteries, and this one doesn't disappoint. The leads are likeable, the mysteries fun, and the setting perfect (my home town). I didn't guess who the murderer was either. Paula Bernstein is beginning to remind me of a transplanted Charlaine Harris. Can't wait to read the next one!