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The Certificate
‘Plain Jane’ Ziegler has been a district nurse all her life...
All her life, she has been overlooked by difficult patients, disinterested colleagues and even her own family.
So when she discovers a way to commit the perfect crime, Jane seizes the opportunity and begins deliberating who of her many patients is most deserving of her murderous attention.
And when elderly James Walsh tries one to many times to proposition her, Jane seizes her chance.
Although Walsh’s mother seems unconvinced by Jane’s explanation of his death, no one else, least of all Jane’s fellow doctors, seems the least bit surprised.
As the days past, she can’t help thinking that she may indeed have escaped suspicion. Driven by this knowledge and with a new-found taste for murder, she soon turns her mind to her next victim.
However, when a formal complaint is made against her by bad-tempered Clara Blatter, it seems that she may have picked the wrong woman.
Soon, Jane finds herself under investigation and when she carries out her second murder, the net begins to close in tighter. When her normally unassuming boss starts to become suspicious, Jane resorts to drastic measures to avoid detection, as her perfect crime quickly turns into a nightmare that could cost her everything.
All her life, she has been overlooked by difficult patients, disinterested colleagues and even her own family.
So when she discovers a way to commit the perfect crime, Jane seizes the opportunity and begins deliberating who of her many patients is most deserving of her murderous attention.
And when elderly James Walsh tries one to many times to proposition her, Jane seizes her chance.
Although Walsh’s mother seems unconvinced by Jane’s explanation of his death, no one else, least of all Jane’s fellow doctors, seems the least bit surprised.
As the days past, she can’t help thinking that she may indeed have escaped suspicion. Driven by this knowledge and with a new-found taste for murder, she soon turns her mind to her next victim.
However, when a formal complaint is made against her by bad-tempered Clara Blatter, it seems that she may have picked the wrong woman.
Soon, Jane finds herself under investigation and when she carries out her second murder, the net begins to close in tighter. When her normally unassuming boss starts to become suspicious, Jane resorts to drastic measures to avoid detection, as her perfect crime quickly turns into a nightmare that could cost her everything.
100 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 6, 2016
About the author
Priscilla Masters
55 books84 followersPriscilla Masters' writing career started in 1987 when she published Mr. Bateman's Garden, a children's book set in Biddulph Grange Gardens belonging to the National Trust. After that she created Inspector Joanna Piercy and has now also written a number of Medical Mysteries.
Priscilla Masters lives in Shropshire, England. She works part-time in Staffordshire as a practice nurse.
Priscilla Masters lives in Shropshire, England. She works part-time in Staffordshire as a practice nurse.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 1, 2019
Jane Ziegler is a district nurse in her late 40s,very plain and over weight ( according to her ),her two daughters and mother have nothing to do with her,she lives a solitary life doing her best to fade into the background.She doesn't mix with her work colleagues,just goes to work,takes care of her patients and then goes home to her empty house.Then one day she realises that she is in the perfect position to commit the perfect murder because she has access to a certain certificate.Picking the perfect victim is easy,there are plenty of patients that have bad attitudes and get on her nerves.It's just a case of working out an undetectable method to kill someone without raising suspicion about how they died and her involvement.
I had mixed feelings about Jane,she didn't come across as a very nice person,she looked down on people and was very opinionated but she had also be treated badly by her mother and ex husband whose digs and comments have obviously eaten into her self esteem and given a complete lack of confidence so I did feel a tiny bit of sympathy for her.There are a lot of people in the world that have been mistreated and have no self confidence and they don't wake up one morning and decide that they are going to kill someone just to see if they can get away with it so there was obviously something wrong with her mentally to begin with.Who will she decide to murder,how will they do it and will she get away with it?.
The book only has 71 pages and the story is told by Jane as she voices her thoughts on how she feels and the people around her.It's not fast paced but the story was intriguing enough to keep the reader interested and there was a twist at the end.It would have been interesting to have had some more background information on Jane,like why her daughters weren't talking to her which was never explained but it was an interesting story,quite scary when you think of all the trust that we have to put in people writhing work in the medical profession ,it was well written and I did enjoy reading the book.
I had mixed feelings about Jane,she didn't come across as a very nice person,she looked down on people and was very opinionated but she had also be treated badly by her mother and ex husband whose digs and comments have obviously eaten into her self esteem and given a complete lack of confidence so I did feel a tiny bit of sympathy for her.There are a lot of people in the world that have been mistreated and have no self confidence and they don't wake up one morning and decide that they are going to kill someone just to see if they can get away with it so there was obviously something wrong with her mentally to begin with.Who will she decide to murder,how will they do it and will she get away with it?.
The book only has 71 pages and the story is told by Jane as she voices her thoughts on how she feels and the people around her.It's not fast paced but the story was intriguing enough to keep the reader interested and there was a twist at the end.It would have been interesting to have had some more background information on Jane,like why her daughters weren't talking to her which was never explained but it was an interesting story,quite scary when you think of all the trust that we have to put in people writhing work in the medical profession ,it was well written and I did enjoy reading the book.
June 19, 2016
This was a very interesting and unique, yet simple, story. For a short story, I felt it had a lot of good character development. My only real complaint was that I felt the ending was rushed. Maybe an extra 3 pages or so could have really fleshed everything out and given a much better sense of resolution. But, even as a person who generally doesn't care for short stories, I really enjoyed this.
**I received this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
**I received this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
June 11, 2016
I received an e-ARC of this short story through NetGalley and Endeavour Press.
I have to admit to enjoying this short story quite a bit. I have recently discovered the novels of Priscilla Masters and have liked what I've read so wanted to try this story because of the premise. A nurse, with a lot of low self-esteem issues, begins to think what it would be like to rid herself of quarrelsome, rude, or just plain mean patients by committing the perfect murder. The most essential element in her planning is right there under her hand and available.
For such a short story (71 pages) Masters did a good job of giving her character depth and dimension. When you read as many mystery novels as I do you can't help but wonder what it would take to commit the perfect murder. Here nurse Jane Zeiner has spent 15 years working for this group of general practitioners going on daily rounds to care for patients who can't come into the office for the regular treatment they need. Jane begins to think through the process of how she could kill a patient and get away with it. I liked how the author had Jane go through all the thought processes for months before she made any decision on what she might do. Watching her try to work out a murder that would prove undetectable was quite interesting.
If you decide to read this story, don't miss the author's comments after the story ends. I laughed out loud!
I have to admit to enjoying this short story quite a bit. I have recently discovered the novels of Priscilla Masters and have liked what I've read so wanted to try this story because of the premise. A nurse, with a lot of low self-esteem issues, begins to think what it would be like to rid herself of quarrelsome, rude, or just plain mean patients by committing the perfect murder. The most essential element in her planning is right there under her hand and available.
For such a short story (71 pages) Masters did a good job of giving her character depth and dimension. When you read as many mystery novels as I do you can't help but wonder what it would take to commit the perfect murder. Here nurse Jane Zeiner has spent 15 years working for this group of general practitioners going on daily rounds to care for patients who can't come into the office for the regular treatment they need. Jane begins to think through the process of how she could kill a patient and get away with it. I liked how the author had Jane go through all the thought processes for months before she made any decision on what she might do. Watching her try to work out a murder that would prove undetectable was quite interesting.
If you decide to read this story, don't miss the author's comments after the story ends. I laughed out loud!
June 15, 2016
3.5 Stars
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
September 22, 2017
Jane Ziegler is a district nurse. Her job is to help those most in need, the sick, the needy, the long term ill. On paper Jane sounds wonderful, going from the GP practice to home care cases to oversee patients. The problem is Jane has spent her whole life getting overlooked. By her family, her daughters barely send a Christmas card. An ex husband who at best tolerated her when they were married. Her colleagues barely notice when she is there or not. And her patients are difficult and abusive.
She passes the time thinking of ways to commit the perfect crime. Then one day it comes to her. Surely it can’t be that simple? She works up the courage and finds that maybe it is. Spurred on by her success she tries again. But then things start to fall apart….
I enjoyed this book, you build no sympathy whatsoever for Jane, unusual for a main character. She is a horrible person, and you don’t want her to succeed. However you keep reading as the suspense is built, will she commit the crime, will she evade suspicion, or capture? There were some great little unexpected twists in the story, that only served to deepen my dislike of Jane and want to see her fail. My only complaint is that the story ended too soon. But it was certainly a gripping and engrossing read!
I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are entirely my own.
She passes the time thinking of ways to commit the perfect crime. Then one day it comes to her. Surely it can’t be that simple? She works up the courage and finds that maybe it is. Spurred on by her success she tries again. But then things start to fall apart….
I enjoyed this book, you build no sympathy whatsoever for Jane, unusual for a main character. She is a horrible person, and you don’t want her to succeed. However you keep reading as the suspense is built, will she commit the crime, will she evade suspicion, or capture? There were some great little unexpected twists in the story, that only served to deepen my dislike of Jane and want to see her fail. My only complaint is that the story ended too soon. But it was certainly a gripping and engrossing read!
I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are entirely my own.
September 25, 2020
Several years ago, I read Priscilla Master's River Deep, her first Martha Gunn mystery featuring a coroner in Shrewsbury, England. I really enjoyed it and have always meant to read more in the series. Finding "The Certificate" definitely reminded me of my good intentions.
Jane Ziegler is the type of character who makes you feel mixed emotions. Mixed because while so many of us can empathize with her and her life experiences, we still feel that she's creepy and we don't want to turn our backs on her. Hopefully, readers will also pause to reflect on how they treat others-- especially those they take for granted. The fast pace of this story made the ending arrive much faster than I wanted it to, and-- an added bonus-- it didn't end quite the way I thought it would. The Author's Note at the end made me laugh.
Yes, indeed. After reading "The Certificate," I really need to read Priscilla Masters' next Martha Gunn mystery, Slip Knot!
Jane Ziegler is the type of character who makes you feel mixed emotions. Mixed because while so many of us can empathize with her and her life experiences, we still feel that she's creepy and we don't want to turn our backs on her. Hopefully, readers will also pause to reflect on how they treat others-- especially those they take for granted. The fast pace of this story made the ending arrive much faster than I wanted it to, and-- an added bonus-- it didn't end quite the way I thought it would. The Author's Note at the end made me laugh.
Yes, indeed. After reading "The Certificate," I really need to read Priscilla Masters' next Martha Gunn mystery, Slip Knot!
November 8, 2019
I really enjoyed The Certificate, one of the Kindle Single series. This isn't a long story but the author really brought the characters to life. The style of writing makes me what to read more books from this author. A quick interesting read!
June 16, 2016
I enjoyed this insight into the life of a "Plain Jane" who has been overlooked all her life so far and I had a great deal of sympathy for Jane.
This was a quick read but it contained alot of details that are interesting and written about well and the author clearly knows the subject (did like the note at the end)
I would gladly have carried on reading and thought the story could have been extended slightly.
Many thanks to Endeavor Press for the advance copy.
This was a quick read but it contained alot of details that are interesting and written about well and the author clearly knows the subject (did like the note at the end)
I would gladly have carried on reading and thought the story could have been extended slightly.
Many thanks to Endeavor Press for the advance copy.
June 15, 2016
Well written short novella which will make you think twice about how you treat medical personnel! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC- I'd like to see more from Masters.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews