Double Fault

When a young patient dies during surgery, Doctor Nora Kelly must answer to his grieving parents, a vengeful colleague, social media threats, and an ex-mentor engaged in dubious stem-cell therapies in order to solve the mystery of his shocking death.

Doctor Nora Kelly is shocked and perplexed when she loses a young, healthy patient during a routine surgery at Oakland City Hospital. Though the cause of his death is unclear, Nora is blamed by his devastated and litigious parents, a hostile colleague with a covert agenda, and armies of social media commentators who post demonizing videos of her.

To survive the nightmare and redeem herself, Nora must solve the mystery of the puzzling death. The coroner's report leads her to suspect that her patient had been receiving risky stem-cell injections, but to prove it she must navigate a tricky liaison with her hostile colleague and a messy entanglement with her estranged mentor. She must also break through the parents' wall of secrecy to uncover their unwitting role in the tragedy.

Drawing from her own experience of losing a child, Nora fits the puzzle pieces together to expose a complex scheme involving deceit, betrayal, stem cells, blackmail, bribery, and a college-admissions scandal. As she grapples with questions surrounding the death of her young patient, she comes to terms with the traumas of her past and gains new confidence both personally and professionally.

Double Fault is a searing medical mystery that deftly captures the tumultuous world of an urban hospital while tracing the plight of a gifted physician struggling against forces that threaten her life and reputation.

PRAISE FOR THE DOCTOR NORA KELLY MYSTERY SERIES

For Lethal Control (2)

"Scannell excels at characterization, bringing a vibrancy to individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, from debutantes to homeless individuals... The plot is taut and engaging... Scannell's authorial gaze is remarkably compassionate, especially to those who have been discarded by society at large. In addition to being an intriguing mystery, the novel is a cry for social activism..."

- BlueInk Review

"Lethal Control is a physician-led mystery with a strong social message...This series title includes characters from a previous volume; their introductions here are light, but their personalities are still made apparent... And the book's mystery elements are punctuated with scenes of medical drama...These varying stories connect in the high-energy resolution, in which Nora's fears-and her willingness to push through them-are validated..."

- Foreword Clarion Reviews

"Scannell lifts the veil on the life-and-death struggles taking place both inside and around the edges of an urban hospital. A fast-paced drama of overlapping lives, conflicting emotions, and the threats posed by immigration, human trafficking, and environmental degradation."

- Leslie Larson, author of Breaking Out of Bedlam

For Immortal Wounds (1)

"Immortal Wounds is a compelling, richly textured mystery that draws us deeply into the cloistered world of the hospital. A murderer or two may be on the loose in Scannell's thriller, but the psychological struggles and ethical mysteries encountered daily by her doctors and nurses prove just as riveting. A must-read!"

-Jodi Halpern, MD, author of From Detached Concern to Empathy: Humanizing Medical Practice