In one case, a patient received blood that matched the type of the person in the bed next to him. Another case involved a husband being transfused with the blood type of his wife, which was not the same as his own type. A third mismatch was the result of an incorrect identification band on a patient. Were these all honest mistakes or premeditated murder, perhaps with intent to discredit the hospital and sabotage the proposed merger?

While having no special desire to play detective, Vicky is interested in keeping her job, which translates into sorting out what really happened in each of these suspicious deaths or illness, caused by the transfusion of the incorrect blood type.

Bad Blood is a medical mystery with a different twist. The legal aspects of hospital administration and medicine play as important a role as the practice of medicine itself. Medical malpractice suits have obviously made doctors and hospital administrators very cautious about how medical situations are documented. There is an extensive list of situations which legally must be reported to the proper authority in order for the hospital to maintain their proper credit rating. Other medical/legal advice, which I found quite fascinating, is presented. Readers who are action freaks may find it a bit tedious in the beginning, but the action builds as the story progresses.

The unique murder weapon - blood -- also separates Bad Blood from other mysteries. One usually thinks of blood as essential to life, which, of course, it is. However, just as surely as an infection in the blood can kill, so can the wrong blood type.

Ms. Proulx has a marvelous sense of humor. In describing a hospital employee named Adam who was particularly adept at solving computer problems, the heroine says she was tempted to say to him, “Hi, Adam, I’m Eve. Can you come look at my Apple?” The heroine’s sister-in-law is called Happy. Vicky says she preferred to retain her maiden name for obvious reasons. The book is full of these little gems.

One disconcerting device the author chose to employ was the use of the first person singular, present tense. I am not enough of an English scholar to understand the benefit of using this voice, so perhaps I may be missing an important message. However, it seems to me if the heroine is telling this story, it must have already happened to her. Therefore the use of the past tense seems appropriate. By using the present tense, I constantly feel as though I am looking over Vicky’s shoulder. In addition, the word say or says appears with alarming regularity. The author does redeem herself to some extent. She uses, correctly, words that any college English major would be proud to include in their vocabulary.

Minor faults can easily be forgiven in this first novel with its well thought out plot and engaging heroine. Hopefully, we will get another chance to visit with Vicky again soon.

--Andy Plonka