The Coroner

August 1, 2018

Just as Emily Hartsford, a third-year medical resident in Chicago, accepts a marriage proposal, she learns of her estranged father's heart attack and heads home to Freeport, MI, after a 12-year absence. With her father, the county medical examiner, laid up, sheriff Nick Larson, Emily's old sweetheart, needs her help to investigate the death of a state senator's daughter. The autopsy reveals that Julie was murdered. While Emily struggles with her feelings about wedding plans and being home again, she and Nick also uncover threats and stories of teen drug use. But what led to the murder of the promising young equestrian? Authentic forensic details testify to the author's knowledge of the subject as the daughter of a medical examiner. But some readers may be upset by violence involving a horse. VERDICT Dornbush's debut is an intense, riveting mystery that combines the coziness of small-town familiarity with the sobering reality of drugs and murder. Readers of Lisa Black's books written as Elizabeth Becka will enjoy this tale.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
When Dr. Emily Hartford learns of her father's heart attack, she leaves her promising Chicago surgical career and new fiance, Brandon, to return home only to be pulled into a murder investigation led by her old high school sweetheart.Emily had abruptly left Freeport, Michigan, as a teenager after her mother's death. She felt that her father, Freeport's medical examiner, either couldn't or wouldn't tell her the truth behind the death. And although she had left a note for her boyfriend, Nick, who is now the sheriff in Freeport, he never found it. Now, shortly after arriving to take care of her father, Emily gets pulled into the case of Julie Dobson, a state senator's daughter. Julie was a brilliant horsewoman with a promising career until she was found thrown from her horse, dead from a head wound. Standing in for her father, Emily does Julie's autopsy, and when signs point to murder, both Nick and Emily struggle to find the truth. Meanwhile, Emily weighs her feelings for the almost too-perfect Brandon against her rekindled feelings for Nick, a quandary whose outcome the reader will never doubt. Although we are repeatedly told of Emily's many struggles, the reader is held at an emotional distance by prose that is adequate but not polished. Too, the use of "gonna," "wanna," and "gotta" may be phonetic depictions of how people speak, but its constant use in print is annoying.If Dornbush will trust her own ability to convey insights via actions instead of explanations, readers might want to find out what happens next in the obviously planned sequel.

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