The Doctor's Secret

The Doctor's Secret was published last year. It's a psychological thriller featuring city coroner Stacy Lewis as the protagonist. Her fiance, emergency physician Dr. Henry Goldberg, is the prime suspect in a serial murder case wherein three women who look like Stacy are killed. The killer always leaves the bodies naked in an alleyway. Stacy does not believe that Henry is the killer. However, her ex-boyfriend Matt Ensor does. Matt is the detective on the cases. Stacy is convinced that Matt’s judgment is skewed by his hatred of Henry and desire to get Stacy back. She is willing to do anything to clear Henry's name, even abuse her position as city coroner. After getting Henry out of jail on bail, women begin disappearing again.

Stacy was an annoying character. I could not stand to hear her acquiesce to everything Henry desired. Henry disagreed with all her plans for dinner, wedding planning, and even the books Stacy was allowed to read at home. He was a bully. I thought she was a weak character. Because she grew up in an abusive home, Stacy was trained to cater to bullies. I cannot imagine how she obtained a medical degree or was able to perform autopsies without a mental breakdown. As the coroner, Stacy autopsied the victims of the serial killer. Some of her findings she shared with her husband but he refused to listen because it was macabre.

While Stacy was annoying, Henry was the typical mama's boy. He felt he was the king of his household because his mother held him up on a pedestal. Whenever Stacy was speaking he cut her off. He dictated their dinners, the TV shows they watched and Stacy's reading material. I am astonished that Stacy would accept this behavior. She was highly educated and I expected more from her.

I figured out the identity of the whodunnit early on. The whydunnit was hard to determine and it wasn't revealed until the end of the story. It was an OK ending but I wish that it had been more complex. 

3 out of 5 stars.