Malpractices: A Tom Jones Medical Thriller Omnibus

by Andrew Puckett

A TOM JONES MEDICAL THRILLER OMNIBUS

CHILLING OUT

A body is found frozen solid in the Tamar.

The victim is Dr Adam Goring – the executive behind the imminent closure of the Tamar Transfusion Centre.

But who killed him, and why was his body frozen before being dumped in the river?

The prime suspect is Jessie Pengellis – the centre manager, who Goring vowed to have sacked and sued for slander after accusing him of corruption on a live national television debate.

But he is now voiceless, dead.

When the police struggle to make progress on the case, the Department for Health Inspector, Tom Jones, is sent in.

However, Jones soon discovers that the centre is a hotbed of treachery and depravity, and that the case is not as simple as it seems…

BLOODHOUND

Blood transfusions have saved countless lives over the years, but when a terrorist group agitating for Scottish independence deliberately contaminates a hundred blood packs with a deadly bacteria, this normally safe procedure poses a terrifying threat.

Department of Health investigator Tom Jones is recalled from holiday to assist with the police enquiries, and the trail leads him to the West Highland Transfusion Centre – where, to complicate matters, he finds that his former girlfriend is now in a relationship with one of the chief suspects.

The hunter will turn into the hunted however, as Tom is targeted when his investigation grows close to uncovering the truth.

BLOODSTAINS

How do you investigate the theft of blood from a Blood Transfusion Centre when you’re terrified by the sight of it?

When Marcus Evans, Department of Health Mandarin, receives an anonymous letter telling him that blood is being stolen from Tamar Blood Transfusion Centre in Devon, it seems like the ideal case for his undercover investigator, Tom Jones.

But Tom bluntly refuses to do it – because he suffers from Haemophobia – a morbid terror of blood.

Just as bluntly, Marcus tells Tom that he has to do it or lose his job. So Tom, with the greatest trepidation, agrees. Then, as he is preparing to go, news comes through of the discovery in the blood-bank of the body of one of the staff, and the simultaneous disappearance of a night-orderly.

As Tom battles with his phobia in the Transfusion Centre, an attempt is made on his life – someone evidently knows who he is, while he has no idea of his enemy's identity. One of the apparently friendly staff is trying to kill him,

Tom has to somehow survive further attempts on his life before he can unravel the mystery and the identity of the culprit.

Praise for Andrew Puckett:

‘Concise, fast-paced … thoroughly enjoyable.’ Financial Times

‘Another briskly diverting knowledge-ridden entertainment set in an offbeat milieu.’ Oxford Times

‘Murder and sabotage at nuclear power station as protestors gather at gate and official nerves twang over tarnished safety image. Sober start with runaway early-movie finish.’ The Guardian

Andrew Puckett was born in Sherborne, Dorset.

704 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2019

About the author

Andrew Puckett is a writer who feels he should experience for himself the trials imposed on his protagonists.
Examples are: Being locked in a freezer room at -40 degrees, Climbing a 1000 foot cliff from a rocky beach in the dark, Then encountering the Exmoor Beast (involuntary), Escaping from a prison ship (not actually incarcerated!), Falling into the sea from Durdle Dor (not quite), Escaping from a burning caravan etc.

Before that, he grew up on his parents' farms, the first in a remote part of Dorset, the second in the shadow of Salisbury cathedral.

He worked in a brewery, a chemical factory and Porton Germ Warfare Establishment, where he acquired a painful immunity to Plague, Anthrax and Smallpox (which did at least give him the idea for his novel Going Viral). He then worked in hospital labs in Taunton, London and finally Oxford, where he ran the microbiology department at Oxford Blood Transfusion Centre for fifteen years.

His first novel, Bloodstains, was derived from his experiences in the Blood Transfusion Service. He has subsequently published ten more, mostly on a medical theme. He now lives in Taunton with his wife and daughters.

Reviews

[Jill Bristow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad day’s reading

Quite enjoyed these three stories. However I wish I’d realised the books eww backwards. Read the last one first and the fist one last. And yes, reading them out of synch did rather spoil things. However I see there are further books by this author and look forward t reading them!

[miss a a smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me.
Waded my way through the three books in the wrong order (as they came up, & yes it makes a difference) through the grammatical errors and disjointed plots.
Shame