A Deadly Homecoming

It might be a good idea to have a medical dictionary handy for the first for chapters of this book. A Deadly Homecoming by Jane Bennett Munro features pathologist Dr. Toni Day. Dr. Day and her husband Hal are summoned home to Long Beach, California, by her mother. It seems her mother's friend Doris is feeling ill and oh yes, her husband has been missing for two weeks.

After a search of the Scottish Gothic castle home owned by Doris’ husband, Dick, Toni find a bottle of nearly pure arsenic in the basement of the house. Everything else surrounding the bottle is covered in decades old dust except this bottle. This worries Toni and when Doris falls into a coma and has a seizure, she is convinced there has been a systematic dosing of arsenic.  At the hospital Toni wants the attending doctor to perform a battery of arsenic tests and that’s why you might need the dictionary.

While waiting for the results of the tests, Toni decides to go

back to the house. What she finds surprises her - a secret staircase behind a mysterious panel. Unexpectedly the door closes behind her trapping her in the staircase. Fortunately she has her phone, but while she waits for rescue, she decides to keep searching and that's when she finds Dick’s badly damaged body.

The police really don't want Toni investigating, but she disregards them and continues her research on Dick Campbell. Her research leads her to a diabolical plot of stolen identities, heavily insured spouses and murder.

An entertaining mystery with an unusual lead character.



Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher for a fair review.