Manner of Death - (A Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery Novel) by Robin Cook

Book Synopsis

In this fast-paced medical mystery-thriller from New York Times bestselling author Robin Cook, fan favorites Jack and Laurie must determine the manner of death after a pathology resident's suspicious suicide.

Due to Jack Stapleton's ongoing recovery from his near-death confrontation with a serial killer, his wife, Laurie Montgomery, the NYC chief medical examiner, is carrying the load both at work and at home. When she insists an underperforming pathology resident named Ryan Sullivan assist her on a suicide autopsy, Laurie unknowingly provokes an emotional storm in the trainee.

So, when Ryan himself appears on the medical examiner's table days later, an apparent death by suicide, Laurie's guilt compels her to try to understand why. Jack's autopsy on the resident opens the disturbing possibility that the manner of death wasn't suicide but instead a staged homicide. But staged by whom?

Laurie ignores her own professional rules and responsibilities to investigate personally who might want Ryan dead...and for what reason. Thus begins a dangerous inquiry into a fraudulent but highly lucrative cancer diagnostics company, which might just cost Laurie her life.

Review Quotes

"Readers are in competent hands. . . . As he has done in all of his novels, Cook once again rings a warning bell to raise awareness for a new area at risk for potential abuse." --New York Journal of Books

"Like Cook's other novels, this one has plucky heroes, dastardly villains, a brisk pace, and an ending full of comeuppances. Series fans will have a good time." --Booklist

About the Author

Robin Cook, M.D., is the author of forty books and is credited with popularizing the medical thriller with his groundbreaking and wildly successful 1977 novel, Coma. His most recent bestsellers include Night Shift, Viral, Genesis, Pandemic, and Charlatans. Cook divides his time between Florida, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.