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Bernie Baumgartner #1
A Perilous Conception
1976: Dr. Colin Sanford, a brilliant, ambitious obstetrician practicing in the Pacific Northwest, resolves to become the first to produce a baby by in vitro fertilization, despite the controversy raging over the ethics of artificially-assisted human reproduction. He recruits Dr. Giselle Hearn, an experienced laboratory geneticist-embryologist at the University who's frustrated by the ultra-conservative policies of her department chairman. Working secretly, they set out to put their names in history books. And, incidentally, to cash in. In due course, a Sanford patient, Joyce Kennett, gives birth to a healthy boy. There is rejoicing all around. So why does Joyce's husband erupt in rage, fatally shooting both Hearn and himself? Emerald Police Detective Bernie Baumgartner doggedly seeks the answer. Soon a double cat-and-mouse game develops between the detective who refuses to be bested and the doctor determined to be the best....
496 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
3 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Larry Karp
23 books11 followersLarry Karp practiced perinatal medicine and wrote general nonfiction before turning his back on medical work to write mystery novels full-time. The backgrounds and settings of Larry's mysteries reflect many of his interests, including musical antiques, medical-ethical issues, and ragtime music. His current book, The King of Ragtime, the second work in a ragtime mystery trilogy, centers on a real-life dispute between Scott Joplin and Irving Berlin over the alleged theft of a piece of music."
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 28, 2020
This way an enjoyable mystery that I am glad I read in spite of other readers who didn’t like the book 📖. Dr. Colin Sanford wants to be the first obstetrician to perform in-vitro fertilization. That said, there is no doubt a few liberties were taken by the author but none that weren’t entertaining. I loved the policeman who tried to solve the murder in the lab. He doggedly sets out to sort out what actually happened and will not be deterred by an angry wife, missing documents, and a wayward bullet.
December 7, 2011
It is the year 1977 and Dr. Colin Sanford is on his way into his office in the Emerald Medical Tower in Emerald, Washington. Dr. Sanford, to hear him talk, is the most brilliant obstetrician that practices in the Pacific Northwest. After attending a lecture at the Washington Public University Medical Complex he meets Dr. Giselle Hearn, who runs a embryology lab at the University. The two doctors put their heads together and come up with a plan to produce a baby using invitro fertilization. The University is rather conservative and is against this so Dr. Hearn agrees to work with Dr. Sanford on the sly, working secretly to accomplish the feat of bringing the first invitro baby into the world. The very arrogant Dr. Sanford wants his name in the medical history books and will step on anyone who gets in his way on his quest for fame and fortune.
Subsequently, the two come up with a couple who have been trying to have a baby without results and Dr. Sanford, who has an excellent practice and also a great bedside manner, talks the Kennetts (Joyce and James) into trying this method in order to end up with a beautiful child. The invitro works and a healthy boy is born to the Kennetts. These are happy times in the offices of Dr. Sanford, and one day he is coming into work getting ready to attend a press conference in which he will announce that he and Dr. Hearn have 'created' the very first invitro baby; and they will introduce this child and his parents to the masses. Dr. Sanford is counting the money and patients he will receive for this accomplishment. (Of course, he intends to give Dr. Hearn a little credit.) When he enters his office he finds everyone looking like gloom and doom and is told that James Kennett went to see Dr. Hearn, and went into an uncontrolled rage, shooting Dr. Hearn and himself.
Police Detective Bernie Baumgartner of the Emerald Police Department is sent out on the case and stubbornly looks for the answers. His boss at the department and the powers at the University are exerting pressure on him to declare the case closed, placing the blame on a mentally unstable individual. But, this detective, to the detriment of his marriage and his job is like a dog with a bone and will not give up no matter who he goes after. This game that is played between the detective and the doctor, who both think that they are the best of the best plays out over these pages with a surprise in every chapter. Don't miss this one - it is a definite keeper. The author does a fantastic job with these two main characters. You love them one minute and hate them the next.
Subsequently, the two come up with a couple who have been trying to have a baby without results and Dr. Sanford, who has an excellent practice and also a great bedside manner, talks the Kennetts (Joyce and James) into trying this method in order to end up with a beautiful child. The invitro works and a healthy boy is born to the Kennetts. These are happy times in the offices of Dr. Sanford, and one day he is coming into work getting ready to attend a press conference in which he will announce that he and Dr. Hearn have 'created' the very first invitro baby; and they will introduce this child and his parents to the masses. Dr. Sanford is counting the money and patients he will receive for this accomplishment. (Of course, he intends to give Dr. Hearn a little credit.) When he enters his office he finds everyone looking like gloom and doom and is told that James Kennett went to see Dr. Hearn, and went into an uncontrolled rage, shooting Dr. Hearn and himself.
Police Detective Bernie Baumgartner of the Emerald Police Department is sent out on the case and stubbornly looks for the answers. His boss at the department and the powers at the University are exerting pressure on him to declare the case closed, placing the blame on a mentally unstable individual. But, this detective, to the detriment of his marriage and his job is like a dog with a bone and will not give up no matter who he goes after. This game that is played between the detective and the doctor, who both think that they are the best of the best plays out over these pages with a surprise in every chapter. Don't miss this one - it is a definite keeper. The author does a fantastic job with these two main characters. You love them one minute and hate them the next.
March 30, 2018
The emotional authenticity of this suspense narrative is a bit jagged. The character of Detective Baumgartner is reminiscent of Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey, and the character of the doctor, 2nd protagonist, does not easily evoke a reader's sympathy because of his oversized ego. The subject matter, however, namely, the '70's race toward in vitro fertilization, is provocative and makes the book well worth the read.
January 28, 2012
In vitro fertilization is a common occurrence now but in 1975, the subject was very controversial. Dr. Colin Sanford, an obstetrician in Emerald, Washington, is determined to be the first doctor to produce a baby by this method. He has recruited Dr. Giselle Hearn, a laboratory geneticist-embryologist to work with him. Because of Hearn’s department chair, their work must remain a secret. Joyce Kennett, a patient of Dr. Sanford, is determined to have a baby. With the help of Sanford and Hearn, Kennett gives birth to a healthy baby boy.
Dr. Sanford has assured Kennett that when he is in a position to make a public announcement about the baby’s birth, there will be no end to the publicity and Kennett will gain financially through the publicity.
However, before any announcement can be made, James Kennett, Joyce’s husband and the baby’s father, goes on a shooting spree, kills Dr. Hearn, and then kills himself. This is where Detective Ernie Baumgartner steps in and determines to discover what motivated James Kennett to murder a doctor and then commit suicide.
The reader hears the story from the viewpoint of Dr. Colin Sanford as well as from the viewpoint of Detective Baumgartner. Detective Baumgartner’s superiors keep pressing him to close the case since they feel it is obvious that James Kennett is simply a man who suffered a mental breakdown but the Baumgarnter is sure there is much, much more to the story. Not only risking the wrath of his superiors Baumgarnter neglects his wife to the point where she leaves him and he has to beg a place to sleep from an old acquaintance.
Larry Karp, in my opinion, has written an outstanding and intriguing book. A Perilous Conception is a mystery I am very glad I read and would recommend the book as an exciting read. The conclusion is a surprising and satisfying end to this excellent book.
Dr. Sanford has assured Kennett that when he is in a position to make a public announcement about the baby’s birth, there will be no end to the publicity and Kennett will gain financially through the publicity.
However, before any announcement can be made, James Kennett, Joyce’s husband and the baby’s father, goes on a shooting spree, kills Dr. Hearn, and then kills himself. This is where Detective Ernie Baumgartner steps in and determines to discover what motivated James Kennett to murder a doctor and then commit suicide.
The reader hears the story from the viewpoint of Dr. Colin Sanford as well as from the viewpoint of Detective Baumgartner. Detective Baumgartner’s superiors keep pressing him to close the case since they feel it is obvious that James Kennett is simply a man who suffered a mental breakdown but the Baumgarnter is sure there is much, much more to the story. Not only risking the wrath of his superiors Baumgarnter neglects his wife to the point where she leaves him and he has to beg a place to sleep from an old acquaintance.
Larry Karp, in my opinion, has written an outstanding and intriguing book. A Perilous Conception is a mystery I am very glad I read and would recommend the book as an exciting read. The conclusion is a surprising and satisfying end to this excellent book.
June 19, 2012
I went back and forth about reviewing this book. I share a press with Larry Karp (Poisoned Pen) and he's a friend. On the other hand, I wouldn't review it if I didn't really like it. Plus I paid for the book myself and Larry never asked me to review it.
Okay. Enough with the disclaimers.
I, like, totally LOVED IT.
Beginning fiction writers are told: create an appealing protagonist that readers can bond with. Well, Larry didn't. Here we have two problematic men--a brilliant doctor with an outsized ego and no compunctions about lying versus an obsessive cop who passively watches his marriage disintegrate as he focuses all his attention on his job. Both the cop and the doc are complex, flawed, admirable, and a little appalling. The fun is watching these two determined, smart men play cat-and-mouse while the minor characters get up to all sorts of trouble in the background.
The setting is Seattle in the 1970s. The doctor aims to be the first to create a "test tube" baby and he runs into a lot of trouble on the way to the history books, including the murder of his partner. I love a dose of science with my mysteries and Larry adds this spice with a judicious hand, along with a palatable history of the controversies around in vitro fertilization.
The secondary characters are well developed, the plot is tricky and full of surprises, and I found the ending unusual and satisfying.
I wish I'd written it!
Okay. Enough with the disclaimers.
I, like, totally LOVED IT.
Beginning fiction writers are told: create an appealing protagonist that readers can bond with. Well, Larry didn't. Here we have two problematic men--a brilliant doctor with an outsized ego and no compunctions about lying versus an obsessive cop who passively watches his marriage disintegrate as he focuses all his attention on his job. Both the cop and the doc are complex, flawed, admirable, and a little appalling. The fun is watching these two determined, smart men play cat-and-mouse while the minor characters get up to all sorts of trouble in the background.
The setting is Seattle in the 1970s. The doctor aims to be the first to create a "test tube" baby and he runs into a lot of trouble on the way to the history books, including the murder of his partner. I love a dose of science with my mysteries and Larry adds this spice with a judicious hand, along with a palatable history of the controversies around in vitro fertilization.
The secondary characters are well developed, the plot is tricky and full of surprises, and I found the ending unusual and satisfying.
I wish I'd written it!
December 13, 2011
I had a tough time with this book. I wanted to like it but it just wasn't happening for me. I don't need to love the characters of a book to actually enjoy it but there should be someone that I can route for but I didn't even find that, with the exception of really liking the locksmith character who is a friend of Baumgartner and not really a main character to the book.
Dr. Sanfords character has a massive god complex which can be common given his profession but he begins to seriously grate on every nerve, Baumgartner is a cop before anything else. I can't even say he is a good cop since he breaks more rules than Stabler on Law and Order SVU. Plus he basically just ignores his wife which was random and not necessary to the plot.
The mystery isn't much of a mystery and you can figure out what is going on rather quickly. There is a bit more of a twist toward the end of the book which made it start moving more quickly but in the end I was just left rather empty. Unfortunately the best thing I can say about this book is that if you want to know about the history of IVF there is plenty of that in here. I didn't hate the book but I certainly didn't love it either.
Dr. Sanfords character has a massive god complex which can be common given his profession but he begins to seriously grate on every nerve, Baumgartner is a cop before anything else. I can't even say he is a good cop since he breaks more rules than Stabler on Law and Order SVU. Plus he basically just ignores his wife which was random and not necessary to the plot.
The mystery isn't much of a mystery and you can figure out what is going on rather quickly. There is a bit more of a twist toward the end of the book which made it start moving more quickly but in the end I was just left rather empty. Unfortunately the best thing I can say about this book is that if you want to know about the history of IVF there is plenty of that in here. I didn't hate the book but I certainly didn't love it either.
January 9, 2012
As always, Larry Karp writes a great Thriller. Stayed up until 6am to finish this one. His characters are always great, although he has never had quite as good a set of characters as he did in his Thomas Purdue music box mysteries. Wish his publisher would let him continue that series.
I was born and raised in Seattle (Emerald), so I could visualize many of Seattle's locations and institutions that he has renamed. There is one great inside joke in the plot that I caught that even some of his friends might not catch (sorry, I will never give it away).
Keep up the good work Dr. Karp. I look forward to your next book in this series.
I was born and raised in Seattle (Emerald), so I could visualize many of Seattle's locations and institutions that he has renamed. There is one great inside joke in the plot that I caught that even some of his friends might not catch (sorry, I will never give it away).
Keep up the good work Dr. Karp. I look forward to your next book in this series.
February 12, 2012
This is an interesting book, a mystery in which in vitro fertilization is the major topic. Since it is set in the late 1970's the reality of it was yet to happen and controversy surrounding it a hot topic. If you enjoy or can get past the circuitous turns of events that happen without much build up it's quite a book.
March 10, 2012
Mystery novel set in a mythical Seattle (renamed "Emerald). Wooden character and stilted dialog abound, and I guessed part of the mystery's solution by page 37. On the plus side, it has an interesting premise and was a super quick read.
January 27, 2012
New author for me. Story keeps you reading. It started slow but got better .
February 27, 2012
Not exactly a medical thriller, but a nice, light escape reading. In vitro fertilization is the major topic. Reminded me more of a movie script.
April 26, 2012
Well plotted in an medical area that I knew very little about.
I would give it 3.5 stars if I could give half stars.
I would give it 3.5 stars if I could give half stars.
April 4, 2013
Interesting novel about the early days of in vitro fertilization with a murder mystery thrown in for good measure
March 10, 2012
Good book. Interesting turns. Learned about invitro.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews