This is my first mystery series by Amanada DuBois. I appreciate the story plot and the different twists in the story, but the pacing fell flat for me. Also, I felt that the story gave too much away too soon. The story felt compelling in the beginning but then felt a little more stretched than necessary and at points felt a little unrealistic, especially with the medial ethics and procedures. Given it is the first in this series, I would be interested in reading the next installment.

Thank you for netgalley and Girl Friday Books for this arc in exchange for my review.

The Complication really pulled me into the legal and medical mystery. While I hope none of the events of this book happened, DuBois made it believable in the novel. I can tell that a lot of research went into this book and I really appreciated it. This series is one to start on right away.

I wavered between three stars and four on The Complication, ultimately settling on a three for reasons I'll explain.

Camille Delany, former nurse, current lawyer, has job with a high-price firm. When her friend Dallas dies after a routine procedure, his widow asks Camille for help. Problem: her firm doesn't handle medical malpractice. Solution: quit your job, establish your own firm, and take on the case yourself. And that is what Camille does.

She has her PI pal Trish helping, along with a few other side characters. The investigation is where my issues with the story began.

I'll say this first: I read Coma (Robin Cook) when I was younger. At the time, the mystery at the heart of that book really creeped me out, as it was supposed to do. I think that if I read that now - after years of getting familiar with medical procedures, doctors, nurses, hospitals, operations, and so on (thanks, cancers!) - I would have the same issue with it as I have with this book.

The investigation itself is fine. It proceeds, as these things do, with medical staff leery of and sometimes hostile to legal staffs, hospital personnel turning their backs while leaving records out, etc.. It gets bogged down from time to time, trying to convey information to the reader about procedures and processes that may be unfamiliar to them, and sometimes introducing characters that don't really mean anything in the story. Every time someone entered an already-crowded stage, my brain said, "Too many notes." If you've seen Amadeus, you will understand. If not, well, you should watch it. The solving of the mystery relied a bit too much on coincidence for my tastes.

Finally, my biggest issue with the story: I just didn't believe the crime. I'll rephrase. I believe that A crime like the one in the book could occur. What I don't believe is that the crime could be committed on the scale it is in the book, nor as publicly as it is. There are far too many people involved in operations that the manner of the crime would be exposed long before it is in the book.

That said, if you are able to suspend your disbelief, it's a perfectly fine beach or place book, a couple of hours of time in an almost-real world.

Three stars out of five.

Thanks to Girl Friday Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.

I enjoyed reading The Complication, a story where medicine and mystery play their parts artfully. The story is well written and has a lot of detail, however, it could be edited a little bit more, turning the explanations less technical and smaller. It's an intriguing story that, most, unfortunately, has a resemblance with real life.
A compelling and thrilling book that provides good entertainment for a few hours.
I downloaded a free copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Camille is a really interesting character whose experience and skills cross both the medical and legal worlds. This gives her extraordinary perspective and insight and make for a seamless medico-legal mystery. The author provides enough background information to draw the reader into the investigation process without getting too technical. A strong mystery and a good foundation for more featuring this fascinating protagonist.

This was an entertaining book. It held my interest and I wanted to find out what would happen. I enjoyed this book.

The first in a new series, The Complication by Amanda DuBois is the beginning of the Camille Delaney Mysteries. A legal medical mystery featuring former nurse and now attorney Camille who together with her friend and private investigator Trish Seaholm investigates the death of an elderly male friend who died undergoing an operation. Camile faces many obstacles, including the law firm she works for not accepting medical negligence cases, her husband’s objection to her litigating the case, and ultimately the medical community’s reluctance to assist lawyers in any legal action. As Trish and Camille investigate, it becomes clear that something strange is occurring and they need several tricks to advance their case. A slow build of a legal thriller that is somewhat lacking in tension, despite its climaxing finale that makes for a three star read rating. With thanks to Girl Friday Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

Thank you Netgalley and Girl Friday Productions for an eARC for an honest review.

A very intriguing medical mystery that draws you in from the first chapter. Unlike most mystery novels, you straight away know who the villain is, and you follow the main character Camille Delaney, a former nurse turn family-practice lawyer, and her friends as they uncover the truth and gather evidence regarding the medical malpractice of her friend Dallas Jackson.

Very different from other mystery thrillers I've read, and I found this very refreshing and very much enjoyed. I look forward to reading more of Amanda DuBois's works.

Seattle attorney and former nurse Camille Delaney is determined to find out why her friend Dallas Jackson, who was like a father to her, suffered a fatal complication during routine surgery. Camille and her friend Trish Seaholm, a private investigator, begin an investigation and discover that Dallas’s case is not an isolated incident.

This legal/medical drama is very well-written, especially for a debut, and the story is interesting but I felt like it occasionally got bogged down in minutiae which caused me to lose focus. Very early on in the book Camille's mother searches out a bible, reads a passage from the Book of Exodus and then proceeds to hammer home the lesson, on and on. Then, bang!, we're back to short snappy chapters and the investigation. I was also put off by the use of medical jargon or slang, like "...this Willcox guy perfed an aorta with a trocar while trying to do a lap chole ...". It's possible to determine what they're talking about but I found it rather jarring whenever this type of language popped up. I don't know ... would doctors really talk that way, even to each other? There are way too many characters in this book and new ones were still being introduced even at the 80% mark. Many of the characters had such minor roles that it wasn't even necessary that we know their names, like the stenographer at a deposition. If some of the extraneous narrative had been omitted I think the book would've been even more enjoyable. That said, I mostly liked this book and I'd still read another book by Amanda DuBois, especially if Camille Delaney becomes a series. The locale is also a plus as the San Juan Islands sound beautiful if a bit on the cool side, especially in the winter months. I'm giving this book a solid 3 stars but it could easily be a 4 or 5 star read with some tweaking.

My thanks to Girl Friday Books via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Publication Date: June 14, 2022

Amanda DuBois has penned an intense page-turner of a book with The Complication. It is full of twists and turns, interesting characters of both the heroic and despicable types, and a storyline that echoes a news story of previous years, and runs with it, adding a new depth that is not only alarming but believable.
Not being in the medical field myself, I was initially concerned that the medical terminology necessary for the story would leave me shaking my head in puzzlement. Indeed, I found myself using the dictionary feature on my Kindle more than usual. However, DuBois does a stellar job explaining the medical references so that even a layperson can get enough of a grasp to follow the story.
I am grateful to have received an ARC of #TheComplication from #NetGalley, and highly recommend this book to those who enjoy thrillers, mysteries, and suspense.

The Complication
A Camille Delaney Mystery
by Amanda DuBois
Pub Date 14 Jun 2022
Girl Friday Books
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction



I am reviewing a copy of The Complication through Girl Friday Books and Netgalley:




Seattle attorney Camille Delaney is determined to find out why her best friend Dallas Jackson suffers a fatal complication during routine surgery. Dallas acted as a Father to Camille , and she feels she owes it to him and his family to get answers. She knows she could lose her partnership at her high-profile law firm for undertaking such an investigation, Camille takes a huge risk and starts her own firm, determined to bring Dallas’s killer to justice. She looks to her friend Trish Seaholm for help, Seaholm is a quick-witted chameleonlike private investigator with an uncanny knack for blending into any situation.




Diving headfirst into a dangerous investigation, they discover disturbing evidence that Dallas’s case is not an isolated incident. An alarming numbers of patients are dying during run-of-the-mill surgeries at small-town hospitals—at the hands of the same two surgeons. Can Camille uncover the reason for these unexplained deaths before more patients fall victim? Or will her search for answers land her in the crosshairs of a killer?



I give The Complication five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked the main character and her friends/family and liked the cause she was fighting for. A friend of her was killed by an incompetent greedy surgeon. The book moved very slowly for me

A fabulous medical thriller. I found I couldn't put this one down. Sometimes in medical novels they get bogged down in technical terms or else seem rather far-fetched; this one was neither of those. Would highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

(3.5 Stars rounded up)
This is first in the Camille Delaney mystery series.
This is a medical-legal thriller set in Seattle and the San Juan Islands.

Camille is a former nurse and now a family-practice lawyer. She and her husband Sam, a doctor at the University live in a houseboat with their three daughters (Two daughters are legally adopted and the third is a foster daughter).
This story is about a money making scheme, the victims are people who are sick and have to be treated at a hospital and end up dead.
Story starts when Camille’s close friend Robin’s dad is taken to the hospital and emergency surgery is immediately performed and yes ‘complications’ occur.
The arrogant surgeon tries to cover up his mistakes. Story is thus both a legal battle as well as a medical malpractice.

Tough one for me to give a clear rating~3 stars =Good; 4 Stars = Great; 5 Stars = Outstanding!
There is no doubt this is good. I like Camille and am sure I will read another. However it wasn’t enjoyable reading about members in our medical profession who typically are so giving to be out for profits and of course, more money and power!
So to me this was between 3 and 4 stars so rounded up

Have to admit I liked the ending.

I always enjoyed reading the Author’s Notes/ Acknowledgements. In this case, I liked reading the Bio of our author.
Amanda DuBois is a lawyer practicing Family Law in the Seattle area. She first was a nurse with high-risk labor & delivery patience. Her husband Philip is now retired but was an OB GYN Doctor.
They have two daughters.
So Amanda and Camille sure have a lot in common.

Want to thank NetGalley and Girl Friday Books. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 14, 2022

An intriguing medical mystery that draws you in with everyone’s fear of what could go wrong when having a medical procedure done. I really enjoyed it! So many characters; it was hard to keep them straight - that’s why I gave this book 4 stars.

Seattle attorney Camille Delaney rushed to the hospital where her friend Dallas Jackson has to undergo an emergency operation with a fatal outcome. When the former nurse accidentally sees his folder, questions arise. What happened in the operation room? And why was nobody aware of the seemingly critical state her friend was in? As her company only represents hospitals and high profile doctors, thus she cannot pursue her inquiries. Instead this brings her to a point where she has to ask herself if she has given up her ideals for the money and status. As a consequence, she decides to run the risk and leaves the company to start her own firm with her first case. She soon realises that nobody wants to talk about Dr Willcox, responsible surgeon in the operation room, but her gut feeling tells her that something is totally going wrong in this hospital.

There are some similarities between the author and her protagonist. Amanda DuBois herself was a trained nurse before she became a lawyer and medical malpractice has been her area of specialisation. “The Complication” is her first novel which highly relies on her profession knowledge combining medical aspects with law. From a seemingly unfortunate operation, the case develops into a complicated conspiracy which brings the protagonist repeatedly into dangerous situations since she has to deal with reckless people who do not care about a single life.

What I liked about the novel was how the medical details were incorporated and explained along the way so that the reader with limited medical knowledge could smoothly follow the action. The characters are authentically drawn, especially Camille’s discussion with her mother about her ideals and principles raising the question what use she makes of her legal capacities while working for a law firm that puts more interest in the billing hours than helping to serve the law was interesting to follow.

Even though I would estimate that the case is realistically depicted with Camille again and again coming to dead ends and only advancing slowly, I would have preferred a higher pace since as a reader, you have a lead and soon know what scheme is behind it all.

Medical mysteries are always fun reads because they tap into the fears all of us have of something going wrong if we are admitted to the hospital. "The Complication" is about a terrible money making scheme and the victims are those that happen to become sick and end up in a hospital The book is first in a series about Camille Delaney, a former nurse and small plane pilot who is now a lawyer. Camille lives in a houseboat with her husband Sam who is a doctor at the University and her adopted daughters. The novel begins in an exciting way with a patient on the table, possibly bleeding out and a very arrogant surgeon who doesn't want to heed the advice of the rest of the surgery team. This patient turns out to be a family friend to Camille, a 65 year old man named Dallas. When Camille talks to the widow, Gloria, she begins to question what exactly happened in the operating room and this leads her along with a few people on her team, on a quest to find out who is behind the mysterious deaths and how they may tie in to new retirement centers being built on islands near Seattle and in the San Juan Islands area,

The book has fast pacing and short chapters which are easy to read. I liked the general plot and liked Camille who is a strong, independent woman who wants to do the right thing. I did find the writing kind of dated though and also sort of simplistic.. I initially thought perhaps the book was set in the 1960's as the adult characters had names like Dick, Barbi, Sally, and Midge. I don't know anyone under 80 with those names. Teenage boys were named Al and Bert. There were also things out of place like a 50 year old man wearing a smoking jacket on his boat and the adopted daughters being referred to as having "asian doll faces". I did appreciate the authors inclusion of people of different ethnicities and sexual preference as characters but I'm not sure they were always handled in a respectful way. Also too much description of boats, house boats, docks, the people who live on the boats and the various islands the people fly to on sea planes. These descriptions were interesting at first but took away from the story as it went on. I do think this could make a good movie with more up to date characters. Thank You to NetGalley and Girl Friday Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

An excellent novel full of twists and turns as deaths in small town hospitals are investigated by two very determined women. The storyline develops as the protagonist Camille and her investigator friend Trish delve into the deaths that are occurring in seemingly unremarkable operations. Accolades to Amanda DuBois for an exciting medical/legal thriller. A genuine 5 star read that will keep you enthralled to the final chapter.

Where medicine meets mystery. A medically suspenseful tale of black market organs and the lengths that some people will go to in order to get rich. Follow Camille as she loses someone close to her and is forced to consider a possibility of malpractice and all the close calls that follow hot on her tail.

I love anything to do with medical/legal drama, and this was a really fun read. The plot was well paced and there was lots of fun dialogue. The premise was interesting and well-executed with lots of different characters which worked well. A great holiday read.