Graveyard Shift

*3.5* Stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kobo Writing Life for this exciting medical thriller, Graveyard Shift. This is number 7 in the Hope Sze Medical Crime series, set in Montreal. It works well as a stand-alone. There are references to events covered in past books, and I am now motivated to now read previous books in the series.

This series was unknown to me until a few days ago when I read a positive article about Dr. Melissa Yuan-Innes (pen name Melissa YI) and her medical crime novels. I immediately downloaded book number 1, Code Blues, which is on my To Be Read List.

Graveyard Shift features Dr. Hope Sze, resident at St. Pat’s Hospital in Montreal. She is an aspiring emergency room physician. It is an account of the worst night ever for Dr. Hope and the hospital. A suspension of disbelief is necessary as it seems incredible that so much could go wrong in such a short time period.

Dr. Hope loves two men. Her former lover, Ryan, refuses to communicate with her. After a call from his distraught mother, it seems that Ryan has gone missing. She sends her present boyfriend, Tucker, to go searching for him.

Her first patient, a drug addict, tries to strangle her with her own stethoscope. After being rescued, she attends her next patient, a woman who has been severely beaten and refuses to talk about it. This woman's partner is Patrick, a hospital security guard. When Hope goes to question him, he cannot be found. While looking for Patrick outside, she is grabbed by two men in the darkness. After a struggle, she escapes capture. Next, there is a shooting on hospital grounds. Then amongst all this chaos, things get worse. A very dangerous, explosive situation has developed for hospital staff.

This was a suspenseful, tense, enjoyable read with touches of humour.

Dr Hope Zsu is a medical doctor coming to the end of her training but also seems to be a magnet for trouble. Maybe I shiuld have read the previous 6 books as she referred constantly to actions taken and incidents in the past. Engaging and worth the read, definitely not a stand alone.

Dr. Hope Sze is portrayed as a resident at St. Joseph Hospital in Canada. She has been known to do a little crime-fighting on the side with her "now" boyfriend, John Tucker. Yet, her heart still belongs to her past boyfriend, Ryan Wu (who went missing a day ago). She sends Tucker to find Ryan. Tucker must REALLY love Hope to do so.

As a resident in the ER on the night shift, Hope encounters quite a number of characters, including nurses and doctor,s during her shift. Since Hope is a first year resident, she is the doctor lowest on the "totem pole".

Tonight's first patient is Lori Goody who attempts to get a prescription for dilaudid much too early. This young woman becomes combative (to put it mildly). Next, Hope has a patient, Alyssa, who is the partner to a security guard - Patrick. It seems as though Alyssa had been beaten badly. Is it Patrick who had done this?

The story continues with code blues, code whites, a shooting and so much more. Also, I caught a bit of humor.

The question is - will Hope continue with her residency or decide she would rather fight crime?

Wonderful depiction of characters with a smooth plotline. I believe this book is part of a series. However, I read it as a standalone with no problems. (Actually, I want to go back and read the books that I have missed in this series!)

A fun, suspenseful, and enjoyable read!

Many Thanks to Windtree Press and NetGalley for a super read!