Darden North
Author
Darden North’s mystery and thriller novels have been awarded nationally, most notably an IPPY in Southern Fiction for Points of Origin and Party Favors. His other novels include The 5 Manners of Death, Wiggle Room, Fresh Frozen, House Call, and his newest thriller, Rooftop.
North has served on writing panels or spoken at conferences including ThrillerFest, the Mississippi Book Festival, Killer Nashville, the 29th Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration, Murder on the Menu, SIBA Thriller Panel, and Murder in the Magic City. He has been Chairman of the Board of the Mississippi Public Broadcasting Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association.
A native of the Mississippi Delta, North is a gynecologist and lives in Jackson with his wife Sally.
visit him online at https://www.dardennorth.com
Featured Title
Featured
ROOFTOP
Thriller; suspense
“What kind of a monster would murder his own sister?”
Voncelle Wallace, a recycled physician from a failed medical practice, lands employment at the Cummins-Bratton Surgical Center and continues to battle her demons of regret and might-have-beens. Her husband, Chuck, is a high-dollar real estate negotiator for the international acquisition of the lucrative Belmont Clinic, a nearby exclusive, multiservice medical and cosmetic treatment practice.
The Belmont family of physicians tends to put profits above ethics, and Chuck is not above cooking the books to his and their advantage. But before the deal can be consummated, a rifle fired from a rooftop puts financial negotiations on hold.
Surgeon Diana Bratton’s effort to avoid the Belmonts and simplify her life is derailed when new patient, Roy Garnett, arrives at her office. Roy confides that his mentally ill nephew has accused him of murdering his sister, the nephew’s mother. Suddenly, Diana finds herself again drawn into a tangled web of deceit, high-stakes intrigue, and multiple homicide that this time could involve Voncelle Wallace.
ROOFTOP is the third suspense thriller in the surgeon Diana Bratton trilogy, which includes WIGGLE ROOM and THE 5 MANNERS OF DEATH.
Also by Darden North
The 5 Manners of Death
Dr. Diana Bratton steals precious time from her young daughter, her surgical practice, and her hopes for renewed romance to clear Aunt Phoebe’s name of multiple murder and uncover the significance of the list. Even as Diana searches Phoebe’s home basement for evidence, she works to trump the police and outrun the conspiracy between her ex-husband and Phoebe’s long-time lover—her quest to expose the truth overshadowed by a need to rebury the past. Even though she realizes there is a chance to save her shrinking family, Diana understands that of the five ways to die, murder is her family secret.
Wiggle Room
Air Force surgeon Major Brad Cummins fails to save an injured American soldier, while a maimed Iraqi national survives. Though cleared of medical negligence, he is forced to endure the criticism of his peers. Cummins hopes to put the past behind him when he returns to civilian life in Jackson, Mississippi, unaware that someone wants him dead.
As the body count mounts, Cummins must uncover the truth or risk losing his new love, fellow surgeon Dr. Diana Bratton.
Party Favors
In Party Favors a young, financially struggling orthopedic surgeon on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is tempted to sell his patients’ leftover narcotics to save his drowning surgical practice, even hook new patients on opioids for financial gain. Local police work to connect his medical practice to a drug trafficking ring run by his secretary’s family.
Written by a practicing physician, Party Favors was inspired by true stories of the rampant national and worldwide crisis of opioid and related drug abuse. The novel details complex characters, relationships, and situations that test the deepest moral and ethical modes.
One of the best things about The 5 Manners of Death—and there are many—is that none of the characters are who they appear to be. If you like plot twists and surprises, you’ll love North’s fifth novel, a fast-moving story of crime and deception in the modern South.
– John M. Floyd
Edgar Award nominee and three-time Derringer Award winner