Dr. Donald Hricik knows a thing or two about fatal diseases, so when he decided to write a mystery, of course it had to be a medical “whodunit.” Dr. Hricik served as Chief of the Division of Nephrology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center for more than 25 years. His new book, Toxic Affairs on Hidden Lane, is a fast-moving story about a murderous plot to poison the patriarch of an affluent but dysfunctional family.
When Ulf Bauer falls victim to a mysterious, life-threatening illness, his son, Dr. Jace Bauer, soon begins to suspect foul play. Many family members, as well as Ulf Bauer’s longtime mistress, might have motives to terminate him. With the help of colleagues and a private investigator, Jace confirms that somebody is slowly poisoning his father.
His investigation uncovers a litany of family scandals and previous murderous plots, but pinning down the culprit will be challenging. There are just too many suspects who might want to inherit the family fortune and the family house on Hidden Lane.
The story is set against the background of the pandemic, with factual information about COVID-19 interwoven with the novel’s plot and various subplots. And, as in many mysteries, the ending is one you won’t see coming.
Dr. Jerome Kassirer, M.D., Emeritus Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, praised the book’s medical factual accuracy and wrote, “Once I started, I completed the book in a single day. The intriguing plot invited me to keep reading.”
Author and doctor Donald Hricik is now a part-time physician who lives and works in northeast Ohio. He is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and served as Chief of the Division of Nephrology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center for more than 25 years. Dr. Hricik has authored or edited more than 200 medical manuscripts/medical textbooks and has written five previous novels, plus a memoir about his wife. The memoir and all of his novels have medical themes.
For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/donald.hricik, or read synopses of all of Dr. Hricik’s books on his website, www.donaldhricik.com.
