Healer’s Heresy
Cassidy McCabe series, No 10
Alex Matthews

Veiled Intent Press
April 1, 2011/ ISBN 978-0-9794756-1-0
Mystery
Amazon

Reviewed by Dennis Collins

Psychotherapist Cassidy McCabe answers her door one night to find a bloodied, ex client reeking of alcohol and in a state of near panic. Jordan Wenzlaff tells her that he found the body of former girlfriend Dr. Claudia Laevitt in her living room. He fears that he will be the prime suspect because Dr. Claudia had taken out a restraining order to keep him away. He swears that he had nothing to do with her murder and asks Cassidy to help protect him by destroying all of his patient records. Cassidy wants to believe his story and agrees to help.

Cassidy’s husband Zach is a crime reporter for a local newspaper and sets off, with Cassidy in tow, to investigate the killing. Digging into the victim’s personal life, they uncover a very complex personality. It seems that Dr. Claudia had a habit of developing intense but short lived romantic relationships with many different men. About the time she’d capture a man’s affection, she’d lose interest and move on to the next guy. The trail of broken hearts could produce a plethora of likely suspects.

And then there was her professional life. The doctor shared a clinic with another physician who had been suspected of euthanasia. Everybody at the clinic appeared to just shrug off the accusations but Cassidy added the information to her notebook.
Moving on to Dr. Claudia’s family life added even more mystery to her persona. A ne’er-do-well sister who abandoned her son in favor of a derelict boyfriend and an estranged mother who seemed to trust no one made the picture very unclear. The nephew who depended on Dr. Claudia to finance his school and his very existence completed the mosaic.

Author Alex Matthews is an extremely good story teller. She knows how to lay out a tale so that it flows like a rapid river, fast and wild, tumbling over obstacles but never losing direction. Her books are always full of action and surprises and they lead the reader through the maze that she plots. Sometimes you’re not too sure where she’s taking you but she’s pretty good at making you trust her and she never confuses you. Healer’s Heresy is another gem.

Reviewer Note: Cassidy McCabe Series