Winston Radhauser Mysteries 14
River of Mercy
Susan Clayton-Goldner
Genre: General fiction (Adult), Mystery and Thrillers
I've been with this series since book one, and each story stays as fresh as that first one. Of course Radhauser has grown, his life has changed with Gracie and the children, but he remains at core the same man, determined to seek justice and truth, not take the easy route, accept the first or most obvious solution.
I do worry about him ( I KNOW he's not real, but he feels like it). He gets so caught up in his work, long hours, stress and dangers, and he's a family at home to think of. Gracie seems a lovely independent lady and understands his dedication, but sometimes she must get irritated, and I was glad it showed at one point here. Better to get those things open than to fester into problems. It must be hard for anyone in emergency services to balance home and family against the job, when people's lives are at stake. Its a thin line.
An interesting story here, felt different to the usual Radhauser mysteries somehow, a little lighter maybe, though at heart a very heavy subject matter? I'm not really sure, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway.
The "mercy killing" debate has equally determined people for and against. Fortunately I didn't have to make that decision when my husband died, once we got him into a hospice they were wonderful for his last three days but the day before he was pleading with me to let him die....The hospice had better pain relief and he was heavily sedated but its a very fine line, very thought provoking and well handled here, showing just how emotive it can be.
We don't think of younger people dying like this, or facing long term severe disability. I became an amputee at 36 and it changed my whole family's life, took us in a totally new direction. We just don't know what life has for us. This is reality for many families.
Of course facing accusations of murder is devastating for Santina, on top of losing her loved husband. His son is very angry at her, and accuses her of killing his father. Seems like a grief stricken son looking to blame someone, but then at the autopsy DNA supports his claim.
Radhauser listens to his instinct that says there's another answer and starts searching for a possible explanation, and naturally that brings him up against his boss, who of course wants to keep his boss happy, and not waste resources when it seems like a cut and dry case.
Here in UK we don't have elected police and public personnel that have such a direct influence on cases. We have elected boards but that's really for monitoring decisions after when there is dispute of claims of improper conduct. Its seems strange to me that essentially a civilian can have oversight of a policeman who has had all the training....maybe I'm just not understanding the system correctly. Its something that often confuses me when reading US crime and thrillers. We don't have the death penalty either, thankfully. There's no coming back for that if someone gets it wrong.
Stars: Five, another great read, giving me lots to think about while trying to work out if she was guilty, and if not who was?
ARC supplied by author
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