In this third book of the Davis/Fulford mystery series, a woman identified as hospital physician Martha Brooks is found stabbed to death in an Atlanta hotel room. Police detectives and sometimes lovers Wade Davis and Leda Fulford find out that the body is not that of Dr. Brooks, but oncology nurse Coretta Collins. An investigation ensues to find out who committed the crime and why Collins' murder was set up to seem as if Brooks was the victim. Davis and Fulford discover an insidious hosptial practice in which terminal patients are euthanized for money. Where is Dr. Brooks, and is she involved?
Dovetailing the investigation is Leda's guilt and anguish over her senile father recently having been put in a rest home. There are plenty of witnesses to the mercy-killing scam, but none of them will incriminate themselves. The prime suspect in the case ingeniously escapes from a motel room that David and Fulford have surrounded. They know who is behind the heartless scheme, but can't get the evidence they need to prove it. Can Davis and Fulford stop the killer before there's a next victim?
Review: "In his previous works, Minnick, who is a master of mystery writing, convinces you, the reader, that you know who committed the crime, only to throw you off by introducing new suspects and creating a tangled web of deceits, lies, and half truths. In Dying in Care, however, he reveals the criminal early on. The suspense then shifts from who the perp is to where she, as a fugitive, is hiding, what she is up to, and when, if ever, the police will catch her."
-A.J. Northrup, author of Fifty Fallen Stars
"A reader becomes engrossed in the effort - and Minnick's adroitness. In a mere 155 pages, Minnick mixes a nice stew of menacing hoodlums, modern forensics, police frustration, medical ethics and intrigue."
-Gerald Ensley, The Tallahassee Democrat
Bio: WAYNE MINNICK is the author of The Art of Persuasion, Public Speaking (Houghton Mifflin), Butcher Bird (Creative Arts), and The Crossbow Murder(Creative Arts). He holds a Ph.D. in Speech Communication from Northwestern University, is a professor emeritus at Florida State University, and was an associate professor at Northwestern University. He began writing short stories and mystery novels upon retirement.
