Deadly Dinner Party

August 31, 2009
Mimicking the style of his favorite genre, the detective story, author and doctor Edlow (Bull's Eye: Unraveling the Medical Mystery of Lyme Disease) retells 15 stories of "shoe-leather epidemiology" that delve into the complex world of diagnostic medicine. In the title story, three cases of botulism are traced, with the work of physicians, local health department officials, and CDC representatives, to a jar of oil-packed garlic. Other chapters cover typhoid fever in restaurant orange juice, gastrointestinal infestation via fish tank water, and illnesses caused by excess vitamins A and D. Readers, especially those already alarmed over everyday pathogens, will find plenty to worry about, including herbal teas grandfathered out of FDA regulations; sudden changes in diets that may, literally, plug up your pipes; and all-natural, fresh-pressed cider that may harbor dangerous e. coli. Readers will also find that every medical diagnosis is a puzzle to be solved, often by gathering and analyzing data with the help of a team. Much like a true-life version of television's House M.D., these fast-paced, detail-heavy stories will prove compelling for fans of mystery and medicine.

September 15, 2009
There is more mystery and suspense in this nifty tome than in an entire season of House TV programs, enhanced by the added punch real-life drama delivers. From the titular dinner party to the young man diagnosed with now-you-see-it-now-you-dont lung cancer to the nearly lethal bacteria that mystifyingly attacked a handful of toddlers in the Boston area, Edlow also tells these tales of medical detection with wit and elegance. As in the case of the woman whose identity-defying skin rash stumped her physician and the lab, the perp of the physical assault that is disease is, all too often, someone or something known and trusted. And Edlow can be trusted to weave a medical mystery out of the yarn of baffling symptoms, one guaranteed to be informative and entertaining, every time. Much more of such stuff, and Edlow could easily become the dean, the Dr. Watson, as it were, of doctors who solve medical mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)