Medical School Is Murder
(2001)(The third book in the Ben Candidi Mystery series)
A novel by Dirk Wyle
A Tale of Mystery and Suspense at a Major Medical Center
For a newly minted Ph.D. scientist, the offer from Miami seemed too good to be true. Ben will inherit the dead scientist's functioning laboratory and a two-year grant. The late Peter Peterson's results with dietary antioxidants will tie in nicely with the research publications that came from Ben's dissertation. Rebecca thinks this could jump-start a research career for Ben.
But accepting the job in Miami will mean six months of separation from Rebecca, who is in the middle of a world health fellowship in Washington, DC. Nevertheless, Ben's physician soul mate encourages him to seize the opportunity, sensing that he is not happy working as a patent examiner.
Ben accepts the job at Miami's Bryan Medical School, and things seem very promising at first. Peter Peterson's lab is well-stocked, career technician Mildred is able to work semi-independently, and there are two pleasant surprises. Dr. Peterson had drafted three scientific articles that are almost ready for publication. And a lawyer offers Ben $20,000 to write a short biography of Old Pete, which the eccentric scientist had prescribed in his will.
Collecting humorous anecdotes about the talkative old bachelor and WW-II hero is simple enough, but making sense of his after-hours "crusades for science and reason" is much harder. Dr. Peterson made many enemies when he spoke out on public corruption, the right to die, abortion, animal experimentation, human cloning and meat irradiation. Slowly, Ben realizes that he has inherited not only a working lab but also a legacy of trouble. Colleagues advise Ben to let the "crusades" stay buried with Old Pete's bones. Administrators intimate that there might be something wrong with Pete's data on dietary supplements. Then comes a threatening letter.
Should Ben heed the anonymous warnings to stop looking for substance in Dr. Peterson's crusades? Can he write off the poorly documented crusades as the delusions of an attention-starved old man? Or was it something other than a heart attack that left Old Pete floating in the canal by Bryan Medical School?
Genre: Mystery
For a newly minted Ph.D. scientist, the offer from Miami seemed too good to be true. Ben will inherit the dead scientist's functioning laboratory and a two-year grant. The late Peter Peterson's results with dietary antioxidants will tie in nicely with the research publications that came from Ben's dissertation. Rebecca thinks this could jump-start a research career for Ben.
But accepting the job in Miami will mean six months of separation from Rebecca, who is in the middle of a world health fellowship in Washington, DC. Nevertheless, Ben's physician soul mate encourages him to seize the opportunity, sensing that he is not happy working as a patent examiner.
Ben accepts the job at Miami's Bryan Medical School, and things seem very promising at first. Peter Peterson's lab is well-stocked, career technician Mildred is able to work semi-independently, and there are two pleasant surprises. Dr. Peterson had drafted three scientific articles that are almost ready for publication. And a lawyer offers Ben $20,000 to write a short biography of Old Pete, which the eccentric scientist had prescribed in his will.
Collecting humorous anecdotes about the talkative old bachelor and WW-II hero is simple enough, but making sense of his after-hours "crusades for science and reason" is much harder. Dr. Peterson made many enemies when he spoke out on public corruption, the right to die, abortion, animal experimentation, human cloning and meat irradiation. Slowly, Ben realizes that he has inherited not only a working lab but also a legacy of trouble. Colleagues advise Ben to let the "crusades" stay buried with Old Pete's bones. Administrators intimate that there might be something wrong with Pete's data on dietary supplements. Then comes a threatening letter.
Should Ben heed the anonymous warnings to stop looking for substance in Dr. Peterson's crusades? Can he write off the poorly documented crusades as the delusions of an attention-starved old man? Or was it something other than a heart attack that left Old Pete floating in the canal by Bryan Medical School?
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Dirk Wyle's Medical School Is Murder