Meet Kate Katelinson in her Debut Series, Nashville Mercy, by M. Maitland DeLand, M.D. Celebrating Her Blog Tour!

"I think they're bringing the wrong patient in for
 the angioplasty," the nurse says. She
 averts her eyes when the doctor turns to
 face her. He is actually in his residency. This is the
first angioplasty that he will be doing on his own,
albeit still under supervision.

"Where is the doctor?" Her voice is deeper than you would expect. There is a muffled strain on the word "doctor."
"He's still scrubbing in," comes a voice from behind the image intensifier, a large semicircle that loom over the room like a half-moon.
The nurse moves toward the swinging door on the opposite side of the suite. She normally wouldn't go out of her way to speak with any of the doctors in the cath lab, but something isn't right.
Her long fingers fidget against the almost invisible golden chain around her neck, from which swings a small pendant with a bright cherub angel.
..."Thank you for your concern, but I know what I'm doing."
..."But...I mean, you're going to be working on Gwendolyn Cartwright."
"Correct. Is that it?"
"Well, no. I saw her angiogram results and--"
"I wasn't aware that it was your job to read my patient's angiograms."
"Well, no--"
"But apparently you do it anyway." He puts his hands on his hips and cocks his head.
"She's technically not your patient," the nurse says a little too loudly. "It's not like you ordered this procedure on your own. Listen, I'm not trying to blame anyone here. I just think there's been a mistake."
"I see. Thank you for your concern." The doctor's curt tone tells her the conversation is over. "I'll see you in the OR."
Something makes the nurse jump in front of him. His mouth opens. This is unexpected.
"I know what a blockage looks like," she announces. "And she barely has one. Not one worth operating on anyway."
His eyes squint as he looks down at her. "Are you telling me that I don't know when a patient needs an angioplasty?"

~~~

Nashville Mercy:

The Kate Katelinson Series

By M. Maitland DeLand, M.D.

I was intrigued by the choice of profession for Kate Katelinson. She is an investigative reporter for the Nashville Herald. Kate is that type of main character that you immediately know and like her...she's intelligent, gutsy and anxious to succeed in her field! Much like many women in today's world, right?! A brilliant decision on the part of Dr. DeLand, in my opinion. This places the medical scene under close scrutiny from someone outside the walls--someone who is curious enough and tenacious enough to get in there and work to solve a mystery, probably from criminal actions, that is happening, no matter where it is. This time, we are taken to Nashville Mercy, a major hospital of this large city, where a young woman just starting what promises to be a major singing career, is headed for angioplasty surgery... 

Note: This was a young lady chosen to sing with Josh Groban in his audience...It could have been

just how Gwendolyn Cartwright got her start and went on to sing in Nashville...before she died...

added to dramatize the tragedy of what happened there at Mercy Hospital...

Kate studied the memo. "So I have to
go to Nashville Mercy Hospital for
this?"
"Just put on your Katelinson smile
and rub elbows with them for a bit.
They have a new hospital-patient
relationship initiative that everyone's
excited about.
"Thrilling."
"Year, you'd better make it thrilling.
This has to go in Sunday's edition, so
throw in a sentimental story or two.
You know, make it entertaining....
"Why me?"
~~

Kate's computer screen
flashed with the reminder,
"CAT BLOG DUE TODAY"
...She sighed. Growing up,
Kate had always dreamt of
being a reporter for a city
newspaper like the Nashville
Herald, but writing blog
pieces about homeless cats
had never been a part of that
dream.
~~~

Loved this cover and decided that Kate Katelinson was perfect played by this young woman...so when the first movie comes out on this series, we'll know who to contact, right?!

Having a novel begin with the concept that a young female singer is about to be operated on for no reason is scary to say the least. But, then, when a problem occurs during the surgery and and she begins to bleed out, it appears even worse!

Compound that by the fact that Gwen Cartwright's lawyer tries to take her to another hospital because of what happens, but was prevented due to her condition, only to have Gwen die soon after, well, it would be very hard, knowing all that had happened, to think it was anything else but murder... And that sure makes for a fantastic murder mystery novel!

Kate had just come to the hospital to meet on a new hospital-patient initiative and was running late, as usual. She was one of the best, but she was also known for doing some stupid things and recklessness. She'd already been fired and rehired two different times. This one would prove to be the third...

Because when she met, first Sister Agatha, who was quick to point out that she would not have time for the full tour, since Kate was late, it was hard to start on a cordial discussion. And then she bumped into an old college friend, Jan Peters, and naturally started talking to her. At least until Sister Agatha broke in...again...to move on with her scheduled interview.

But before anything else, Jan jumped in asking about the interview, only to have Kate kiddingly say that she'd heard about the big scandal... Well, let's just say that Jan immediately thought they were going to be talking about Gwen Cartright, spouting out much more than she should have been saying, but enough to set Kate's investigative antenna on alert! It sounded like there really was a story to cover!

Well, I've already warned that Kate was reckless, so instead of waiting for Sister Agatha to bring back the administrator for the actual interview, Kate had left! Of course, trying to find Jan to discover more about what she'd been talking about!

When she finally caught up with Jan, they spent time telling each other what was knew with their lives since they'd last talking. It was during that conversation that Kate shared that she was no longer engaged to be married. But Kate couldn't stop from asking more about what she'd earlier said. Instead of responding further, Jan told Kate to go to a ground floor location of the Hospital. She'd have to hurry, because they were moving her. Kate of course asked who, but Jan went on, leaving Kate to find her way...

And heard and saw all that happened!

Gwen Cartwright was in the Nashville Tabloids constantly, mainly about her marriage, but had quickly changed to her as  a talented country blues singer. Immediately Kate started wondering about a young woman being in the cath lab for heart procedures...What had been happening?

Fortunately, one of the friends who could help her thought Gwen was great and immediately started comparing her to Fiona Apple...

Kate knew that Sam was a music aficionado. He was always in-the-know when it came to Nashville's music scene.
"She's actually good?" Kate asked.
"Year man. Her voice has this catchy, guttural sound. Like Fiona Apple, but sweeter. Fabulous. I think you'd really like her...
"I just saw her open for Betty Reeves at the River Club a few weeks ago. There's something real about the way she sings. Like she's not some pop diva faking it. She's actually feeling the sadness or loneliness--most of her songs are really depressing, girl--and you can't help but cry with her. Watching Gwendolyn is an experience."
"I hope she's okay, then." Kate waited. "so you'll look up her file?"
Sam sighed. "Yeah. Let's see what's going on."
"She had an operation done in the cath lab."
"Oh well, it's an angioplasty or angiogram then. I can just tell you that. Who would have thought that she would need an angioplasty?" he muttered.
"Yeah, and something went wrong during her procedure. It appears that everyone, including her lawyer, is now trying to cover it up."

And while they were checking and talking, her record disappeared from the system... Her entire record was gone, obviously manually deleted. But who had the power to do that? And who had made sure of her death before that record was gone...

In the meantime, Kate had been caught when her boss learned that she'd not attended the PR scheduled meeting, although he hadn't learned how bad it really had been. So Kate now had a chance to meet again, with Bradley Wickham, who had just started working at Nashville Mercy...Without going into a lot of detail, let's just say that the two hit it off quite well...and before this investigation was over, Kate was digging deeper and hoping that he was not part of what was being discovered!

But then Sam died... And Kate found herself a member of "the Underground Resistance, a small group within Nashville Mercy, who were trying to discover what exactly was happening and hoping to use Kate to make it public... But Kate's investigation was now known and it was getting dangerous--another individual helping her was killed and, finally, her sister in another state was almost killed!

It was coming together, until her boss learned exactly what she was doing and told her that they had no choice--the investigation had to stop and it was outside pressure forcing that decision by the newspaper administrators!

Although this novel could be considered a medical thriller, the twist of bringing the power of the newspaper versus the power behind the corruption being discovered brought a stimulating diversity that quickly is commanding and provides a formidable challenge to other medical thriller writers to expand the setting of this genre beyond the normal walls of  medical facilities. 

My intuition gave me the source of this major medical "scandal" but there really isn't much that readers could base the choice on...so let me know if you, too, identify who the "bad guys" are before the end. Even so, the suspense is high, long-lasting into the closing parts of the book and the story keeps you focused on what events happens one right after the other until the ending!

Nashville Rap is to be next in this series and I'm looking forward to it. I love meeting new main characters that are so well developed that I automatically want to spend more time with them! You? Well, then, this one is highly recommended!


GABixlerReviews




M. Maitland DeLand, M.D. makes her novel debut with Nashville Mercy, the first book in her Kate Katelinson murder mystery series. She is also the author of several children’s books collections, including The Great Katie Kate books focused on educating children about medical conditions.
Dr. DeLand is a radiation oncologist and founder of OncoLogics, a group of cancer treatment centers in the southern United States. A leader in her field, Dr. DeLand is chairman of the Health Education Authority of Louisiana Board and also serves as a member of the BreastCancer.org Professional Advisory Board. She’s an active philanthropist, who is passionate about supporting diabetes and cancer prevention programs, as well as the special needs of children. Her experience in the medical field is prevalent in the stories she writes.
She also finds ample inspiration for her writing from her deep love of southern culture and colorful southern personalities. Dr. DeLand divides her time between Lafayette and New Orleans, Louisiana and Nashville, Tennessee.
She spends her free time growing her fine antiques and art collection. A classic movie buff as well, Dr. DeLand is a regular at the Turner Classic Film Festival. She also never misses Amy Grant and Vince Gill’s Christmas Concert held in Nashville every year.

Thought I'd use this song to give a special thanks to Maitland Deland for visiting Book Readers Heaven today! May readers enjoy this first novel as much as I did! Glenda