Bless the Dying

by Sandra Bretting

Deep in the intensive care unit at St. James Medical Center in Southern California lies a young
policeman slowly dying after a routine medical test goes terribly awry.
For Rhetta Day, his former lover and now head of public relations for the hospital, the diagnosis
makes no sense. Especially when she discovers several people have excellent reasons for wanting
Nick Tahari dead. Join Rhetta as she unravels a tangle of lies to unearth the truth about an
"accidental" poisoning.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2014

About the author

Author Sandra Bretting made the switch from writing traditional mysteries to writing inspirational historical fiction in 2024. Her first historical novel, called Unfit to Serve, revolves around the chaos caused by the U.S. military when it adopts a brand-new test from France called the IQ test during World War 1. Based on real events, the novel features a courageous school teacher who fights to help the immigrants who can't read the test and fail it by the thousands.

During a career that spans two decades, Bretting also wrote the Missy Dubois Mystery Series, which earned distinction as an Amazon national bestseller.

She graduated from the University of Missouri's School of Journalism and previously wrote for the Los Angeles Times and Houston Chronicle. You can get to know Bretting's books at www.sandrabretting.com.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sandra Bretting has written an engaging and suspenseful medical mystery. Rhetta works at a hospital in southern California. Her ex, a policeman, has been admitted to the ICU after a routine test goes wrong. As his condition gets inexplicably worse, Rhetta discovers there are lots of people with good reason to want him out of the way.

I am obviously not a medical professional, so I'm not sure how accurate the details are in this book, but I like that they're included. It adds an extra sense of urgency for me. I also really enjoyed learning the backstory of Rhetta and her ex as it went along. I'm always a sucker for romantic storylines, even if I know they're doomed. If you enjoy medical thrillers, this book is for you.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only Bretting’s second book, “Bless the Dying” is a mystery with a medical twist. When a young policeman is poisoned, his former girlfriend who works for the hospital doesn’t believe it was an accident and steps in to prove that something else is going on and finds plenty of suspects.

[Joan Mueller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get past the first few chapters. The action was too slow and the author did not have enough of a grasp of the inner workings of the hospital behind the scenes processes to make the story believable