As I promised in my previous post, I am continuing to read the books authored by New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Joe Kenda. Today, I am reviewing First Do No Harm, book two in the Detectives Wilson & Kenda series, a crime thriller.
Title: First Do No Harm
Series: Detective Kenda & Wilson, book two
Author: Joe Kenda
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Length: 251 pages
Release Date: September 10, 2024
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Blurb: A string of overdoses in Colorado Springs has Detectives Joe Kenda and Lee Wilson on the lookout for a bad batch of heroin that has been cut with a drug they’ve never seen before.
Meanwhile, at Springs General Hospital, Dr. Blair Moreland—the notoriously unpleasant head anesthesiologist—has found a way to feed his deepening addiction to the very same powerful new drug: fentanyl.
But when Dr. Moreland starts supplying the dangerous painkiller to dealer Lula Lopez—planning to manufacture the drug himself—he angers a Mexican crime syndicate and sets into motion a cycle of death and violence that threatens to engulf the entire city.
Detectives Kenda and Wilson must track down the source of this killer heroin before anyone else can overdose—and stop Moreland before he can escape the long arm of the law.
Former homicide detective and star of Investigation Discovery, Joe Kenda, follows his authentic and fascinating debut novel with First Do No Harm, another addictive tale of crime and punishment as only he can tell it.
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****
Since I enjoyed the first book in the “Detectives Kenda & Wilson” series, I had to buy the second book. And the author did not disappoint.
The author gives us a great cast of characters, some likeable, some horrible, and others caught up in circumstances beyond their control that do generate a bit of sympathy.
As stated in the blurb, Dr. Moreland is in over his head with addiction. Fearing he will get caught sooner or later, he decides to set up his own drug lab at a remote cabin he buys two hours from Colorado Springs. The title is appropriate since it’s the oath doctors take, and Dr. Moreland is doing nothing but causing harm. As much as everyone believes he’s an upstanding citizen since he volunteers at a drug addiction centre and even counsels the patients, he uses this position for his own devious purposes, like blackmailing one of the patients into being his head chemist for the creation of the drug.
I enjoyed every bit of this book, from the cast of characters such as Wilson’s wife who is the M.E., along with Kenda’s wife who is a nurse, to the notorious Lula and the team of police officers in the small town where the drug lab is located.
This book is just as good as the first with the detectives trying to piece together the many mysterious overdoses. The author brings his skills as a detective into the book that make it so realistic and believable, even the ending.
The setting becomes a character itself as the author gives us vivid descriptions while they are chasing down the many suspects in their case. There is even bits of humour sprinkled throughout that I enjoyed, and seemed so in character for Kenda and Wilson.
Again, this is another great read of crime and the overworked detectives who are determined to find justice for the dead. Do yourself a favour and get a copy. It’s a crime novel at its finest.
Maggie Blackbird 