Death Drops

December 15, 2011
A naturopathic doctor's visit to her relatives turns into a life-altering experience. Dr. Willow McQuade may live in California, but her heart is in Greenport, Long Island, with her beloved Aunt Claire. Willow's critical mother and sister, a duly credentialed M.D., also live there, but they're not speaking to Claire. Claire seems distracted while immersed in her efforts to complete her formula for a new skin cream. When Willow discovers Claire dead with a bottle of flower essences nearby, she realizes that the almond smell indicates cyanide and that Claire was murdered. Worse, the police consider Willow the number one candidate, especially when Clare's will reveals that Willow has inherited everything. Deciding to stay and run her aunt's store and cafe immediately puts Willow in danger. A longtime store assistant who believes the store should have been hers does everything possible to sabotage Willow's efforts. The store is broken into, Willow is run off the road, money is stolen and enemies seem to multiply. Willow turns to Jackson Spade, a handsome cop on a disability pension, to help her discover her aunt's murderer before she becomes the next victim. Fiedler's first foray into the mystery genre focuses too little on the mystery and too much on providing advice on how to treat various ailments with natural remedies.

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January 1, 2012

Naturopathic doctor Willow McQuade is enjoying a summer vacation at her aunt's Long Island home when, tragically, Aunt Claire is fatally poisoned. Claire ran a natural foods market and cafe and was killed by one of her own alternative medicine compounds. Willow moves to the front of the line as a prime suspect when Claire's will reveals that she left everything--including a lucrative antiaging cream formula--to Willow. Then the store is robbed, the formula stolen, and a series of escalating attacks directed at Willow and her colleagues. The police balk at Willow's theories, but she manages to enlist help from a former cop, and of course, romantic sparks fly as the chase ensues. VERDICT With a terrific premise and an interesting topic, Fiedler's debut shows promise. Too much diagnosing (every encounter merits a natural remedy) interrupts the story flow but will intrigue those interested in homeopathic and alternative medicine. This serves as a nice complement to Diana Killian's "Mantra for Murder" yoga series; topically, pair with Clare O'Donohue's Missing Persons.

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