The Complication

Great book! I really enjoyed reading this one! This book had suspense, intrigue, and a crazy messed up storyline! Geez I hope that's never happened in real life?! This book had a lot of twists and turns and a lot of good investigating ! I definitely recommend reading this book! Its well worth reading! The storyline flowed well and it was just an all around good read! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

I loved this book and was frustrated each time I was dragged away from it before I finished it. Amanda DuBois has very obviously done her research, in addition to putting her lived experience to good use in this medical/legal thriller that draws on one of our worst nightmares, someone close to us dying from complications during a routine surgical procedure.

This book is so much more though. The plot is brilliant, the pace is spot on, the explanations of medical and legal procedures and terminology are cleverly disguised a just a part of the regular dialogue so you don’t feel like you’re at a lecture.

I’m so excited about this book and genuinely want to see this book do well. I can’t wait to read more about Camille Delaney. She’s the perfect, well developed, lead character and the supporting characters are just as well fleshed out. I cannot recommend this book more highly. If you’re a thriller fan you’d be mad not to get your hands on it as soon as it’s released.

Well researched book. A medical/legal thriller. I enjoyed this fast paced, suspenseful and dramatic story. It was a easy read and kept my attention throughout every page. This will easily be a great series.

Amanda Du Bois, The Complication, Girl Friday Books, 2022

Thank you, Net Galley for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

The Complication is in most ways an impressive first novel, written by someone who clearly has no reservations about including social commentary at the same time as developing a gritty legal and medical drama/mystery. I do have some reservations though, as I think that the narrative moves slowly at times, because of too much explanation and lack of selectivity amongst the ideas and descriptions Du Bois wants to depict. It is hard to dispense with sentences and phrases that have been carefully crafted but I think that this novel would have benefitted from some tougher editing.

The first chapter, in which Dallas Chapman, Drs Willcox and Burton are the main protagonists, sets a distressingly graphic beginning to the crimes which Camille Delaney will investigate. The procedures imposed on Dallas Chapman, the patient rendered invisible by the trappings of surgery, and the aftermath are at the centre of the plot. Additional twists and turns, the gradual unpeeling of the reasons for the crimes, and the extent to which they involve ruptured medical processes, authorities who enable dishonesty and medical malpractice and the issues at the heart of the crimes - to achieve both emotional and monetary advantages - are chillingly advanced.

At the beginning of the novel Camille Delaney is a high earning married lawyer with two children. Her substantial income is an essential part of supporting the family. However, when her friend dies without valid explanation and his wife needs legal assistance Camille follows the ideals laid down for her by her parents and Dallas’ spiritual beliefs. She establishes her own legal office to work on the case, leaving her successful career behind. She has a mix of acquaintances and friends who make her decision workable, some of whom join her in her investigations.

Camille is an interesting protagonist. She lives on a luxurious houseboat, is a pilot who has ceased flying after an accident twenty years before and must deal with financial challenges and threats to her family. The changes in her life result in some marital discord, but despite this she becomes a determined investigator. Delaney’s values contrast markedly with those of Drs Willcox and Burton, but she is prepared to be tough and unremitting with witnesses when she ignores their personal concerns when necessary to win her case.

With its sound plotting, good characterisation, and the introduction of a strong woman protagonist I look forward to reading another Camille Delaney novel by this noteworthy author.

The Complication is a fast-paced thriller that grabs the reader from the first chilling scene and never lets go. The mystery begins when Seattle lawyer Camille Delaney’s friend Dallas dies during a routine operation. Camille decides to investigate and soon discovers evidence of other unexplained deaths at the hands of Dallas’ doctors. The story is filled with interesting, well-developed characters from Camille’s personal and professional life. The suspense quickly builds as Camille enlists the help of private investigator Trish Seaholm. Disguises, danger, and cliffhangers abound as the two women race to uncover the truth before more patients needlessly die. Detailed descriptions of interesting legal and medical issues are seamlessly woven into the story. Clever plot twists keep the reader guessing until the final chapters. A scene involving a harrowing solo flight through the foggy San Juan Islands left my heart racing! I thoroughly enjoyed The Complication and I look forward to more books in the Camille Delaney series.

Camille Delaney is a registered nurse turned high profile attorney working in a Seattle law firm specializing in family law. She receives word that a dear family friend has died after a routine surgical procedure and, because of her medical background, is asked to look into the circumstances surrounding his death. Prohibited from officially taking on a medical malpractice case by her firm, Camille’s initial cursory inquiry uncovers some disturbing statistics concerning two of the hospitals most prominent surgeons. Despite the risk to her own career, Camille begins her investigation in earnest and the result is an excellent medical thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley for an uncorrected digital copy of this book.

I applaud the author for her medical and legal expertise, in writing this novel. Let it suffice to say that I have a lot of experience with doctors and researchers, both personally and professionally. I find it impossible to believe in this story line. I will not elaborate further, so as to not create any spoilers. Therefore, this read was not a good fit for me. Three stars because of Amanda DuBois’s many accomplishments. Thank you NetGalley and Girl Friday Books for this ARC.

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.

This is an intriguing medical, legal mystery. There are so many character to keep track of that it is sometimes difficult to keep them straight. The author’s background ensures the details are an accurate portrayal of our legal and medical professions

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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