Mississippi Library Association

House Call

North, Darden. House Call.
Jackson, MS: Ponder House Press, 2007.
344 pp. $9.99 (paperback)

Darden North, a medical doctor, has written an interesting first novel. It is a mystery revolving around a private practice and a hospital in a northern Mississippi community. The evolving murder investigation progresses while Dr. North provides the reader insight into the business side of the medical profession.
The reader is introduced to the daily stress in a labor and delivery department that is short-staffed by hospital administrators attempting to cut costs, the machinations of hospital administrators courting a buyout from a healthcare corporation, and the financially driven business operations of a major private practice. The main focus of this novel appears to be more toward the operations and manipulations of the five physicians associated with the Montclair Center for Women’s Medical and Surgical Services than toward the actual murder of labor and delivery department nurse Taylor Richards.
The emphasis of the novel revolves around Dr. Cullen Gwinn and his wife Madelyn. Dr. Gwinn, the original physician who established the center, is depicted as a workaholic while his wife’s secret is her addiction to depression medication that causes weight loss. A second physician associated with the Montclair Center for Women’s Medical and Surgical Services, Dr. Knox Chamblee, is the newest physician added to the center’s roster. He experiences harassment from Dr. Elizabeth Aslyn Hawes, who believes a female physician should have been given that job.
Dr. Hawes blocks patient scheduling to the new physician and constantly argues with the board to terminate him because his patient load does not generate enough dollars for the center.
The actual crime itself against Taylor Richards is finally resolved in the last chapter of the novel, almost as an afterthought.
While this first novel for Dr. North is an interesting read, I would have liked more development of his characters. There is little depth to the people moving through this book. In addition, some of the chapters are not tightly integrated into the novel itself. Better transition from one chapter to the next would have enhanced the reading experience. I would recommend this title to public libraries with audiences for medical fiction.

Elizabeth M. Doolittle
Public Services Librarian
University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Park

Entry Filed under: Book Reviews
Posted on: January 5th, 2009