Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Review: River of Mercy (A Winston Radhauser Mystery #14) by Susan Clayton-Goldner @SusanCGoldner

River of Mercy

A Winston Radhauser Mystery #14

by Susan Clayton-Goldner

Published: June 18, 2024

Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller


Blurb:


Detective Winston Radhauser is called in the middle of the night to Ashland Hospital. Ten days ago, Justin Patterson, a local pediatrician, suffered a devastating brain bleed that left him paralyzed and begging for release.

When Patterson is found dead in his hospital bed, the staff assumes it was a natural death. But the victim’s son, Robbie, accuses his stepmother, Santina, of murder. Everything inside Radhauser believes she’s innocent, but when DNA supports Robbie’s claim, Radhauser is forced to arrest the woman he found lying in her husband’s hospital bed, curled around his dead body.

Phillip Mitchell, world-renowned criminal defense attorney, hears of Santina’s arrest and rushes from Tucson to Oregon. He’s driven by a love that never waned, and a belief there is no way Santina could murder anyone.

National news has the country divided. Was it a mercy killing? Or was it murder? How do we put down our suffering animals with more dignity than our fellow humans? Or is God the only one who decides when life ends?

Against a ticking clock and an unyielding DA, Radhauser and Mitchell race to expose hidden truths that could save Santina from a lethal injection.


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My Review:

River of Mercy is the fourteenth book in the Winston Radhauser Mystery series by Susan Clayton-Goldner. I have read every one of Winston Radhauser's books and loved everyone. Each book touched my heart in its own way.

The stories that Susan writes will pull at your heartstrings. They will have you glued to the pages as they are racing to the end with their many twists and turns, wondering and waiting to see how they will end.

I don’t know where to begin writing my review of River of Mercy. River of Mercy really pulled on my heartstrings as it hits close to home for me. I am sitting here now trying to figure that one out. It is hard to write about.

I have had this conversation or a similar one with the love of my life. I don’t think I could ever do anything like this. I don’t want to lose him ever but who would. I want to keep him with me forever. He is my soulmate.

I want to close my mind off and not think about it. But is that right? Can I do that? Is that fair to the one I love? It’s happening and probably way sooner than I want or anyone would.

I have asked myself if I was being selfish. The only answer I have come up with so far is I don’t know. I don’t want to think that I am but am I?

A doctor Justin Patterson dies in his hospital after suffering from a devastating brain bleed that left him paralyzed. He is asking for help to die. Radhauser awakens during the middle of the night to investigate.

The first thing Radhauser sees when entering the man’s room is his wife, Santina, curled around his body. The staff believes he died of natural causes. Patterson’s son doesn’t believe this. He accuses his stepmother of killing his father. Radhauser doesn’t think that Santina killed her husband but has to arrest her anyway.

This is a hard case for Radhauser as it reminds him of his first wife and son who died in a car accident. Radhauser ponders on if he could do what Santina was accused of doing. Radhauser wonders if he could ever commit an act of mercy like this.

As with, any of Susan’s books, I highly recommend River of Mercy to everyone. Grab a copy of River of Mercy today!


Be sure to check out all the books in the Winston Radhauser Mystery Series


Redemption Lake #1

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


When Time Is A River #2

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


A River of Silence #3

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


River of Shame #4

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


Lake of the Dead #5

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


Bloody Creek Murder #6

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


Red Hatchet Falls #7

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


Lake of Bad Dreams #8

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


River Running Backwards #9

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


Forgotten Creek #10

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


Lost Creek Cabin #11

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


What Lies Beneath Stillwater #12

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


Dark River Rising #13

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub


River of Mercy #14

Goodreads

Amazon

BookBub




AUTHOR BIO:

Susan Clayton-Goldner was born in New Castle, Delaware and grew up with four brothers along the banks of the Delaware River. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona's Creative Writing Program and has been writing most of her life. Her novels have been finalists for The Hemingway Award, the Heeken Foundation Fellowship, the Writers Foundation and the Publishing On-line Contest. Susan won the National Writers' Association Novel Award twice for unpublished novels and her poetry was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies including Animals as Teachers and Healers, published by Ballantine Books, Our Mothers/Ourselves, by the Greenwood Publishing Group, The Hawaii Pacific Review-Best of a Decade, and New Millennium Writings. A collection of her poems, A Question of Mortality was released in 2014 by Wellstone Press. Prior to writing full time, Susan worked as the Director of Corporate Relations for University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. 

Susan shares a life in Grants Pass, Oregon with her husband, Andreas, her fictional characters, and more books than one person could count. 


Connect with Susan Clayton-Goldner

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